In the mind of a young football fan, few things are sweeter than a perfectly thrown spiral, breaking the last tackle before the end zone or making the game-saving stop at the goal line. They are truly the stuff of football dreams, and one local organization is giving area youth a head start at making those dreams realities.

The Golden Empire Youth Tackle Football and Cheer Program was formed in 1998 out of a desire to create a competitive feeder program that could better prepare kids for high school football.

Over the last 18 years, the program has grown to over 3,000 participants playing and cheering on 18 teams, each acting as a feeder team for an area high school.

Teams are made up of players who live within the school’s enrollment area and practice on the high school’s field.

“When a player is done playing with us and they get to high school, we want them to be able to just plug in and refine,” said Ron White, executive director and one of the program’s founders. “We want them to know how to tackle, know how to block and know the terminology. We want to share philosophies and ideologies and become an extension of that school’s program.”

In addition to making better football players, White says the program has players rely on one another as part of a team, which develops discipline, sportsmanship, commitment and respect.

“It’s basic citizenship,” he said. “If you’re not taking care of those things in life you’re not going to succeed.”

With any contact sport, safety is a primary concern, and GEYF makes the safety of its players a top priority. In addition to the program’s own training, all GEYF coaches must be certified by USA Football, a national organization devoted to training coaches in safety.

The program also prides itself on making sure each player plays in high-end equipment that is individually fitted for each child.

“We put safety first; everything else is a distant second,” said White. “It has to be that way.”

According to White, the true strength of the program, both on and off the field, is the program’s nearly 500 volunteer coaches and staff members.

“We don’t look at our coaches like coaches,” said White. “You want to impress this organization? Be a mentor.”

One of those coaches, Kraig Gradowitz, varsity coach of the Southwest Mojo, the feeder team for Stockdale High School, started coaching in 2007 when his oldest son became interested in playing. Like White, Gradowitz believes there are valuable life lessons to be learned from football.

“I tell the kids, ‘In life, it’s not just going to come to you easy,’” he said. “‘You’re going to face adversity. And playing football, you face adversity. Sometimes you lose games, but sometimes you overcome adversity. If you work hard and push yourself, you can succeed.’”

Teams normally start holding tryouts as early as March, with the season beginning in September and culminating in playoffs and a bowl game in December.

Last year the program instituted a rookie division for players as young as 6 years old, in addition to its freshman (8-9), sophomore (10-12), junior varsity (11-13) and varsity (12-14) divisions. Both male and female players are welcome.

For more information, visit geyf.org