Wellston Parents Step Up To Bring Back Youth Football

The lights on the Wellston football field scoreboard were almost off permanently, but a group of parents got together with the determination not to let that happen.  

“It was kind of disheartening, like I said when we kind of asked some questions, like what happened? Nobody really knew. I was just one of those things where it just went away,” said Tyler Barnes, Wellston resident and football coach.  

Barnes knew his kids and other kids in the town really wanted to play football.  

“Some of these kids, if they’re not playing football, they’re not playing anything else,” said Barnes.  

He met with the school board about restarting the program.  

“They said okay, you can use the football field, if you carry your own insurance, you have to pay the light bill, you have to pay the water bill, you have to pay trash, that sort of thing, and we’re just like whatever, we’ll do that,” said Barnes.  

Barnes began making calls to transfer billing to the new league, that’s when he realized the level of his commitment.  

“The water department told us one of the bills last year was two thousand dollars for one month. So, we just kind of talked about it and said, I guess we’re not watering our football field,” said Barnes,  

Businesses in the town began sponsoring the league, while the coaches focused on the kids.  

“Our goal is to help Wellston grow and to help all these kids to get self-discipline, self-reliance and teach them that when you get knocked down, you can get back up again,” said Barnes.  

With football back for the boys, also came cheer for the girls.  

“The parent involvement, the community involvement, is just too big to ignore,” said Barnes.  

Dorothy Swanda remembers how important football games were to her growing up.  

“Football was the thing everyone went to, it was important, it builds community, everyone was there,” said Swanda.  

Now she’s getting to see her own son enjoy the game she loves.  

“Now he gets excited, during games he’s hyped up the whole time, even if they lose, he doesn’t care, he’s just there,” said Swanda.  

“Man, it’s been awesome. Honestly, to see my son play on the field that I got to play on,” said Barnes.  

The population of Wellston is just under 900, and to the delight of the parents and players the first home stand was a huge success. Residents packed the small stadium and concessions were sold out.