With baseball season over, it’s time to move forward into Little League football season. With Mansfield joining the newly created West Central Football League last season, the Tigers were unsure of what they would be walking into. Well, they didn’t walk into anything. They pounced on it! Last season, the third and fourth grade team took home the WCFL Championship while the fifth and sixth grade reached the WCFL Playoffs. Flag Football pushed its way towards the top last season as well. It’s no secret that the Mansfield Little League Football programs have done some serious growth over the past few years and look to continue growing.
The Mansfield Little League board members have made some changes over the offseason to help in assisting with building the programs bright future. They have joined with Hackett and the Greenwood Boys and Girls Club for flag football this season. This gives the Tigers a couple of games at home and will also prevent parents and players from traveling to the same venue every week. They are currently in the process of updating equipment and uniforms for the contact teams also.
The fifth and sixth grade team will don some awesome new jerseys this season along with a new Head Coach, Steven Moore. Steven was an assistant on the 2018 third and fourth grade Tiger championship team and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and heart. He’s a great fit for getting players ready for the next level in Tiger Football. Head Coach Steven Moore said, “I can’t wait for the season to start up. I think youth sports, in general, is a great thing for our local kids. It teaches them responsibility, accountability, and helps with their basic social skills. I just want to help the youth in Mansfield grow into great young men and women.”
The third and fourth grade will be feeding off of their momentum from last seasons championship run. With a very tough group of upcoming fourth graders and the super talented crew of last years flag football players moving up into third grade, the Tigers are poised to hoist another championship trophy. Head Coach David Moore said, “I’m really looking forward to getting this season kicked off. Hopefully, we see last seasons players and a lot of new faces as well. This season we have some key positions to fill from our players that moved up to the fifth grade. We will most definitely have a target on our back after winning the championship last year. It should be a very competitive year and we’re looking forward to another great season.”
The Tigers will be facing some new opponents this year also. The WCFL saw Western Yell depart from the league during the offseason but quickly replaced them with Greenland, West Fork, and Lavaca. Mansfield will face all three of these newly added programs this season along with Magazine, Mountainburg, and fellow rivals the Hackett Hornets. As an added bonus, Mansfield will be the host of the 2019 Little League Jamboree. There’s no doubt that the 2019 Little League Tiger football games will be just as exciting as any of the college football games this season.
Mansfield Little League Football will be conducting sign-ups on July 1st and 2nd and July 9th and 11th at the Middle School field from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.
