As you may be well aware, the league board and voting members voted in March 2025 to adjust the structure of the Central Keystone Youth Football & Cheer League (CKYFCL).
For the existence of the league, dating back to its predecessor, there has been no official cap on the Midget division, while the Mighty Might division has been a tackle football league playing eight-man football to introduce the youngest group to the game.
With this new league structure, there are three important changes to draw attention to:
- The CKYFCL will no longer be based on age, but instead will be based on grade-level.
- Mighty Mights will no longer sponsor tackle football and will adjust to flag football.
- Midgets will conclude their play with the league when they complete the 6th grade.
We are well aware that these changes may give some anxiety to folks who are adverse to change, or simply questioning why now? Due to this, we’ve put together an FAQ section that details these changes
Question: How were these changes implemented?
Answer: Like all things in the CKYFCL, the league board and the voting members of the league’s member organizations voted for each of these items. For those unaware, the CKYFCL executive board has a vote from each officer and each organization also has a vote for 11 total votes. In the rare case of a tie vote, the league President casts the deciding vote. The voting results were as follows:
Mighty Mights – Adjust to Flag Football
Yes: 7
No: 3
Abstain: 1
Division Grade Breakdown
Mighty Mights (Pre-K to K), Pee Wees (Grades 1-3), Midgets (Grades 4-6): 8
Mighty Mights (Pre-K to 1st Grade), Pee Wees (Grades 2-4), Midgets (Grades 5-7): 3
Question: Why Flag Football, what was wrong with tackle football for the Mighty Mights?
Answer: While there is nothing inherently wrong with tackle football for Mighty Mights, we’ve recognized that those children don’t always have the best experience at that age due to tackle football. Most Kindergarteners are just learning social skills, and are just beginning to understand how their body works and how to run. When we put all of that gear on them, it’s highly restrictive and leads to kids losing interest at a young age.
Additionally, it’s been the wave of the future of football in the United States for the past decade. It’s sponsored by the NFL for a reason, it’s been recommended by health professionals as well as former professional athletes due to the rise in concern for head trauma related injuries. Our goal is to provide a safe and fun atmosphere for the youth that we serve.
Finally, we believe this will lead to a participation increase and a larger increase in interest in the game of football. More interest at a younger age, will lead to development at older ages and grades and participation should increase across all divisions. Nationally, tackle football participation has been on a steady decline. Flag football though continues to grow, culminating with the Pro Bowl in the near-term, and with the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Question: We haven’t been capped off in the midget division in the past. Some teams have had 8th graders playing and now there’s a hard limit. How is that fair to the kids to take away their chance to play in the league like their older friends?
Answer: The Mifflin County School District and the PIAA have sponsored junior high football starting in seventh grade for nearly a half-century. Surrounding school districts, including our league members in Juniata County, are fielding full teams in seventh grade. Juniata hasn’t sponsored a midget program for two of the last three years due to their interscholastic football staff strongly suggesting seventh graders not participate in recreational football, and instead move to junior high football. This has decimated their midget program, which affects the entire league.
Your taxpayer dollars are going to the benefit of these programs for scholastic sports, and the school districts provide top-quality equipment along with an experience with their peers in school at a critical juncture in their individual development. This decision isn’t only about football. There are peer development aspects of this, social development interests, academic interests and finally football interests at play in our decision making.
We certainly aren’t suggesting that we are suddenly taking the role of parent, but we do respect the holistic experience of interscholastic sport and firmly believe that students entering seventh grade are well-prepared physically to be able to participate in football in seventh grade when they are eligible.
Question: When the league introduced boundaries, you grandfathered kids into organizations outside of their boundaries. Why not follow the same model this time?
Answer: The league voted on this structure. This was a consideration, but we ultimately determined that we could no longer continue to kick the can down the road. Grandfathering could last for years to come, and tends to be something that is abused from historic precedence. Our peer leagues in State College, Huntingdon and other surrounding areas all operate under this structure. Mifflin and Juniata Counties should be no different, our kids also deserve the best opportunity to grow and develop.
Question: In the above answers, you mention other peer leagues. Does this mean our kids will begin to travel to play teams from other leagues?
Answer: The short answer to this question is maybe. There are a lot of nuances involved in participating in games outside of the local league. The CKYFCL insurance protects our participants in league-sanctioned events, however there are a lot of question marks around contests against teams outside of the local league.
We continue to field the question inside of the league, and continue to evaluate this question with our league insurance provider to ensure we are doing everything to protect our participants.
Question: I have other questions that aren’t mentioned here. Who can I talk to?
Answer: Our member organizations are fully equipped to handle any questions about the structure of the league and how your child participates in youth football and cheer. The board is open to receiving emails with questions, they ask that you please allow time for a response as the board and every member of each organization are volunteers.