2022 El Centro Trojans Youth Football & Cheer

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Welcome parents. We are excited for the 2022 youth football and cheer season. We welcome all children with open arms and will do our very best to coach them up. We are a very stable, transparent, organized, well operated, significantly resourced, and financially healthy organization. 

Below you will find important information. 

1. Initial Short Form Application & Good Faith Down Payment: $70. 

• The good faith down payment will be credited to your child's account (tackle, flag, & cheer divisions) thus reducing the total required balance amount. Also, this will reserve your child's slot. 
• The good faith down payment is NON-REFUNDABLE and NON-TRANSFERABLE
• There is a bigger registration packet that contains numerous documents that you must complete via docusign that we shall provide you at a later time. In addition we will be needing a copy of your child's birth certificate, and most recent grade report card. 

Football Tackle Division: 

• Ages 14-8

Teams:

• 14 under
• 13 under
• 12 under
• 11 under
• 10 under
• 9 under

** Players CAN'T play down, meaning older players can't play in a younger division

** Players can play up. The norm is to play within a two year age difference. 

** Team Matrix: Based on actual registrations we will start making the teams and can possibly combine age groups. For example, we can do even numbered teams such as 14u, 12u, 10u, and 8u. Or we can do odd numbered teams such as 9u, 11u, and 13u. Or we can do a combo of even and odd teams. 

** Age cut off date: Determines team placement: 7/31 of current season. We go by what age is the player on 7/31

** Age Based Teams: Placement is based on age, and NOT on weight. We don't weigh the players nor is there a maximum or minimum weight requirement

Flag Football Division:

• Ages 7,6, & 5
• Age cut off date which determines team placement: 7/31 of current season 

Cheer Division:

• Ages: 14-5
• Age cut off date which determines team placement: 7/31 of current season 

Pre-Conditioning will start sometime in July. Practice days vary. In the beginning, it will be Monday- Thursday normally from 6pm to 7:30pm and can go up to 8pm. Because of the heat, our head coaches will have the authority and flexibility to move up the practice times.  

Games are on Saturdays, and times depend on the age division your child plays in. The younger kids will always start first and then each age division will start thereafter. We normally start our first game on the last weekend of August and end in October for regular season games. Playoffs are hosted in the 1st half of November. 

• Tackle Football: $280 
• Flag: $150
• Cheer: $450 (new cheer participants with fundraising opportunity)/ Returning Cheer participants will pay less based on the quality and proper fitting of their previous 2021 uniforms. The Cheer Coordinator will work with you to determine the actual fees. 
• Deduct the mandatory $70 good faith fee down payment (that will be credited towards the total balance)
• WE DO NOT CHARGE A DEPOSIT FEE
• Any paid fees are NON-REFUNDABLE and NON-TRANSFERABLE

What do my fees and fundraised monies include? To begin with, we are a transparent organization where not only our board members get financial reports, but we email our parents periodic and end of season financial reports. In regard to the revenues that come in, we use funds for operations which can consist of but not limited to such things as insurance, helmet reconditioning, uniforms, equipment, referee fees, conference fees, and much more. 

The tackle and flag divisions are only required to do one mandatory fundraiser which we do before the actual games start. 

• $200 mandatory fundraiser
• Parents have the option to not fundraise however, the mandatory $200 is still due
• All fundraised monies are NON-REFUNDABLE AND NON-TRANSFERABLE and belong to the El Centro Trojans Youth Football and Cheer

** Cheer is a unique program where because of the high costs that are in addition to the $450 fee, they are the only division allowed to host multiple fundraisers where cheer parents have to participate in. 

We do offer three discounts for our parents which are the following:

• Returning Player Discount: Must be the previous year (2021): $20 per participant
• Sibling Discount: $20 per participant with a $40 max/ two siblings 
• Academic Achievement: $20 (Only Eligibility: Honor Roll, 4.0 Honor Society, & Student of the Month)

1. Raffle Program (Very popular and helpful): This is for both LOW INCOME and MIDDLE INCOME financially distressed families. Parents can elect to pay their total fees minus the good faith down payment by fundraising with just the raffle tickets. We shall be ordering the raffle tickets on 3/16/2022 and once they come in parents can start picking them up.
2. Payment Plans: We also work with parents who need a customized payment plan. The only requirement is that all monies due is paid in full before we order the uniforms and issue out participant equipment. 
3. New: 2022 Board Member GAS CARD Fundraising Event: We plan on hosting a headquarters level fun fundraising event at the Vibe Event Center. We are looking at some possible hosted events such as comedy shows, talent show, etc. All revenues raised minus costs will go towards our travel gas card program for our parents, and/or our general fund. 
4. 501c Non-Profit Participant Sponsor Program: The parent can find themselves a business and/or a private individual to financially sponsor their child. We will email them a tax exempt donation letter where they can claim those funds as a tax write off. 
5. Low Income: Every Kid Sports Pass Grant. $150 DOLLARS MAX! The good faith down payment is still a requirement and must be paid at time of reservation application. A youth sports grant to help cover registration fees. For your child to take advantage of the Every Kid Sports Pass, they must meet these requirements:

• Proof the child is currently receiving Medicaid, SNAP or WIC benefits
• The child must be between the ages of 4 – 18 year old
• Only recreation-level youth sports will be approved.  Organizations with Club, Elite, Select, Travel, Tournament, and/or Semi-pro orientation and titling are not eligible
• Only for the El Centro Trojans Youth Football & Cheer Program and Season are eligible. Camps, personal training, tournaments, gym memberships, or performance training do not qualify
• Is the Grant Guaranteed? The "Every Kids Sports Grant" is administered by another organization which means the El Centro Trojans Youth Football & Cheer has no say in that. Here is a link to their Frequently Asked Questions Page: https://everykidsports.org/every-kid-sports-pass/faq/
• APPLY FOR THE PROGRAM! CLICK BELOW

• Official Conference Forms: We will provide this to our parents at a later time. They will come to you via docusign so you can fill them out. We will also have walk up registration so we can help the parents who don't understand the system. Mind you, all documentation will be via docusign. 
• Medical Clearance Physical: We provide the form and it is due no later than end of June of 2022. We start training in July and the child can't train until we have the document signed by a medical professional.
• Birth Certificate: We need a copy of your child's birth certificate
• Grades: We are going to need the most recent report card

• Football Division: We will fit your child from our fitting kits: helmet, jersey, shoulder pads, football pants, and sock sizes. 
• Cheer Division: We will fit your child from our fitting kits: shell, skirt, body liner, and bloomers.
• Football Parent: You are responsible to purchase a mouth guard, and football cleats.
• Cheer Parent: The Cheer Coordinator will contact you on what you need