Jr. Wolverines Look to Increase Numbers

Before there was a Rosemont High School, there was a football program–it just wasn’t called that.

The local youth football and cheerleading teams, which previously fed into Hiram Johnson High School, have been around since the late 1990s.

President Eric Davis is encouraging interested kids to sign up before June 17, when registration fees will increase $50.

Sign-ups for cheerleading and football in the 12 to 14-year-old age ranges have lagged, Davis said. The program will usually have 20 or 30 cheerleaders and 125 football players, he said.

Davis, whose son has played Jr. Wolverines football for seven years, said the sport builds confidence, teamwork and discipline. He also said it helps kids take out anger or frustration in the right way.

“What we try to do is teach kids to take that anger and bring it out to football practice–don’t take it out on someone at school or a parent,” he said.

Another added benefit for parents whose kids seem to bounce off the walls all day: football will wear them out.

“He’s going to slow down at home because he’s going to be tired or he’s going to save his energy for practice later that day,” Davis said.

Davis also touted the Jr. Wolverines’ ethnic diversity.

“It’s a great thing because these kids get to know each other outside of just stereotypes,” he said.

The Jr. Wolverines have had a number of successful teams. Last year, all four football teams made the playoffs and one went undefeated. Davis hopes that success will stay with the players who continue on to play as a Wolverine at .

“We’re trying to build a high school program that will be a good program over the years because we have all these kids that have been playing with us over a [long time],” he said.

For more information on the Jr. Wolverines, visit http://www.rosemontjrwolverines.org. The team will hold a firework sale fundraiser between July 1 and July 4, in the Pita Q parking lot at Folsom Boulevard and Bradshaw Road.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Jr. Wolverines President Eric Davis. Rosemont Patch regrets the error.