Teaching kids the love of the game and the fundamentals is the goal of the DeKalb County Youth Football and, along the way, winning a few games.

“The coaches volunteer for the love of the game and they want to teach the players that love along with teaching the fundamentals,” said league director Casey Midgett. “The goal is to teach players to learn how to play the game correctly so many of them can continue on to play in middle school and high school and maybe beyond.”

There are three teams represented by the DCYF including PeeWee for ages 6-7, Junior for ages 8-9 and Senior for ages 10-11. The teams train here and then play against teams from surrounding counties in a league that has games on Saturdays.

“We play four home and four away,” Midgett said, noting the teams then move on to the playoff phase. “We have two rounds of playoffs and then our Super Bowl that will be played this year on Oct. 14.”

Midgett said DeKalb will play teams from Smith County, Jamestown, White County, Crossville and Stone Memorial just to name a few.

“It’s kind of like the schedule the high school plays,” he noted, adding the conference is called the Middle Tennessee Youth Football Conference.

The season starts this weekend with the weigh-in and jamboree at White County. The weigh-in is required because to carry the ball in the league, you must be under a certain weight. Those who are over the allowed weight have stripes on their helmet. “Stripers can’t play the skill positions,” Midgett revealed, noting it is a safety rule but those who are over the weight can find a happy home on the line or anywhere on defense. The actual season starts at Jamestown on Aug. 11.