Youth Football League Hosts Super Bowl at Troy High on Saturday

Troy residents will get an opportunity to watch a Super Bowl in person this Saturday at .

Instead of watching the National Football League teams compete, the stars of this Super Bowl VII will be the Northern Youth Football League (NYFL) players. The NYFL is a youth league divided into three divisions: varsity with 12- and 13-year-olds, junior varsity (JV) with 10- and 11-year-olds and freshman with 8- and 9-year-olds. The Troy (Cowboys) Youth Football Association (TYFA) is a member of the league and is hosting the Super Bowl, which is played at each division level, this year.

The TYFA has been in existence for 55 years, but is only in its second year of membership in the NYFL. The league decided to switch leagues to directly compete with teams that the Troy high schools play, including Clarkston, Lake Orion and Oxford teams.

“Our players move on to both Troy High and and sometimes Avondale or Brother Rice to play football,” said Brad Robinson, JV assistant coach and webmaster for TYFA. “So this way, they get a little taste of what their competing teams will be like.”

The youth league is the alternative to playing on the area middle school teams and Robinson noted it prepares players well for playing at the high school level. Between 30 and 40 kids usually to play on each team, and Robinson said though there are starters, everyone is allotted playing time.

“It’s like playing in high school. We have a strong coaching staff, we scout and we watch film,” Robinson said. “We instill values of competing, whether the teams are successful or losing and how to handle that, with the understanding that these kids are kids.”

Competing in the Super Bowl

Though it was decided at the beginning of the season in August that the league would be hosting the Super Bowl, it just so happens that the Troy Cowboys varsity team actually made it to the Super Bowl and will be playing against the Waterford Corsairs. The Cowboys are undefeated and ranked first in the league, according to Robinson. Robinson said the varsity Cowboys and Corsairs made it to the Super Bowl last year as well, but the Cowboys lost.

“Waterford lost to us twice in the regular season this year so right now everything looks good,” Robinson said.

Neither the Cowboys freshman or JV teams made it to the playoffs this year. Winners of each Super Bowl on Saturday will take home a trophy and each team member will receive a medal.

Cost to get into the Super Bowl is $5 per person; kids 6-years-old and under are free. There is a family option for immediate family members of players as well; $15 for a family of six people or more.

Saturday’s Super Bowl schedule

• Freshman at 11 a.m.: Waterford Corsairs "Blue" vs. Brandon Blackhawks "White"
• JV at 1:30 p.m.: Clarkston Chiefs "Gold" vs. Clarkston Chiefs "White"
• Varsity at 4 p.m.: Waterford Corsairs vs. Troy Cowboys

Cheer squads participate, too

In addition to the football teams, the TYFA also has its own freshman, JV and varsity cheerleading squads, with 20-25 girls participating on each squad. The youth girls train and attend all home and away football games to cheer on the boys, Robinson said.

In addition to the football games, the girls have an annual NYFL Mega Cheer competition, which took place last weekend at Oxford High School. All three cheer teams competed and the freshman and varsity teams took first place, while JV took second in their separate divisions.

Robinson said in addition to the cheerleaders, he would like to see many other Troy community members come out to cheer on the Cowboys this Saturday.

“Hosting the Super Bowl is one of those things where we’re not just showing off the Troy Cowboys, we’re trying to show off for the Troy community,” Robinson said.