Is NKYFL Disbanding Their Senior Division?

Roughly. Doesn’t change the fact though that they go from playing against 5-6th graders to playing against 8th graders the next year. There’s a pretty big difference between junior level teams and the teams in the 7th grade division. Playing down a grade in the NKYFL as a 7th grader makes the jump to middle school football tougher the next year. Trust me, I’ve seen it first hand how difficult it is for those kids in that age group to transition. Playing down from your grade is rarely a good idea in any sport.

My son played up this past year with no probelm. He is playing his last year for South Kenton with his buddies 7 years with them.

Has there been any issues with kids playing with those two grades behind them? Seems like there can be a pretty big difference in size at that age.

Junior level is mostly 10, 11 and some 12 year olds.

Junior team is mostly 7th and 6th graders 11 and 12 year olds. Junior youth is mostly 10 and 11 year olds 5th and 6th graders.

I’m not talking about playing up a grade. I’m talking about those 7th graders that stay back and play with 5th/6th graders having trouble with the transition to playing with 8th graders the following year. Those 7th graders that decide to play in the NKYFL lose the transition year they would have by playing on a 7th grade middle school team.

Not even worried about that.

The junior level is predominately 6th graders, with a few 5th graders on smaller teams, and a handful of 7th graders that make the age cutoff. By and large, if you are a 7th grader, you are too old to play in the NKYFL junior division.

I’m just relaying what I’ve seen over my 10 years of experience in regards to this. And there have certainly been exceptions....not every kid is the same.

My son will be a 7th grader and not to old along with several other 7th graders. This past year my son played as a Junior. He went from playing midget level to Junior skipping junior youth had no problem starting and most them kids where 12 years old my son just turned 11.

There are always going to be some outliers in size in every division regardless of age. Almost all of the smaller schools in the middle school league have 6th graders playing with and against 8th graders so it’s not a problem that’s unique to youth football. Realistically, the youth leagues age guidelines should be in step with school grade level guidelines. When I was involved with the NKYFL, the age cutoff was in May. I’m not sure if that’s still true or not.

Still is May 1st for Junior and Midget teams.

I saw that. I hadn't realized Ryle, Conner, Cooper, Boone and Lex Cath had formed their own conference separate from the NKMSAA. I don't know how much program crossover there is between the middle school level and high school level with those programs, but it sounds like those teams should offer some good competition for Ft. Thomas.

I'm pretty sure these aren't school based teams (although boundaries are likely based on school districts and they are basically feeder teams to each school). I know one of the sticking points the Union Raiders, and Fort Thomas has had preventing them from joining the NKMSAA is that they would not limit team members to players just from their own school district.

I wish Boone County Schools would just endorse middle school football. It would be great for all of Northern KY to have all the teams in one league.

It may not be an official entity of the Boone County High Schools, but the Union Raiders website certainly doesn't shy away from implying a close working relationship with the Ryle football program: Union Raiders Football and Cheer

The same goes for the Union Jaguars and Cooper: Union Jaguars Youth Football Association

The website for the Lex Cath middle school program outright states that their teams are "and extension of their respective High School program": Athletics - Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary School - Lexington, KY