Restructuring of the Butler Area Midget Football League continued recently with the naming of three new head coaches.

Only Bob Greaves of Meridian — which won its first league title since 1992 last fall — returns as a head coach from last season. Greaves also serves as president of the BAMFL.

New coaches for 2012 include Jeff Tonini at Center Township, Bill Shultz at Butler City and Ralph McElhaney at East Butler. All three are former coaches who played in the BAMFL and for the Butler High School team.

“We were looking for guys with ample backgrounds in football with plenty of experience,” said Chris Morrow, a Meridian assistant coach and part of a five-person committee selected to find coaches. “All of these guys have solid track records.”

Tonini recently served as an assistant coach at Broadneck High School, which won the Maryland state championship. Shultz was an assistant coach at Butler City last year and serves as secretary of the league.

McElhaney is a former Butler High School assistant coach who served as head coach at East Butlerfrom 1999-2003.

“I’m from East Butler and played for that team,” McElhaney said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to attract young people back to the football program.

“When I took over at East Butler in 1999, we had 22 kids. At the time I left, we had 100 players total for our three teams. Hopefully, we can generate similar interest again.”

McElhaney said it’s imperative that numbers increase in the East Butler and Butler City programs.

“There was plenty of interest in the Butler City and Center Township positions,” Morrow said. “We feel like we have the most qualified people in place there.

“These coaches will motivate kids because they’re very passionate about the league.”

Tonini coached at Butler under Bill Bohren and played for McElhaney and BAMFL vice president Hank Leyland with the Golden Tornado.

McElhaney described him as “a people person who’s in the process of setting himself up with a good staff.”

Leyland is the son of Harry Leyland, who coached South Side, South Butler and East Side for more than 50 years.

“This isn’t the first time this league has changed,” Hank Leyland said. “It’s had to adapt to the times over the years. Next year, our younger kids will play travel football.

“The goal has always been the same, to get these kids prepared to play high school football and to teach them about life through the game of football. We’ve created some lifelong friendships through this thing.”

Leyland said the committee received plenty of qualified candidates for the head coaching positions.

“I’m pretty excited about the direction we’re going,” he said.

Each of the BAMFL’s four teams will have a varsity, junior varsity, mighty mite and flag football team. The flag team is non-contact and is for 7 and 8-year-olds.

League sign-ups will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 16 and 30 at the BAMFL locker room building in Memorial Park. Physicians will be on hand to give physicals for $20, if desired.

Registration fee is $100, but half of that can be reclaimed through the sale of league discount tickets.

Anyone who is not 15 years old by Dec. 31 is eligible to play in the league, regardless of his school grade. The weight limit is 150 pounds.