Why should I allow my child to play football? Football, like most sports, creates an environment where children can exercise and play. It encourages good physical health and healthy competition. Football also instills high character qualities such as dedication, respect, commitment, accountability, teamwork. It pushes players to achieve new levels of physical and mental strength. It allows the player and loved ones to join a new community that we call the "Pirate Family" Plus, It is a lot of fun!!!!
Is Football Safe? Football is a contact sport and thus carries inherent risk of injury. In today's media Concussions and Football are a near daily news story. Members of the media often quote flawed studies and half truths to promote an agenda. The reality is Football carries a risk of concussion that is similar to or less than other contact sports when adjusted per participant. We have joined with USA FOOTBALL and employ their "Heads Up" Program to ensure we are teaching and coaching the game in the safest way possible. The belief is that this "new" way of coaching and playing the game will reduce head injuries and CTE. We encourage everyone to explore the real data when making this decision.
How much does it cost? Our current Fees are $100 per participant with a discount for each subsequent player in each family. This price includes a personalized game jersey that is yours to keep. There is also a mandatory fundraiser for each player. If you elect not to participate in this, there is a $50 "buy out" fee.
What Equipment will we need? The Pirates provide Helmet, shoulder and rib pads, practice and game pants, and mouthguards. Each player should purchase cleats. Other optional equipment such as gloves, visors, and under garments are not provided. Each player will need a practice jersey (around $15) which we will order as an organization during the first week of practice.
I hear it is a major time commitment, How long does the season run and how often do you practice.? Football does require more practice than most youth sports due to the complexity of the game and techniques used. Currently, we start practice the last Monday in July and will generally practice on all weeknights from 6-8 for the first 3 weeks. After that, practice is typically 3-4 nights per week with a weekend game. Usually, we have Labor Day weekend off. Games start the weekend after Labor Day and the regular season runs through the first weekend in November. Playoff games then start weekly and can go into the first week in December if your team is lucky enough.
Where do you practice and play? Our home game field and practice fields are at Marlton Park in Pilesgrove. We play our games in the South Jersey United Football League which encompasses Salem, Gloucester, and Camden Counties. We play 4-5 away games that can be in any of these areas.