Nobody is quite sure how old the blocking sleds used at the Iola Middle School football field were.
The sleds were uncovered years ago, hidden amid a thicket of brush at the edge of the practice fields at Riverside Park.
“They were old then,” IMS football coach Marty Taylor said, “and that was long before I ever got here.”
Problem was, school officials could never figure out a way to squeeze an extra $4,500 out of the IMS budget to pay for new ones.
Enter the Allen County Youth Tackle Football League.
“We knew we couldn’t afford new sleds, and we knew the middle school didn’t have it in its budget, so we went together and split the costs,” said Josh Oberley, youth football league director.
The new JV Mod sleds were assembled at the IMS field earlier this month. On Wednesday, the sleds were shown to a group of financial backers of the youth league for the first time.
The sleds are designed so that they could be attached as a single, seven-man sled, or taken apart for several smaller sleds.
Such joint projects are vital to helping expose youngsters to sports such as football, Oberley said.
The sleds will be used for the first time in the coming weeks as practices start for the middle school, and for the youth league, geared for students in grades 3-6.
Oberley encouraged youngsters wanting to be a part to sign up for the youth league. Practices start around the time school starts.
The youth football league will be a featured part of a football jamboree in early September.
Scrimmages among the youth teams, IMS and Iola High School will follow each other in quick succession.
“Coach (Doug) Kerr is very interested in seeing our youth league continue to grow,” Oberley said, noting communities with thriving youth leagues tend to have more successful middle school and high school teams.
New sled aids young gridiron stars
