Troubles start early
Butler High School's varsity football team recently completed its second winless season in three years and hasn't had a winning season since 1997. This is the final of a three-part series examining the struggles of the program.BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area Midget Football League was formed in 1948 when A.G. Cappezutti was the Golden Tornado head football coach."He felt it was needed at the time and it's been a part of this community since," said Art Bernardi, retired Butler High varsity coach and current Butler School Board member.The idea was to run the same basic plays and use the signal-calling system the high school team employed.Current BAMFL teams are Butler Township, East Side, South Butler, Meridian, Center Township and Penn Street."The concern some people have is the players aren't developing as well as they could because they're not seeing any outside competition," said Bill Halle, president of the Butler Lil' Tornados youth football program."You know the big dogs in your backyard. You want to face the big dog in other backyards."Lil' Tornados arriveHalle recently moved to Butler from Beaver County, where he ran a youth football league that faced outside competition. He has three sons who played for the Freedom Lil' Bulldogs, Freedom High and then played college football.The Lil' Tornados were formed this year. They weren't members of any league, but they scrimmaged teams from other areas and had 70 youths in the program."Some dads approached me about forming a youth program in Butler, so I did," Halle said. "We're not competing with the Midget program. This is just another option, another way to go."We were hoping to get about 45 kids. I was shocked at our immediate numbers."The Lil' Tornados will play in the United Football Youth League next season. Seneca Valley, Shaler, Pine-Richland, Saxonburg, Allegheny Valley and Mars have teams in that league.Butler will field three teams: ages 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12. The Lil' Tornados' concept is to send its players to the Butler Junior High football program when they reach seventh grade."We've talked to the high school coaches because we want our kids to do what they're teaching the high school kids," Halle said. "Blitzing, tackling, blocking, offense, defense, everything."BAMFL eyeing changesThe Lil' Tornados are operating separately from the high school program. In fact, Butler head varsity coach Jeff McAnallen recently met with BAMFL coaches."We're trying to set some things up to have a more effective feeder system," McAnallen said. "We're working with the Midget coaches to get some things done."East Side varsity coach Andy Fair applauds the move."We run an intense program and teach the kids to play to the whistle," Fair said. "We want our guys to be ready to play at the next level."All of us just need to work closer together, get on the same page."Bob Greaves, varsity head coach of Meridian and BAMFL vice president, said the league's in-house competition will continue. But the league is exploring options of playing out-of-area teams as well.Ringgold, Gateway and the Catholic League of Pittsburgh are potential opponents."We sent our eighth-grade all-star team to Gateway this year and won that game," Greaves said. "That was a bit of an eye opener for us."Greaves is from McKeesport, "where football is blue collar, hardcore. ... Kids tend to stick it out and hang in there."There is definitely football talent in Butler, more so than in McKeesport. Butler is a sleeping giant that way."The BAMFL had 600 players three years ago. The league had 450 in 2008 and between 350 and 400 this past season. The age range for the league is 9 to 14.The weight limit for the varsity — ages 13 to 14 — teams was 150 pounds this year. Greaves said that might be raised next season. By comparison, Westmoreland County's youth football weight limit is 175."We may limit running backs to a certain weight. We're exploring some options that way," Greaves said.Nationally, Pop Warner football starts youth players at age 8. The BAMFL is considering that as well."We have to get kids to stick with football," Greaves said. "It used to be kids paid their dues and waited their turn. You stick around, you don't quit."Seniors look backButler senior running back Jake Thompson played for Prospect in the ABC Youth League for five years before playing for Center Township as an eighth grader."If I had to do it all over again, I'd have played for the junior high team my eighth-grade year," Thompson said. "There was quite a jump in quality of opposition my freshman year."Tornado senior quarterback Cole Harvey agreed."The kids on other teams were so much bigger and better when I joined the freshman team," said Harvey, who played for Center Township from third through eighth grade. "If I knew I wasn't going to pursue football past eighth grade, I would play for Center Township all over again."But to get ready for the transition to high school ball, I wish I had played for the junior high team."Senior lineman Dylan O'Donnell played for East Butler, but he could not play his eighth-grade season because he was 20 pounds above the weight limit."I played for the junior high in eighth grade," O'Donnell said. "Our freshman team struggled in the first couple of games, but we all came together pretty good after that."Senior lineman Dan Santoro missed his sixth-grade football season because of the BAMFL weight limit.Between proposed changes in the BAMFL and the formation of the Lil' Tornados, the hope is Butler's football fortunes will turn around."Our desire is within six years, our kids will kick butt instead of getting their butts kicked," Halle said."Butler will pull out of this longtime funk," Greaves said. "It may take a while to fix it, but it can be fixed."It's going to happen. They will win."
