Sacramento club football costs nearly $700. Is it an investment or COVID-19 mayhem?
Derrick Stephens coaches because he is invested in young people.
Football helped him. He played the sport growing up in Sacramento, suiting up at Valley High School and Sacramento City College. Those pursuits led him into a career in teaching and mentoring student-athletes.
Stephens is now 30, the father of 4-year-old twin sons who giddily climb over him during phone calls. His latest venture is to cobble together a club football team, a first for the region. He wants to assemble a Sacramento-area roster of high school seniors to compete in a Southern California league, Winner Circle.
The goal is to kick off a season of at least five games on Jan. 2, a short window given how much time is needed to prepare for any season. The goal is to provide some kind of football season for kids who may not have one as prep sports under the umbrella of the California Interscholastic Federation remain on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
What adds to the intrigue: Amid the pandemic, the CIF lifted any bylaws that prohibit student-athletes playing club sports and education-based athletics at the same time. Club sports have been the norm for decades in California. They are highly competitive, travel-based teams for soccer, baseball, softball and volleyball — none of them affiliated with any high schools.
And there’s this: Youth sports are not allowed in the state, and there are no updated youth sports guidelines from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, though a number of club teams from Northern California have competed out of state.
‘More mayhem than positives’
Stephens’ football-club intentions might be noble but they have not been met with resounding encouragement from area football coaches. Those coaches have myriad questions about player safety, logistics, timing and more.
Rocklin coach Jason Adams said club football teams assembled in a rush would lead to “more mayhem than any positives.”
Stephens said he can understand both sides of the argument. Kids want to play sports. Their parents want them to play. Coaches want to coach, but club football is a different challenge than other club sports, mostly due to large roster numbers, all of the equipment, insurance and safety concerns.
And football practices with 40-50 players and a crew of coaches are not allowed to happen at a time when a good portion of Northern California is under a tight shutdown that includes schools delaying reopening and closures for nonessential businesses. Most area high school teams have suspended workouts after the latest shutdown order by Newsom.
Prep coaches said they will not loan out football helmets and shoulder pads to a club football team, not out of spite, but due to safety. Imagine the chaos if a player got seriously hurt while wearing a helmet that belongs to a school. Some area school districts informed their coaches they could be terminated if they loaned out gear.
The first Stephens-led club tryout attracted 45 players, but only six linemen. The next club tryout is Sunday in Elk Grove. He requests that players bring helmets. The goal from there is to select an all-star team of sorts.
”I get calls from parents and I tell them I’m a parent, a coach, a teacher, that I’m emotionally invested in kids beyond football and that I’m here to help,” Stephens said. “I know what football can do. It gives kids a chance to get stronger, to learn about adversity, how to overcome it, and there’s the camaraderie and memories and opportunities to play beyond high school.”
Stephens added, “I understand why coaches and parents would have questions about safety. We will make it safe. We want to fill a void. Kids need to play. We will continue to follow health and safety protocols in tryouts and practices.”
Three NorCal club teams, costs and more concerns
There are three club football teams in Northern California, including the one Stephens is running. There are more than 10 such teams in Southern California.
Some club football coaches charge players nearly $300 a week just for training. Stephens said his program’s cost is $695 per player. That covers registration, travel expenses to Riverside County for games, insurance and video to send out to college programs for exposure.
Stephens said the money would be refunded if the season suddenly is pulled due to COVID-19 or lack of bodies, except the $100 to register. Still, $695 is a steep price at a time when money for a lot of families is tight, given the shutdowns of COVID-19 and record unemployment numbers in the state.
Stephens said, “I say that price and cry inside, but what I add is that this cost is an investment for your future. We urge kids to fundraise, to get help. If there are six people in your family, in your net, call them and say you don’t need anything for Christmas except $100 to help with this team.”
For those who do not have helmets, a new one can cost more than $400. Does this suddenly become a club team for the haves and have-nots? Those with funds can proceed and those without are left on the outside looking in?
The Bee spoke to three parents about club football, but none wanted to go on the record, and none is sure their son will play club football. The preference for all three fathers is to have their sons compete for their respective high school programs.
”My concern is safety, and then if the coaches are qualified to even coach, because if they aren’t, there’s no way I’m sending my kid out there,” one father said. “I don’t want a club thing to be a money grab for coaches. I know Derrick Stephens has been open and honest about all of this, and I appreciate that.”
As for coaches not willing to help with equipment, Stephens countered with, “It’s a risk-reward thing. We can’t be selfish, coaches. We need to look for our kids and their future. We’re trying to fill a void.”
Prep coaches not on board with club football
Coaches contacted by The Bee were united in sharing concerns of safety and if the club coaches are certified, including for CPR and concussion protocols.
”From a parent point of view and a coach, (safety is) big,” said Adams, the Rocklin coach. “And there’s something inherent with discipline in this game. Players respond to coaches they know. Is club football an all-star game? There’s that saying that kids don’t care how much you know as a coach until they know how much you care. When you play for coaches, it takes time to build a relationship, a trust.”
Adams added, “If this was club basketball, it’s a no-brainer, but football is different. Kids are getting screwed not playing high school sports, and there’s no way around it, but I don’t think club football is the right thing to do.”
Said Granite Bay coach Jeff Evans, “I would be completely against a club team for football. I am not impervious to the strife our players feel, but football is one of the last sports not being completely destroyed by club sports. Baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer are being ruled by the almighty dollar and club sports. Football remains pretty much untouched by the club programs, and that is where it needs to stay.”
Evans added, “Football is too dangerous of a sport to leave its teaching in the hands of somebody motivated by money or status.”
Casa Roble coach Chris Horner wonders, like his peers, about screening for COVID-19, use of facilities, insurance and the overlap of kids playing so many sports at once.
“I am all for giving kids another option for a season they may miss out on,” he said. “I am torn on whether club football is right or wrong since I have never seen it done. I just hope these leagues that are popping up are doing so in a responsible manner and taking precautions to keep the kids safe.”
Sheldon coach Chris Nixon said the very thought of no prep football on a school campus this academic year hurts him and his senior quarterback star son, Sean.
”I’m really saddened for high school football players in California,” Nixon said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for kids who have invested a big portion of their lives to it. I completely understand kids turning to club football like kids do in the other sports. Am I concerned about this? Absolutely. I think this may be the beginning of a massive shift from high school football to club football in this state.”
Nixon’s sons Sean and Scott Nixon live for this sport. Said Sean, “To me, it seems like there would be too many obstacles to get around for (club football) to actually happen. It may sound like a cool idea, but I don’t think it’s a realistic possibility. I’m just hoping the high school season can somehow happen. I want to get my senior year in at Sheldon with all my teammates more than anything.”
Monterey Trail coach T.J. Ewing said, “I am not concerned about anything that is giving someone another choice to experience in their life. If a person has more than one choice to do something, they love, then that is a good life for them. The (club sports) choice comes with financial responsibility, though. Sometimes that becomes a real difference in the have and have nots.”
The longtime coach added, “We are seeing this currently in the distance learning model in education. Some have more than others in terms of resources for daily learning, making the education gap for all that much wider. Public Education can always provide a means to be successful for all when able to be physically serviceable in school’s classroom, auditorium, gym, pool, court, field etc. These life experiences are what creates the human to achieve the best version of themselves. Here’s hoping for real outside-the-box thinking by our leaders to help people in these pandemic times.”
Club football info
For more information on the Sacramento club football team, contact Derrick Stephens at stephensderrick2@gmail.com.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.