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Soltis looking for increased numbers

By Jonathan Guth jguth@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

Football remains the most popular sports in the United States by a wide margin.

However, for Craig Soltis, fielding a team for the Uniontown Raiders of the Southwestern Youth Football League has been a trying experience.

Soltis coaches the junior varsity team (7-9 year olds) in the league where his son plays, and also helps the pee wee (5-6) and varsity (10-11-12) with practices, while organizing the signups, equipment and meetings to help promote the league. He also has a son on the pee wee team.

Soltis is in his fifth year coaching, but has seen a decline in participants in the last two years.

“It has been a decline in numbers from the year I started,” Soltis said. “We like to have at least 20, and try to stop it at 25 so everyone gets a chance to play.

“Last year, we have everyone get the chance to play. We want the kids to have fun.”

After passing out roughly 300 flyers between Franklin and Menallen Elementary Schools in the Uniontown Area School District, and holding two sign-ups, Soltis six players each on the junior varsity and varsity, and three on the pee wee team.

The team welcomes kids from other districts as well, but encourages for Uniontown Area School District students to register.

Soltis knows that injuries are always a concern, but he and his coaches stress the importance of following the “Heads Up Football” program with proper techniques in blocking and tackling.

“Football is a collision sport, so the players are going to get banged up, but we stress the importance of being safe. We have the proper equipment to protect the kids. I have not seen any serious injuries since I started coaching in the league.”

Solits is also aware that there are other fall sports that come into play, and kids are more involved in other interests.

“I know that fall baseball and soccer are being played a lot more,” Soltis said. “However, we would like to see more kids come out. I know there are other factors that come into play.

“We do encourage kids from other districts to play, but we like to have Uniontown kids so they can have that experience when they head to the high school.”

Although the area is in a decline in population, Soltis remembers when the area was filled with interest in youth football.

“I can remember back in the day when the city alone had four teams, and three other teams outside the city,” Soltis said. “I would like to get that back. The league has been around for 20 years.”

The team has a Facebook page at UFFL Raiders.

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