CYA Football & Cheer Year in Review 2024
Jeremy Johnson, Catoctin Youth Association (CYA) Football & Cheer President
To be a part of anything special, you must have a group of people around you who have a common purpose or goal. In our youth sports program, we rely on positive support from leadership, coaches, parents, volunteers, and community members. Our community, year after year, delivers on support for our youth and its sports programs. Thank you for your support!
The year 2024 was another successful season for our local youth sports program, CYA Football & Cheer. This year was not just another season.
New this year was CYA Girls Flag Football for middle school students, grades 6-8, which had great success. Catoctin fielded two teams and was very competitive in the MVYFL Pilot Program. We look forward to growing this even further as a feeder program for the Catoctin High School (CHS) Girls Flag program. Special thanks to Coach Becky as the CHS Girls Flag coach! Also, your CHS Girls Flag referees were an instrumental part of developing this program. Thank you, ladies!
Our CYA Cheerleaders turned out in great numbers this season with energy and positivity. We had plenty to cheer for with our increase in competitive play this season. The CYA Cheerleading coaches are amazing, led by our Cheer Coordinator Meghan Ridenour.
Our tackle divisions have increased success in competition due to the efforts of our Football Coordinator Chris Cassidy and coaching staff. All our tackle division D1 teams made playoffs this year. While none of our teams made it past the first round of playoffs, a big congratulations is due for a great season to all participants and coaches!
And, lastly, the Youth Flag program (grades K-1) had a great season, led by new Coach Sterlin Workman. Sterlin and his coaching staff guided this young group to success that you can’t measure with any TD scores
or wins.
And now is a good time to segue into different perspectives of how we measure success in youth sports. Success in youth sports often is measured in terms of wins or state championships. Yes, I agree and know that winning brings out the community in numbers at both the spectator and participant level. But what is reality?
Success in youth sports should be measured by the personal growth and development of the young athlete. Instead of fixating solely on game outcomes, pay attention to how our youth are improving their abilities, building confidence, and developing important life skills such as teamwork, resilience, and leadership. This starts with parenting, mentoring, coaching, and support for our youth. We can all see the importance of this message, and it’s all of our jobs to carry this message on, no matter what the scoreboard is reading or the team’s winning percentage.
Catoctin Youth Association Cheerleaders bring spirit to the sidelines.
Catoctin Youth Association’s Varsity Football team takes on Boonsboro during a regular season game.
Catoctin Youth Association Youth Flag Football players learning the basics of the game.
Program. Pictured are members of the Catoctin Youth Association’s inaugural team.
