“Football is game that has helped me grow into the man that I am today. Coaches get to be mentors, and I have coaches that I still talk to today that have been a big part of my life.” – Dario Romero
“Football has given me everything in my life – everything good and positive. It’s not just a sport. That funny-shaped ball has given me every good relationship that I’ve had in my life.” – David Kim
The two head coaches of Spokane Public Schools’ new middle school football teams are bringing the joy of the game to more than 150 seventh and eighth grade students this fall for the sport’s inaugural season.
Dario Romero, head coach of the combined Garry and Shaw middle schools team – known as the Pirates in honor of their high school feeder Rogers – has NFL experience. He once even sacked Tom Brady.
David Kim, head coach of the North Central feeder middle schools Glover and Yasuhara, known as the Wolfpack, played the game from middle school through his junior college days. Both became head coaches not to win trophies, but to introduce kids to a sport that changed their lives.
“You’re talking about kids in this district who kind of banded together and saw something they could do together,” Kim said. “When you’re bringing kids together and giving them something constructive to do…. I think it’s an awesome opportunity for them.”
Coaches Kim and Romero will be on opposite sidelines this Friday when the two teams play their inaugural game at ONE Spokane Stadium ahead of that night’s high school football game.
The SPS board approved the launch of a middle school tackle football program in June as part of the district’s priority to expand opportunities for students to participate in activities where they can feel connected to their community in real life.
The pilot program will expand to the district’s other five comprehensive middle schools in future years.
Offering an opportunity for middle school tackle football also better prepares students who want to pursue the sport in high school. While some have played flag football, many of this year’s players are brand new to tackle, which is a different animal and requires additional training for player safety.
“I’m not going to assume anyone knows anything about football, so we’re starting with the ABCs, with the fundamentals,” Romero said.
“Our job as coaches is to teach proper technique, proper recovery, proper nutrition,” Kim said. “We give them all the tools that we know as coaches will help them in that area.”
Learning how to properly tackle – and be tackled – in a supervised environment at the middle school level will contribute to improving player safety in high school.
“Just talking with (Rogers head football coach Ryan Cole), they get kids who’ve never played before and it’s real hard to get them caught up,” Romero said. “Sometimes when they do come out, they tend to quit because it’s new to them and they don’t feel they’re up to par or competing and they’re out of their comfort zone. If we can acclimate them to what football is at a younger age, the demands of it, the competitive side of it, I think it will definitely help develop high school football on this side of the state.”
Still, Kim understands parents' concerns about the safety of young players.
“They don’t want their kid to get hurt. They don’t want kids put in vulnerable positions. We do it safely and teach proper technique,” he said.
Thor Smith is a Garry eighth grader and quarterback on the Rogers feeder team. He was thrilled to learn SPS would offer tackle football this fall after spending time playing neighborhood football with his friends, which had no supervision, no coaches, no pads and generally unsafe conditions.
“I was really happy because I heard a lot of my friends were playing it, too,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play football. Tackle for Garry was the way I could play tackle without getting too hurt.”
Smith said he intends to play at Rogers as a freshman next year. Getting this experience as an eighth grader under the tutelage of a former NFL player will help him and his teammates make the transition.
While the middle school program may have an impact on future high school football scores, a priority for both coaches is to share a love of the game with their young players. Doing this in a safe, educational way will bring positive results that you won’t necessarily see on a scoreboard.
“It’s more than a game to me, and that’s what we give to the kids,” Romero said. “Everybody deserves the opportunity to play the game.”
The inaugural game between these teams takes place at ONE Spokane Stadium on Friday, Sept. 27 at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free for this game until halftime. And Rogers and North Central fans can stick around to see the high school teams play at 7 p.m. If this is your first time visiting the stadium, make sure you Know Before You Go.
