GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley youth football program is a special one that has been around for half a century. Organized as a means to improve the quality of football in the community to feed into Gridley High School, Byron Knox, Gary Rudd, Bob Onyett, Brud Soares, Ron Sanford, Don Anderson, and Ben Curcuru came together 50 years ago and started the youth football program. As the Gridley Titans begin the 50th season of the Gridley youth football program, the organization wanted to honor the founding members at their annual spaghetti feed fundraiser on Saturday, August 10th, held at the Veterans Memorial Building in Gridley.

Byron Knox, Gary Rudd, and Bob Onyett were present as the founding fathers were recognized by Gridley Titans president Yolie Davis, fellow board members, and over 300 community members in attendance. Board member Billie Davis prepared the spaghetti feed dinner for the evening as community members engaged in a silent auction and bought tickets for raffle prizes donated by various community businesses and organizations. As a thank you for allowing the event to be held at the Veterans Memorial Building, Yolie Davis and Harmony Scarberry presented the Veterans of Foreign Wars American Legion Auxiliary Post 5731 with a plaque.

Gridley High School varsity head coach Matt Kemmis was the keynote speaker of the evening and spoke to the audience about things that are important to him, the virtues he wants to instill in his high school program, and about getting back to the roots of a program that was started 50 years ago. Coach Kemmis talked about faith, family, and football and how he is a part of the Gridley community for the long haul and wants to see the youth football program thrive for decades to come. One way to bring both sports programs together is by building a working relationship where the youth program runs similar to the high school program. As players get older and move on to high school football they’ll have a sense of comfort knowing the fundamentals of the program they learned in the youth program.

As of this year Gridley Titans football is no longer under the Northern California Federation program, but is now a part of the larger Sacramento Youth Football organization which consists of about 70 teams. Instead of having teams like Pee Wee’s and Midgets the organization is now based off age group (e.g. 14u). Now a part of the Division 1 North, Gridley will be playing games against Foothill, Red Bluff, Orland, Shasta, West Valley, Enterprise, Pleasant Valley, and Chico beginning with a jamboree at Chico High School on August 17th. The official season begins August 31st and runs to October 26th before playoffs. The Gridley Titans will have home games on September 21st, October 5th, 19th, and 26th played at Bulldogs Stadium. Hope everyone can get out and support this wonderful organization.