Inaugural Press Release
/SAN FRANCISCO / December 3, 2018 - In order to relentlessly and continually advance the great sport of youth tackle football, the California Youth Football Alliance (CAYFA) has been formed by three co-founders, Steve Famiano, Joe Rafter, and Ron White. The co-founders are part of the original Save Youth Football California Coalition who led the charge to defeat a California state bill to ban youth tackle football in April of this year.
“This past spring was a new beginning,” stated Joe Rafter, President of the California Youth Football Alliance. “We are so deeply committed to advancing youth tackle football that we decided to form a nonprofit corporation to proactively increase our impact in the state of California.”
The CAYFA will continue to work with the California football community, medical community, legislators, and supporting stakeholders like industry experts and equipment manufacturers to support compliance with existing safety standards as well as create new standards and practices that will honor, improve, and advance the sport of youth tackle football. To aid their achievement, the Alliance is continuing to add board members who share a similar passion for its purpose.
Their goals include researching and developing safety improvements for the entire football community, equipping youth administrators with safety policies, processes, and technology, and inspiring coaches, parents, and players to enthusiastically adopt new methods, techniques, and mindsets.
There is a void in the youth football structure, and the CAYFA is taking action to organize and fill it. Youth tackle football is a very diverse community with many leagues/conferences, associations/chapters, and players. By coming together to create a unified voice we protect our right to play youth tackle football as well as strengthen our sport and all those it serves.
With a bias for action, and in partnership with Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), the CAYFA is sponsoring the California Youth Football Act that was introduced in Sacramento today. “We see this as a necessary step to advance our sport while preserving the rights of thousands of Californians to choose to play youth tackle football,” said Rafter. The bill will be posted on their website on Tuesday, December 4, 2018.
ABOUT
The purpose of the CAYFA is to advance youth tackle football by honoring our past, improving our present, and advancing our future so that more generations of student-athletes, coaches, and communities can experience the intellectual, emotional, social, and physical developmental benefits of the sport. For more information, please visit www.cayfa.org.
Press inquiries can be made to info@cayfa.org