WEXFORD — The North Pittsburgh Catholic Ironmen youth football program is about more than winning.

It’s about family.

The Ironmen are comprised of three teams, 68 players and 35 cheerleaders. Their developmental team is for third and fourth graders and first-year fifth-grade players. The junior varsity is fifth and sixth graders, the varsity seventh and eighth graders.

Participants are drawn from seven Catholic schools north of Pittsburgh, including Butler Catholic, St. Gregory’s in Zelienople and St. Killian’s in Cranberry Township.

“We’ve got more than 100 families involved,” said Steve Spotts, president of the Ironmen organization and the developmental team’s head coach. “These people form friendships that last far beyond this level.

“We serve as an umbrella organization that brings communities together.”

The Ironmen organization is six years old. Spotts, a Cranberry Township resident who has coached baseball in that community for 18 years, has a son who came through the Ironmen program.

He is now a sophomore defensive tackle for unbeaten Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

“We’ve got former Ironmen who have gone on to North Catholic, Central Catholic, OLSH, Vincentian ... They’ve gotten plenty of playing time with quality high school programs,” Spotts said.

The Ironmen play in the Greater Pittsburgh Diocesan League. The junior varsity squad won the league title for a second successive year. The three Ironmen teams were a combined 19-4-1 this season.

Home games are played at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium. Eventually, they will be played on the CW North Catholic campus when those outdoor athletic facilities are completed.

“Our game days are special for the kids,” junior varsity coach John Nicotra of Cranberry Township said. “We have a public address announcer and the kids are not introduced individually. They walk out together to the 50-yard-line, holding hands.

“Families stay all day. Grandparents work the sticks. Different moms work in the concession stand so others can watch their sons play. The family atmosphere is overwhelming.

“When the season ends and we hold the postseason banquet, everyone is genuinely sad that it’s over,” Nicotra added.

While the Ironmen numbers are healthy, player participation has dwindled among other teams in the league. St. Bartholomew’s, a traditional league power out of Penn Hills, didn’t have enough players to field a developmental team this year.

St. Sebastian’s couldn’t field even one team this season.

“Our program keeps gaining steam,” Spotts said. “We have plenty of coaches at every level, so the kids receive plenty of individual instruction.

“We teach them how to play the game properly and all of our teams run the jet sweep offense, so everybody’s on the same page all the way through.”

As Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic grows, Spotts anticipates the Ironmen program growing with it.

“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet, that’s for sure,” he said.