Following a green light from its school board, East Aurora School District 131 is beginning the process of starting up middle school tackle football, with the goal of debuting a program next fall.
At the district’s school board meeting on Tuesday, Superintendent Bob Halverson said that East Aurora hasn’t offered tackle football for middle-schoolers for some years now.
“We really want to focus on trying to build these youth programs out,” Halverson said. “And we wanted to start with the football program here.”
Halverson said a middle school tackle football program would provide physical health benefits, give students “the opportunity … to collaborate” and allow for partnership with the community.
It would also serve as a feeder for the high school football program, a district presentation notes.
And it would help get students engaged, Halverson said.
“We know that our students need buy-in at the younger ages to stay involved, to find the things that they love,” Halverson said. “This is another opportunity for us to foster that.”
It could also have academic benefits, according to Halverson.
“When students are involved in athletics, they definitely perform better (academically), because they’re ready, they’re prepared, they have other goals outside of the academic side,” he said.
Asked about demand, Halverson said he thinks there’s “definitely an interest.” The district’s plan would be to have a single program for all middle-schoolers hosted at one of the district’s middle schools, with varsity and junior varsity options. The tackle football program would be a boys program, the district’s spokesperson confirmed.
In addition to this impending change, the district also recently started a girls high school flag football team, joining a number of other districts in the state that have started teams after the sport became IHSA-sanctioned in 2024.
As for the middle school football program, the district would need to offer tackling training for coaches and meet Illinois State Board of Education requirements, as well as ensure it has safety protocols in place and have updated equipment, Halverson said. Equipment costs would likely be around $6,000.
Tuesday’s vote by the school board was to approve and move forward with the process of finalizing the program, the district’s spokesperson said on Wednesday, with the hopes of starting up in the fall.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
