The North 91原创 Bears Football Association is celebrating a quarter century.
And to mark the 25th anniversary of their inception 鈥� they began as the Walnut Grove Bears before re-branding to North 91原创 鈥� they are inviting the public for a pancake breakfast and a full day of football action at McLeod Athletic Park.
The festivities will take place on Saturday, Sept. 2 鈥� opening day of the Valley Community Football League season 鈥� from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
鈥淚t is kind of exciting to have a nice number like that to celebrate,鈥� said North 91原创 Football Association president Steve Aasen.
Six years ago, however, it looked like the association might not even make it much longer.
Aasen has been on the association鈥檚 board for the past seven years, including the previous five as president.
And he said the situation looked grim.
鈥淲e had no money in the bank, we had to fold our midget and bantam teams within a year or two and we had teams that were unstable and didn鈥檛 win many games,鈥� Aasen said.
Registration numbers were also down to about 60 combined for all of the age groups.
Compare that to this year and the association has nearly tripled in size with roughly 170 players registered in flag, atom, peewee, junior bantam, bantam and midget North 91原创 teams combined.
A concerted effort was made to build the Bears back up, focusing first on the flag and atom levels, and by becoming more visible in the community.
鈥淭here is also a lot of stability in the organization, which I think is the most important part about why we have been able to grow the program the way we have,鈥� he said.
鈥淔rom where we started to where we are now is a huge accomplishment for everybody who is on the board, and that is what keeps me going.鈥�
When Aasen began volunteering, his two sons played football, but both have been out of the sport for the past two years. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped his involvement.
鈥淚t is massive, massive work, tons of hours, but it is all worth it on game day,鈥� he said. 鈥淲atching the kids play every single Saturday and seeing the enthusiasm and the fun that the kids, have 鈥� that is what keeps us going.鈥�
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The money raised from the pancake breakfast 鈥� which will be served by the midget football players from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. 鈥� will help alleviate the team鈥檚 travel costs. There will also be a face painter on hand as well as some other activities and events throughout the day.
