In only its seventh year, the Southern California Falcons Youth Football program is bordering on a lifetime opportunity, competing at Redondo Union High School this weekend in the final game of the regional playoff games to earn the right to play in the Pop Warner championship game at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
A victory against the more experienced Arizona Grand Snakes team on Saturday afternoon at 4 will send the team to Florida to represent Southern California in the national championship game.
The Redondo High campus is at 800 Diamond St.
This story is about more than football, says the leader of the group, a courageous story of a tight-knit group of underprivileged youth from South Los Angeles who are beating the odds, overcoming tremendous personal adversities to position themselves for a chance to compete against the best on a national level.
“These young men have been with our program for about four years,” said Keith Johnson, Falcons Youth and Family Services Director. “My heart breaks at some of the things they’ve faced in their personal lives.”
Mr. Johnson said the Falcons are 80 percent African American and 20 percent Hispanic, ages 13- to 5. A majority reside in low-income, single family homes.
The Falcons Youth Football & Cheer Organization is part of the Falcons Youth and Family Services, a larger community-based program that provides a number of innovative programs that encourage participants to envision a future beyond their current circumstances, and free themselves from the sense of helplessness, hopelessness and despair.
The organization is being proactive about its fundraising in anticipation of a victory on Saturday. Mr. Johnson said it is costly to send a team of 30 to Florida; individual, public, private and corporate support is needed. The organization has begun accepting donations to make this trip a reality.
“This football program has made a difference in these boy’s lives,” Mr. Johnson said, describing how several came to the Falcons with a number of challenges in their lives. He and his staff have witnessed their growth with pride.
“It would be a dream come true if these kids from South L.A., most who have never been out of their environment, could travel to Florida compete against the best in the nation.”
Mr. Johnson may be contacted at www.fyfs.org
