Ken Roberts
Sports Writer
Some young men will be putting on the helmet and shoulder pads one more time as they vie for a position on the newly created semipro football, the East Linn Loggers.
Under the auspices of the organization, National Nine-Man Football, a team based in Sweet Home and the surrounding community will begin its inaugural season this year under head coachJesse Garcia. Garcia has the responsibility of finding 30 players to compete, facing opposing teams from as far away as McMinnville to the north and Eugene to the south.
The league, under the direction of league manager Peter Machacek, is adding the East Linn team along with two others in Stayton and Albany to its previously existing five teams. They will form two divisions, the Willamette Division with the Loggers, the Santiam Thrashers, the North Valley Hunters, and the Yamhill County Enforcers and the Cascade Division with the Cascade Steel, the Eugene Knights, the Oregon Outlaws, and the Springfield Wildcats.
Prior to the first official practice on January 24, Garcia is conducting tryouts. Right now,he has 18 players committed to the team and hopes to attract more once the word gets out, not only from Sweet Home, but Brownsville and Lebanon and any other area where there is an interested party.
“This is a working man’s league,” said Garcia, who mentioned that some people were interested but couldn’t adjust their work schedules. “Work comes first, football second.”
Prior to the first game on April 10th, the Loggers will practice three days a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Once games start (which will always be on Saturdays), practices will be reduced to two.
The whole notion began when Garcia’s son, Jesse, Dan Wilson, and Kenny Gaskey heard about the league and began to inquire. The league held an impromptu meeting and was impressed with the interest shown on short notice. The search for a coach led to Garcia, who played football himself at a California high school that won 11 district championships in a row. After his playing days were over, he joined his high school coaches, all of whom had professional or semipro experience, in a summer program for a few years.
He has coached youth baseball locally where he met many of the players whom he will coach, but football has always been his first love. Combine that interest with his favorable impressionof what the league is trying to accomplish and you have yourself the Loggers’ first coach.
“After I had a meeting and heard Machacek’s philosophy, I was impressed,” said Garcia. “He wants to create a community partnership and a family atmosphere.”
To assist him, Garcia has enlisted the help of George Dominy, Don Williams, and Bob Teter as assistant coaches.
In this pay-to-play league, each team has to pay team fees and league fees to cover the costs of the organization, which manages each team. Not only will these players and coaches be football players, they will be fund raisers as well, selling everything from tickets, merchandise, and advertising packages created by the league. Each player is responsible for providing their own insurance.
The league also is responsible for negotiating for playing fields, buying uniforms, and paying for officials. On top of that, Machacek wants to produce identical entertainment procedures fromstadium to stadium. He brings in the public address announcers and even controls the music played (one song being “Proud to Be an American”) so that the family atmosphere will be protected.
The league also has some special rules to increase interest. As an example, they are bringing back the possibility of a drop kick, granting an additional point if kicks are made that way on extra point conversions or field goals. Field goals are live balls even on offense. If a field goal is caught by an offensive player, it can’t be advanced but it can be caught for a first down or even a touchdown.
Garcia thinks this is a good idea for Sweet Home.
“It brings our community entertainment,” said Garcia. “I don’t see any problem with a fan-base.
This is a football community.”
The players already began to work out prior to the tryouts just to get themselves in playing shape.
“They’ve been doing the extra things,” stated Garcia. “They went into it with full-bore dedication.”
The average age appears to be around 23. They have a number of reasons for trying to play one more time. Some didn’t get a chance to play enough in high school; others who did play want to see if they still have what it takes. Most of them just love the game and want to play some more.
“I didn’t get to play my senior year,” said Rod Jaques. “I want to make up for that I guess, just to see if I still have what it takes and leave it all out on the field this time.”
At 32, Greg Williams brings experience and a bloodline of athletes. His father played in the minor leagues for the Minnesota Twins. He himself hooked on with the Eugene Mercury, a team similar to the Loggers that disbanded, so he is trying out again.
“It’s always been in my blood to play,” said Williams, who knows from experience what it will take for this team to put out a successful product. “Everybody will just need to be focused onfootball.”
Ticket prices for games will be $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, high school students with student body cards and youth age 7-12. Youth under seven are admitted for free.
(If anyone is interested, they can contact Garcia at 367-6819 or find out more information at http://www.nineman.com)