Steelers & USA Football partner for game’s future in Western PA

 

  The Steelers showed their continued support for youth football throughout the greater Pittsburgh region this past Saturday by partnering with USA Football to host the Western Pennsylvania State Leadership Forum.

 

Youth league commissioners gathered at North Hills Junior High School to learn more about USA Football’s resources and share information to further strengthen America’s favorite sport in our neck of the woods. Leading the meeting was USA Football Northeast Regional Manager Ed Passino.

 

Leagues of all sizes contributed to the five-hour meeting. In total, 21 league administrators took part, representing approximately 4,000 coaches and 20,000 football-playing youngsters.

 

“Thanks to the Steelers’ involvement, this past Saturday made youth football even stronger in western Pennsylvania – and that’s saying something,” said USA Football’s Passino. “These leagues discovered that they’re not alone in their respective battles of securing fields or finding enough qualified volunteers to coach and officiate. We also spoke of how to best raise funds to meet the financial needs for equipment as the sport’s participation increases. USA Football can help in all of these areas.”

 

Working in tandem with the Steelers and nearly all NFL clubs and many universities across the country, USA Football is the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels. Based near Washington, D.C., the independent non-profit provides coaching and officiating education, annually awards more than $500,000 in football equipment grants to youth leagues and high schools, and subsidizes volunteer coach background checks in the fight against sexual predators. Endowed by the NFL and NFLPA in 2002, former U.S. Congressman Jack Kemp is USA Football’s chairman.

 

At each of its 37 state forums this year, USA Football selects one administrator to attend the NFL Youth Football Summit in Canton, Ohio, taking place this July. Approximately 200 coaches and administrators are invited to take part in this annual event to discuss topics vital to the continued success of youth and high school football. Receiving this special invitation from the Western Pennsylvania forum was Stephon Mathis, director of the Observatory Hill Youth Association, located in Pittsburgh, Pa.

 

“With support from NFL teams like the Steelers, USA Football is helping unify youth football,” says Passino. “The big winners here are the kids who love to play this sport – they’re going to enjoy the game more if their coaches are prepared and if their league commissioners employ the free team and league web sites offered through usafootball.com. And parents can feel secure that a league that takes advantage of our volunteer coach background checks makes the kids’ well-being the top priority.”