Texarkana League of Champions, if just that

TEXARKANA, Arkansas - Youth football has always been a cornerstone of youth athletics across America.

Youth football has gotten so popular, there's shows such as,'Friday Night Tykes,' dedicated strictly for fans and followers of youth football.

In the Texarkana area, there is a local version of the youth football craze with the Texarkana League of Champions.

The Texarkana League of Champions is a subset of American Youth Football, which has youth organizations nationwide.

Jarred Patterson is President of the Texarkana League of Champions, Antony Robinson is the Vice President and Donnell King is the Director of Quality Control

"We're a grassroots organization and all of our founding members are from Texarkana," Robinson said. "We came together last December and decided we would keep our youth football locally. We started out as a travel youth football team but we knew we had the infrastructure here to be successful.

"We started off traveling a lot and playing on the road. We have a eight team league and this year we fielded four teams to be 'Associations'. Each Association has four different levels. There's flag, which are 4-6 year olds, Mighty Mites, Juniors and Seniors. We range from age 4-12."

The Texarkana League of Champions is comprised of 400 student-athletes. The student-athletes are divided up into four teams and also by division.

"We are a charter member of the American Youth Football League, which is the largest youth football organization on the planet. Their headquarters is in Florida but they play nationally each year. Our charter covers Bowie, Little River, Lafayette, Cass and a few other counties. We cover Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas and Southeast Oklahoma.

"This is our inaugural season here in Texarkana. We had a six week season, which concluded with our Super Bowl last week. Our Texarkana Raiders Association had all four levels win the Super Bowl. They had a clean sweep this year and we're sending three of their tackle divisions to Florida to compete at a chance to win the national championship."

For more information about the league or how to get involved, their website is www.Texarkanaleagueofchampions.com and @TKLOC on all social media platforms. You may also email the league at [email protected].

"When you look at the Texarkana League of Champions, you're able to come support us week in and week out," Robinson said. "We play at home every week and that's unprecedented. Most other youth leagues that you'll find will have to travel. There may be six games but four of those are on the road.

"We've partnered with Miss Rosie Warfield and we've had a groundbreaking ceremony at Warfield Memorial Park powered by the Texarkana League of Champions. We're going to have a full 100-yard football field, playground with dressing rooms for both teams. We have our own facility and every coach goes through certification through our league offices."

Upcoming Events