Press Release 3.5.19

Massachusetts Youth Football Alliance formed by local coaches to advocate for parents and athletes and promote player safety

First order of business to fight government over reach banning youth tackle football for all families

BOSTON—As the Massachusetts legislature stands ready to consider controversial legislation to ban youth football with An Act for No Organized Head Impacts to Schoolchildren, local  coaches have created a new advocacy group, the Massachusetts Youth  Football Alliance (MYFA), to unite the voices of all youth football coaches and  parents. Currently, youth tackle football is represented by a diverse  community with many leagues,  conferences, associations and chapters throughout the Commonwealth. The mission of MYFA will be to advocate for  youth player safety, fight government  overreach that prevents parents from  making their own personal choices for  their families, and to protect youth  tackle football. Specifically, MYFA will  work to build support to defeat the  legislation currently seeking to ban  youth tackle football.

The founders of MYFA include President Paul Dauderis, Central Mass  Youth Football & Marlborough AYF,  and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Peter  Cummings M.Sc. M.D.  (HamiltonWenham Youth Football),  MYFA board members, Joel Machado  (New England Youth Tackle Football League), Nathan Bilotta (Central Mass Youth Football and  Fitchburg AYF), Jamie Campo (Eastern Mass Pop Warner and Chelmsford Pop Warner), and Marty Cooke (HamiltonWenham Youth Football) bring a combined 100 years of youth leadership through coaching and league administration.

Dauderis said, “I am excited about the opportunity the Massachusetts Youth Football Alliance has to help inform and educate the Commonwealth about the sport of football, the opportunities it presents to our youth, and the advancements in safety practices and equipment. The Massachusetts youth football community can utilize this alliance to focus on our strength of leadership and highlight local leaders advancing the game, it's safety, and the many benefits it provides to our youth."

“The development of the Massachusetts Youth Football Alliance will allow us to further engage with parents and athletes, local leaders, and the medical community to maximize our impact on youth football,” said Dr. Peter Cummings, Chief Medical Advisor to the Alliance. “No other youth sport has made a more radical transformation and initiated more rule changes to protect our young athletes than youth football has. At MYFA, we will continue to advocate for player safety and support coaches who enforce proper safety protocols because, as dads, our children’s well-being is the top priority.”

The MYFA will work closely with the California Youth Football Alliance (www.cayfa.org), an established and successful advocacy group that has defeated a similar bill in CA. Ultimately, MYFA will create a unified voice to advocate for youth player safety and as it does so, it will continue to support coaches who demonstrate  commitment to safety by providing them with the latest safety techniques and drills available. It will also continue to educate parents and encourage them to monitor a safe environment for their student-athlete to play football.

Please visit www.massyfa.com for more information