Youth Football Teams Push Through Heat

NFL contract disputes may threaten to sack the upcoming professional football schedule, but rest assured there will be plenty of touchdowns to watch this year — at the youth level.

The Lake in the Hills/Algonquin Junior Eagles Football organization kicked off its preseason tryouts and conditioning schedule this past Monday.

Scorching temperatures near 100 degrees didn’t deter local young football players from turning out to area fields to practice sprints, passes, catches and tackles.

The Jr. Eagles club is home to about 275 players, divided among six age and weight divisions, Middleweight Coach Kevin Downing said.

Downing and his fellow coaches were at Sunset Park on Wednesday evening where the middleweights — mostly 11 and 12 year olds — put in two hours of training. The players were equipped with lots of ice and water to cool down during their frequent rest breaks.

“Football starts for real on Monday,” Coach Kevin Downing told the approximately 40 die-hard middleweights. The division is comprised of about 75 players, Downing said.

Jr. Eagles coaches opted to cut the week’s schedule back a day because of . After equipment distribution on Sunday, mandatory conditioning sessions begin next week, said Downing.

“We need 10 hours of conditioning before we put on the pads,” Downing said.

The various Jr. Eagles football divisions practice throughout the area.

Heavyweights and Lightweights — primarily age 13 to 14 years old — meet at Jacobs High School, 2601 Bunker Hill Rd., in Algonquin.

Middleweights (mainly ages 11 to 12 years old), and Flag players (boys and girls 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 years old) meet at Sunset Park, 5200 Miller Road, in Lake in the Hills.

Bantams (ages 6, 7 and 8 years old) play at Leroy Guy Park, 201 Lakewood Rd., Lake in the Hills. Featherweights (ages 9 and 10 years old) practice at Dundee Middle School, 4200 W. Main St., in Dundee.

Youth Football Season Approaching

With only 37 days (as of Thursday) until the first punt of the 2011 season, the LA Jr. Eagles Football program moves quickly through its preseason. After next week’s mandatory conditioning, the players don full pads, helmets, cleats and the rest of their protective gear for full player-on-player contact football.

By the end of the second week, around Aug. 5, most of the teams are expected to be selected, Downing said.

The Jr. Eagles Football organization is a no-cut, travel program and member of The Chicagoland Youth Football League (TCYFL). The league is comprised of 33 communities from Northeastern Illinois and Southeastern Wisconsin. Eagles travel as far away as Plainfield, Ill., and Wilmot, Wis. for their games.

The Eagles’ flag players participate only in an in-house division.

LITH Patch has a full gallery of photos of Young Eagles players braving the heat this week during tryouts.