Little Guy program introduces kids to game of football

It’s a typical Saturday morning at the Kidsport Complex; the sun is out, cars are squeezed into every parking space within a mile radius and almost every sport but squash seems to be taking place somewhere across the 138 acres on the north side of Kalispell.

But this isn’t just a typical Saturday morning, not for the 670-some boys who are getting their first taste of tackle football this season.

On the second Saturday in September, after three weeks of practice, teams of fourth- , fifth- and sixth-graders put on their brand new jerseys, strapped on their shiny white helmets and huddled up for the season opener of Flathead Valley Little Guy Football.

For some kids, it was the first organized game they had ever played, and perhaps the beginning of a lifetime love affair with football.

That’s what Mike Rauthe and the rest of the volunteer team of organizers hope.

“We’re trying to develop that love for football young,” Rauthe said. “It’s a ton of work getting here but the payoff is the Saturday with the kids.”

A co-founder of the Little Guy program, Rauthe remembers vividly how it all started over 12 years ago.

“People for years had talked about ‘why don’t we have a Little Guy tackle football program?’ Well I went away for a few years and came back and people were still talking about it,” Rauthe said. “So my friend Tim (Severson) and I put together a little plan and did a little research.”

After about a year, the two football enthusiasts turned in their findings to the Flathead County Parks and Recreation, but the organization turned down the proposal.

“I remember it like it was yesterday, we walked out of that meeting and looked at each other and said we just have to find a way to do this ourselves,” Rauthe said.

So it began, little by little.

At the time, there were only flag football programs for youths until seventh grade, when organized tackle football officially begins. But throwing kids into the gridiron at that age without prior experience isn’t a good way to introduce them to the sport, Rauthe believed.

Growing up in Kalispell, Rauthe had been introduced to football the old-fashioned way.

“The neighborhood I grew up in we were very fortunate because it was full of kids,” he said. “I just don’t ever remember not being out in the backyard with a bunch of kids playing something.”

But those days seem to have changed, Rauthe says.

“Kids aren’t playing sandlot sports like they used to,” he said. “These days, sports need to be organized. Kids don’t go out and just play football in the grass anymore. So (Flathead Valley Little Guy) was an organized way to do that.”

In the beginning, Rauthe and Severson talked to similar organizations around the state and the Northwest, taking bits of useful information here and there.

The two football enthusiasts came up with two ideals they thought the whole organization should be based around.

“Our big thing is we call it our fundamentals and participation philosophy,” Rauthe said. “Our thought is kids have to learn fundamentals. We’re not trying to make any Walter Paytons in fourth grade. We wanted it so kids would get to high school and be ready to go. And second, we feel participation is the only way for kids to enjoy the sport. So we made a rule that every kid has to play at least half a game. If they’re coming to practice every day and they have a good attitude at practice, they’ll play.”

The momentum began to build and more people began to join the team of founding fathers. But what about the players? Was this something that enough kids were interested in?

“We put together a questionnaire to see if we would even have any interest and we handed it out at every school in the valley,” Rauthe said. “We figured if we have 100 responses, we would do it. Well we ended up with 220 kids that first year. It just blew away our expectations.”

Those first few years were, as Rauthe puts it, a humble beginning. The games were played on the grass at Kalispell Junior High and later on in the outfield of the baseball fields at Conrad Complex. The equipment was stored in board members’ garages some winters before storage units could be rented. Mountains of paperwork occupied the homes of Rauthe and others.

Wade Rademacher remembers the beginning well. How could he forget?

“We were barely keeping our heads above water. That first year was hard. We did a lot of door knocking for fundraisers,” Rademacher said. “The whole thing has been a pretty big community partnership with lots of people involved. We were just a group of guys who really liked football. At the time, most guys didn’t have kids at that age. But I think a lot of the guys wanted to have something to give that opportunity to our kids when they got to that age.”

The Flathead Valley Little Guy program got on its feet after a few seasons and eventually established itself as being a well-organized fall sensation for young kids interested in football. Thanks to an anonymous donation years ago, official fields at Kidsports were obtained and have been graded and sodded, and goal posts were planted. A vast storage shed was built near the fields where the stacks of helmets and pads rest during the offseason, and where the season opens with a parent meeting.

Following its founding belief, the program doesn’t keep scores or records. The season is nine weeks long with six games for each team. The games are refereed by local high school players. Either one or two doctors are present on Saturdays in case of an emergency, which Rauthe says thankfully has yet to happen. Players who do their part in fundraising get their names put on the back of their jersey, which they get to keep at season’s end.

The volunteers, the coaches, the parents, the players, the supporting community; they’ve all had a hand in the program’s growth overall, Rauthe said.

“Everybody’s put their mark on the program in a way,” he said. “We’re proud of where this started, and we’re excited to where it’s headed.”

All in all, no scores are needed for justification. The program has been a success. Open to kids all around the valley, Flathead Valley Little Guy Football has grown to almost 700 players, with teams from Polson even driving up on Saturdays.

Rauthe could go on all night when talking about Little Guy football. It’s a passion of his and countless others, especially now thanks to the local program.

And something about the sport at its beginning phase resonates with people.

“This will sound strange,” Rauthe said. “The first year we put it on, we were playing games out on the fields and I had several people calling me and saying ‘we drove by or came and watched and it almost put tears in my eyes to see those kids out there playing.’ It struck a key with people, and it still does.”

For information on Flathead Valley Little Guy Football, visit www.flatheadvalleyfootball.com

Reporter Dillon Tabish can be reached at 758-4463, or by e-mail at dtabish@dailyinterlake.com