The United Youth Football League is alive and well.

And growing.

The UYFL has been around since 1986. Its eight member organizations are Butler, Seneca Valley North, Mars, Saxonburg, Pine-Richland, Hampton, Shaler and Highlands.

Butler and Pine-Richland have two varsity (ages 11-12) and junior varsity (9-10) teams. The other six organizations field one team each.

“Over the past three years, the number of players in the league has definitely been on the rise,” UYFL president Jim Bentley said. “A lot of that has to do with player safety.

“We have EMT's at every game. Some teams have them at practices. Every coach in the league knows CPR and is trained on how to treat concussion symptoms. That's in the league by-laws.”

Bentley is also president of the Seneca Valley North youth program. The team's varsity won the UYFL Super Bowl, 14-0, over Saxonburg this year. The SV North JV team dropped an 18-7 decision to Butler in the Super Bowl.

The varsity player weight limit is 150 pounds. The JV weight limit is 130 pounds. The weight limit for mites (ages 7-8) is 110 pounds.

“We average 21 to 28 players on all of our teams,” Bentley said of the SV North program. “That's just Seneca Valley North. If Cranberry's program was part of us, we could probably field six teams in this league.”

Jim McGowan has been president of the Saxonburg Spartans for 11 years. Their varsity team had 23 players, the JV team 18 and the mites only 13.

“Our 7-8-year-old numbers this year were the lowest since I've been with the organization,” McGowan said. “We usually average 20 or so kids at each level. We're the smallest organization in the league and our numbers fluctuate.

“A lot of times, our sign-up numbers are based on how well our high school team does. The year we went to Heinz Field, our youth sign-ups spiked way up. And just about every member of the Knoch High School team came through our Spartan program.

“We're a small community and the Spartans program is tightly knit with the high school program. My son (Gavin McGowan) is a sophomore on the high school team and helped coach one of our Spartan teams all year,” he added.

McGowan said that three high school varsity football players serve as guest speakers at the Spartans' annual banquet.

Mars' youth football program's numbers are very healthy. The varsity team had 36 kids this year, the JV 30 and the mites 24.

Mars youth president Giovanni Cuzzocrea said his program has more cheerleaders than football players.

“Each one of our teams has 50 cheerleaders,” he said. “The girls love it. They are a big part of our organization.

“At our annual banquet, when they get to dress up for the affair ... It's one of the biggest parties of the year in Mars.”

He added that injuries on the playing field are rare.

“Football is on the rebound again,” Cuzzocrea said. “All of our coaches are certified. We teach proper tackling technique, proper blocking technique. We show parents how safe the game is.

“We didn't have one concussion in any game this year.”

Bentley said the UYFL has incurred five concussions in the last 18 years.

“They're kids,” he said of the age groups. “They don't get hurt on the football field. They get hurt on the playground, by falling off skateboards or bicycles.”

Youth football players “don't have the size and can't generate the speed to really hurt anything in football,” McGowan said. “The kids are taught to keep their heads up when making a tackle. Being on these teams is a positive experience for them.”

Jayson Rees is president of the Butler Area Midget Football League. Butler has been in the UYFL for seven years.

While the Butler Gold JV team won the Super Bowl this year, a Butler varsity team won it in 2017 and 2018.

“It took us a while to adapt to this league and we want our kids to be competitive in it,” Rees said. “We've got 120 kids on our four teams (varsity and JV).

“We only had 30 kids in ages 7-8. We've got 150 to 170 kids in the program. Our goal is to get to 200 next year. Our prime goal is to bring football back (to success) in this area.”

Rees agreed that the speed of youth football is not conducive to serious injury.

“You might see a broken ankle or a broken hand if a kid falls and lands on something the wrong way,” Rees said. “But kids are kids. They can get hurt doing anything.

“Youth football takes a bad rap that way. Honestly, the game is safer than ever.”

McGowan said any movement for youths to play flag football through age 12 is “almost laughable.

“Kids still run into each other in flag football and they're not wearing helmets,” he said. “They would be more susceptible to head injuries.”

Youth football numbers — like other sports — generally go in cycles from year to year. Bentley figures the number of kids playing on the gridiron will continue to rise.

“It's coming back,” he said of football. “Parents are starting to trust the game again. That's a big part of it.”