Save Youth Football.com’s Playbook

Version

NumberDescription1.0This is the original publication with a complete definition of Phase 1 and introduction to Phase 2. This version was published before the bill was ever released, and it was influenced by the work of the team up to and through the publish date1.2Updated the USA Football Key Messages. Clarified the PWLS Legislative Example. Edited internal document links.2.0Added Phase 2 to outline our Letter Writing Campaign including sample letters

Introduction

In a press release on February 8, 2018, two California legislators, Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), and Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) have introduced a bill called the Safe Youth Football Act. This proposed bill calls for the lawful ban of youth tackle football statewide.

In the ensuing days, a group of youth and high school football coaches and administrators gathered via telephone to share perspectives and reactions to these statements by McCarty and Gonzalez Fletcher.

As a result of those discussions, a select group of football coaches and administrators began organizing a grass roots movement because they recognized the impacts if this misguided proposal were to succeed. Tens of thousands of youth football players and their family’s freedom of choice are at risk, in the state of California alone. At the time of this document publication, legislation is being discussed in at least 3 other states, in addition to California. They are Maryland, New York, and Illinois.

This playbook is being published to assist, guide, and loosely coordinate the Save Youth Football movement in the State of California with the intention of:

Sharing best practices and talking points and specific actions to be taken to educate and oppose law makers attempting to ban youth football
Inspiring our youth football administrators, coaches, and families to fight to preserve their freedoms by activating the initial phase of our statewide coordinated plan.

We recognize that our voices will have maximum impact if we speak in unison with common themes, not only in California, but in our great nation. We come from many walks of life and as such, we will have many voices offering a common opposition to this ban on youth football. We will unify our local voices in a flawlessly orchestrated manner over a sustained period of time to overwhelm the opposition and continue our good work of evolving the great sport of football.

The Save Youth Football movement is prepared to defend parent’s rights and freedom of choice to decide what sport is best for their child. We have been at the table making the great sport of football safer for years and we want to invite others, including our lawmakers, to learn what we have been doing and join us in our journey. Make no mistake, there are tens of thousands of us who understand what football offers our children, communities and humanity, and we will fight to preserve our rights to play it.

Why did We Publish this Playbook

If the Assembly Members are successful with passing a law to make youth football illegal, we could see the last season of youth football in the fall of 2018, and even that is not guaranteed if the opposition moves faster. Our opposition is

Counting on us to be complacent and apathetic.
Winning the early battles, and more battlefronts are emerging.
More organized, funded, prepared, dangerous, and serious that we anticipate.

Why Should You Read this Playbook

Our path to victory is clear. We must

Stop thinking “this will never happen.” It IS happening, in your back yard.
Protect our right to choose what sports are best for our children.
Engage and educate the opposition in the medical facts of youth football.
Continue enabling and evolving football to be safer each play.
Embrace the diversity in our demographics and football ideology to keep ourselves strong and connected across communities.
Assemble assertive, data-based, compelling, and visible actions to be made in a coordinated manner starting with the great State of California and out to our brothers in MD, NY, and IL.
Galvanize the hearts and minds of others by getting out of our “football friendly” communities and into the opposition’s communities to generate purposeful and focused momentum in Sacramento.
Unify our 100% volunteer army of football families and communities.
Not panic. Hear the wakeup call. Do not press snooze and roll over for another 5 minutes.
Respect our opposition.

The fate of youth football in California, even America, is in your hands.

The Bill

Phase 1 – Pre-Game / Preparing Your Association

As our efforts to engage the opposition take shape, please complete steps 1 through 3 below to declare your position and join us to Save Youth Football. Once the legislative process starts, time will be even more precious that today. Please take these steps immediately to prepare yourself, Association, and community.

Step 1 – Issue a Press Releaseat the League Level

Contact your League President / Executive Director and have them publish a press release stating their opposition to banning youth football in California. Tailor the release based on sample letters in the appendix of this document.
Have your League President / Executive Director email your League logo and link to the press release to saveyouthfootball@gmail.comfor inclusion in the website.

Step 2 – Issue a Press Releaseat the Association Level

Prepare a Press Release from your Association, authored by your Association President / Executive Director. Tailor your release based on sample letters in the Appendices of this document.
Publish your Association Press Release on your website.
Send an email to your entire Association, Alumni, and Community with a link to the Press Release from your League and your Association Press Release. Tailor your release based on sample letters in the appendix of this document.
Email your Association logo and link to the press release to saveyouthfootball@gmail.comfor inclusion in the website.

Step 3 – Recruit and Launch the Save Youth Football Captain Role in your Association

The Save Youth Football Captain(s) in your Association will provide assistance with the grass roots efforts in the streets, neighborhoods, schools, and businesses from your community.
Each Save Youth Football Captain will be accountable for securing 50-100 signed letters from members of your Association’s community.
Be sure that your Save Youth Football Captain(s) are passionate, committed, and willing to get the job done in the coming weeks.
Tailor your invitation based on sample invitationin the appendix of this document.

Phase 2 – Letter Writing Campaign to Engage your Association and Community in Saving Youth Football

Before we launch Phase 2 and mobilize against the bill, we have to meet all of the following conditions:

A bill with language banning youth football is in print – Complete
The bill has been referred to a policy committee – Complete
The policy committee has set a date for the hearing – Targeted for May 1, 2018

Phase 2 should start the week of

April 2 and conclude by April 30.

Step 1 – Launch the Letter Writing Campaign

For all Leagues
1. Open the Save Youth Football League Letter to the Honorable Kansen Chu included here.
2. Read the letter and replace all the red text with text that is appropriate for your League
3. Print the letter and mail it to:
  1. The Honorable Kansen Chu (the address at the top of the letter)
  2. The Committee Members listed here
  3. The Honorable Kevin McCarty, address listed here
  4. Your home town Assemblymember. Click hereto enter your address and find your local Assemblymember.
4. Forward this playbook to all your Association Presidents to ensure they complete Phase 2, Step 1, bullet 2.
5. Email saveyouthfootball@gmail.comto confirm that you have completed all steps.

For all Associations
1. Open the Save Youth Football League Letter to the Honorable Kansen Chu included here.
2. Read the letter and replace all the red text with text that is appropriate for your Association
3. Print the letter and mail it to:
  1. The Honorable Kansen Chu (the address at the top of the letter)
  2. The Committee Members listed here
  3. The Honorable Kevin McCarty, address listed here
  4. Your home town Assemblymember. Click hereto enter your address and find your local Assemblymember.
4. Email or print and distribute the Family letter included in the appendix here to each Save Youth Football Captain.
5. Have the Save Youth Football Captain secure the name, address, and signature of your community members. The more community members you get the better.
6. Collect all the letters for your Association and make 1 copy of each letter for your records. Keep the copies for your Association.
7. Take photo’s of your Save Youth Football Captain(s) doing their great work out in your community and post them to our Facebook page, and Twitter using #tackle2108, #saveyouthfootball and tagging @saveyouthfootball
8. Email saveyouthfootball@gmail.comto confirm that you have completed all steps.

For all Families
1. Open the Save Youth Football League Letter to the Honorable Kansen Chu included here.
2. Read the letter and replace all the red text with text that is appropriate for your League
3. Print the letter and mail it to:
  1. The Honorable Kansen Chu (the address at the top of the letter)
  2. The Committee Members listed here
  3. The Honorable Kevin McCarty, address listed here
  4. Your home town Assemblymember. Click hereto enter your address and find your local Assemblymember.