When Cody Horner was in elementary school playing PAAL football, he and other kids ran the ball on almost every play.
For a couple years in middle school, Horner was able to play in a 7 on 7 football league that emphasized the passing game. He used the skills he learned playing 7 on 7 to become a standout receiver at Columbus East and now plays receiver and defensive back at Hanover College.
“Thinking about when I played PAAL, I was a running back and we ran probably 90 percent of the time,” Horner said. “We also had a 7 on 7 league that didn’t last too long, but whenever we had it, it was awesome because we never really passed when we were playing in PAAL. Playing 7 on 7 kind of exposed me to catching the ball instead of just getting it handed off to me.”
The 7 on 7 league went away for a few years, but has resurfaced this spring. The league, which is for second-through-sixth-graders, currently is in the middle of a five-week schedule.
Horner, who is home for the summer, is coaching one of the league’s six teams.
“It’s awesome,” Horner said. “Especially now in middle school and high school, it’s mainly pass-oriented, so doing the 7 on 7 kind of exposes them to the passing game and the concepts that go with it. So I think it’s good for these kids to learn how to throw and catch properly before to they get to middle school and high school because that’s when it really starts to pick up.”
That concept — developing passing, catching and pass defending skills — was one of the main reasons for PAAL resurrecting the 7 on 7 league.
“It’s a developmental league, and it’s really good for our future programs,” PAAL vice president Wes Fudge said.
“Because elementary football has such a high focus on the run game and not so much on the pass game, we get a lot of kids that get into junior high or high school, and they don’t even know the route tree. They don’t know how to run them. They don’t know the timing and all that stuff. So by doing it now, we’re getting them acclimated to it, so when they go to junior high, they already know they routes, and they understand the timing.”
PAAL president Steve Blystone said the 7 on 7 league is intended to be a supplement to the tackle bar and tackle leagues that begin in July.
“What we’re trying to do is create and enhance what we do in the fall season by starting something much sooner,” Blystone said. “It’s a quick blast for kids to just get in and start into a tackle football program for the older kids. What this does is, it stretches it out over a six-month time frame, where now, we have a way to work on what this is, which devotes much more effort around the passing game. It’s about working the skill positions. There’s no linemen in here. It’s important to get the skill level up for second grade up through sixth grade through what we’re doing with this piece of our program.”
The 7 on 7 league uses flags instead of tackling and is played on a 45-by-26-yard field. In the PAAL leagues that start in July, Grades K-1 play flag football, second graders play tackle bar and the third/fourth and fifth/sixth grade leagues play tackle.
“A piece of what we’ve tried to attack here is injury rate, and we’ve really been able to squash that,” Blystone said. “If the field is too big, and little kids are playing on a big field, it becomes 10 kids chasing a ball down to the sideline as a kid is trying to run out of bounds to get to a safe zone. Then, you still have the big pile on the end. So when we go to something more to the scale their bodies are at that age, then they can play the game in a much safer fashion.”
Blystone said PAAL has been working on a development process for youth football, much of which of has been through equipment upgrades with the soft-shell helmets and the tackle bar process. With tackle bar, players wear vests with two rubber bars velcroed to the back of the vest, and players have to pull one of those bars to make a tackle.
“In flag, they can still be three feet away from the play, and they’re just chasing,”Blystone said. “It’s a chasing game for little kids. We’re trying to get to the point where the first part of our tackle bar season, we’re trying to get them closer. They’re trying to reach from behind and pull that tackle bar out. During the second half of the season, we’re trying to get to the point where now you understand that your footwork is important, and now, you must get in front of the player and wrap them up and pull it out from there. But that’s a big step to get from chasing the play to stopping the play.”
Each player in the PAAL leagues receives a gold Challenge Coin. The medal-sized coin contains motivational phrases on one side. On the other side are shields of Columbus Police Department, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police, Department of Natural Resources and Columbus Fire Department, all of which help fund PAAL.
PAAL also is giving out awards to three players on each team for mental attitude, leadership and sportsmanship.
About 60 kids are playing in the 7 on 7 league. Fudge said PAAL may try to expand it to include middle schoolers next year.
“With the COVID stuff, it was tough to get out, and nobody knew if we were going to have this league or not,” Fudge said. “So it wasn’t as high of a turnout for the first year. But I think it’s going to be great for next year. I do think it is a win-win program. We’re creating that future success.”
Veteran Columbus North coach Tim Bless and new Columbus East coach Eddie Vogel are hoping to benefit from that future success.
“To me, any activity that’s going to promote youth getting back into football is valuable,” Bless said. “I think our sport took a hit several years ago when all the CTE things came out, some of which was sensationalized and some of which was true. We’re dealing right now with the lowest number of football players we’ve had in years. I think specialization is an issue. Anything that promotes the game of football, I’m in favor of.”
Bless, however, cautioned that the other basic elements of the game need to be developed, as well.
“Spread-the-field football is definitely what’s been in vogue the past several years,” Bless said. “But at the end of the day, football boils down to blocking and tackling, and those are key elements that need to be trained, as well.”
Vogel is taking over at East for longtime coach Bob Gaddis, who was a big supporter of PAAL football. Vogel also feels the 7 on 7 league will be beneficial for the players.
“Kids nowadays don’t go out and throw the football a whole lot, so anytime you can get kids that can throw it, it’s a good thing,” Vogel said. “Anything that you can do to get kids out and active is a good thing, as well. Time will tell to see at the middle school and high school level what kind of impact that makes, but if it keeps kids involved in football, that’s great.”
