A love of football, and fondness for the community, gave Andy Slagle a new mission moving forward to work with up-and-coming football players.
Slagle, with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department, is putting together the key components of assisting one junior football and cheer program in Carter County.
Creating teams is nothing new for Slagle, who coaches the Appalachian Outlaws semi-professional football team. While comprising a handful of local talent that played for the World Class Football League (WCFL) championship this past season, the head coach is working with the Jr. Rangers organization to rebuild a football tradition in Stoney Creek.
“I worked at Unaka Elementary as student resource officer (SRO) and you couldn’t ask for a better group of kids,” Slagle said. “They mean a lot to me and I wanted to be able to do something to help the kids moving forward.”
Fast forward from his time at the school to now, Slagle is working in conjunction with the Alliance Football League (AFL), the new league the Outlaws will be part of, to organize a football camp and fundraisers to assist the Jr. Rangers’ program.
A friendship struck up very quickly between Slagle and current organization president, Chad Odom.
“I was nominated present of the Stoney Creek Youth Club and I had been talking with Andy,” Odom said. “He heard what we have been going through with the program and he was willing to help in anyway possible. The board members and myself had I talked about doing a camp for the kids before.
“He asked me if we would like to have a camp with the Outlaws and the other teams we thought that would be great,” Odom said. “It is great for the kids and we really appreciate the help and support from Andy and the Outlaws program.”
The camp’s time and date is still to be determined, according to Slagle, but the prices will be set for $10 for each participant. The money raised from the event will go right back into the program to assist with costs. Along with the Appalachian Outlaws, various teams from the AFL will assist with the camp.
“The AFL has been great,” Slagle said. “They really stress working inside the community and you’re looking at teams that have a lot of talents. Guys that went on to play at the college level and beyond and it’s great for them to be able to come into the community and work with the kids of Stoney Creek.”
After internal issues arose, the new board members of the youth club are ready to move forward, according to secretary Nicole Cannon.
“The program restarted two seasons ago with the encouragement of coach Donald Ensor,” Nicole said. “We had a rocky start but after bringing in all new board members and establishing new by-laws … we feel like we are moving in a positive direction. We have many faither Unaka, Hunter, and Keenburg individuals who are eager and willing to work to make us a great community.”
The new board members consist of Odom as present, Malarie Ward – commissioner, Richard Braswell – vice president, Kelly Salinas – treasurer, Cannon – secretary and Tammy Markland – cheer coordinator.
At the end of the day, it all goes back to helping the children, Chad said.
“The kids in our community mean a lot to us,” he added. “We want them to be able to stay in their own community to play football with their friends. The kids in our community are the reasons why we are striving so hard to keep this program going. We really appreciate the support we have had from the businesses that allow us to do these fundraisers and from Andy and the Outlaws.”
Along with the camp, three fundraisers are already on the docket for the Jr. Rangers, according to Cannon.
Larissa Trivette, assistant principal at Unaka High School, is providing a Thirty-One Fundraiser, where the club will receive 25 percent of profit from items sold. Individuals can visit mythirtyone.com/1807468 for more information. Along with the items being sold, Rico’s Pizza is holding a fundraisers July 11 from 5 to 8 p.m. with Cannon crediting the supporting from Rico’s.
“This is the second year we’ve worked with Rico’s,” she said. “They have been amazing to us.”
Unaka will also host a fundraiser at Pizza Hut on July 25 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Sign ups for football players and cheerleaders will be held July 5, 7, and 8 at Hunter Elementary gym from 5 to 7 p.m. Another sign up date has been announced for July 9 from 10 a.m. to noon at Unaka Elementary. Children five to 12 years old are welcomed and the league is also in the search for coaches. For more information, contact the like via Facebook by searching Unaka Youth Football and Cheer.