By DAVID LURIE
East Meadow PAL, which has given local children the chance to play many sports ‹ lacrosse, baseball and softball ‹ in their own backyard for many years, has now included football for the second year in a row among its list of sports.
PAL¹s new league was made possible by a number of individuals who wanted to create a football league that could teach the fundamentals of the game without the hassle of traveling outside East Meadow.
PAL President Frank Mazza and Vice President John Spiro were instrumental in the formation of the league in 2006, when it produced two teams of youngsters ‹ Midgets, who are the 9 to 10 year-olds, and Ponies, the 11 to 12 year-olds. Mazza and Spiro used their connections with the Nassau Suffolk Football League to start East Meadow¹s 2006 team, which organizers say proved successful for a first-year program.
Organizers added that last year¹s teams were only a stepping stone for the blossoming football league as the number of enrolled children has doubled for 2007.
PAL Director Kevin Maffei said, ³The PAL will endorse any community activity that the community wants.²
The PAL football program was certainly in demand. With the East Meadow High School football team gathering steam following its successful 2006 season, the PAL program is looking to create a system that prepares young athletes for high school.
³It¹s like a minor league for the high school,² Maffei added.
Spiro said he believes that the new league would serve to contribute to the growing success of the high school program. ³They need to learn how to put on that uniform,² Spiro said during the league¹s recent registration at Eisenhower Park. ³Twenty-five kids signed up and 25 kids were there every game,² he added, citing the success of the program.
Spiro attributes its success to coaching staff member Ted Banker, former offensive lineman with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, who coached the Midgets into the playoffs in their first season. ³There was a lot of interest,² Banker said. ³And I can assure parents that I will teach the fundamentals of football and life.²
Banker added that during his time in the NFL he learned the importance of blocking and tackling to win football games. He brought that philosophy to his team to help the future high school players become more consistent.
Banker hopes that the high school program will also incorporate many of his league¹s plays into the high school¹s playbook, striving to improve the standing of the East Meadow and Clarke football teams.
With nearly 90 kids already enrolled to play in the 2007 season, Spiro¹s goal is to put more than 100 kids in uniform by the end of registration on Aug. 15. A large roster would allow the league to field five teams and expand the program.
Parents who are interested in registering their children with PAL should contact Spiro at (516) 351-0389.
Comments about this story? HFlores@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
