In his second year as president of the Coral Springs Chargers, A.J. Poulin is outright giddy when he talks about running the American Youth Football League program just shy of 400 members.
“This is a blast,” he said. “I love watching the kids. We get them when they are 5 years old and we watch them play when they are 13 years old. It’s a lot of fun.”
The Chargers, which plays its home games at Aiello Field at Mullins Park, has 390 participants in the program and field teams in the seven divisions – 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, 12- and 13-Under. It also includes the cheerleading program, which annually receives superior ratings in the AYFL cheerleading competition.
Poulin said youth football teaches life lessons, adding it’s nice to see alumni of the program come back and watch the games on Saturdays.
“It makes you feel really good,” he said. “We even get the high school kids who come back. They all come up and say hi to you…they remember you. You teach them respect. They all come up to you and shake your hand and say, ‘how are you doing coach?’ They look you in the eye, instead of walking by and not saying anything to you.
“The biggest thing we want to instill in the players is respect,” Poulin said. “I had to pull one of my 7-year-olds out of the line because he didn’t shake hands, but he went back and shook hands with everybody.”
While the Chargers have struggled in some age groups, Poulin said winning isn’t the most important thing. The program’s 7-, 12- and 13-Under teams are primed for the playoffs.
“We’ve had a tough season, but they keep their heads up,” he said. “Everybody is positive and they still show up every day for practice because they know it is a battle. If you want to win at something, you have to put the time in.
“I think the adversity teaches them it is not always going to be a win and you are not always going to be up,” Poulin said. “You are going to have down times and you just have to fight through it.”
He said it is also rewarding to know that many of the players in the Chargers program have gone on to play at area high schools.
“We keep feeding their programs and that is why the coaches keep coming out,” Poulin said. “One thing that we tried to do this year was getting more parents involved. We got them to serve on the board. We have a lot of new team moms and volunteers, and they like it.”
Tristan Melvin, 13, who plays defensive end and tight end on the 13-Under team, said he didn’t want to play football at first, but he opted to give it a try when his brother and sister played with the Chargers.
“I was kind of forced to play, but I ended up liking it,” said Melvin, of Coral Springs, who has played in the league for the past four seasons. “My sister played for two years.
“It is just a fun sport to play,” he said. “It is important to win. If we don’t, it is kind of depressing, but we learn what we did wrong and what we have to fix. This is a step. I want to go to the NFL. I know it is a slim chance, but that is my dream.”
Other programs in the Broward County-based league include the Colts (Cooper City/Davie), Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood PAL, Lauderhill, Miramar, Plantation, Pompano, Pembroke Pines Optimist, Sunrise, Tamarac,and West Pines. The Delray Rocks is the lone program from Palm Beach County in the league.
The Chargers began play Aug. 11 and played a 10-game season followed by playoffs. The Top 8 teams in each division advance to the playoffs, which will begin Oct. 27. The second round will be played Nov. 3 and the Super Bowl will be played Nov. 10 at PAL Field in Plantation.
