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1. The Eden Prairie Football Association (EPFA) has been organizing and running youth football in Eden Prairie for over 20 years. The focus of the program is to promote and teach tackle football for those children in grades 3 thru 8 that reside or attend schools in Eden Prairie. In 2003, the EPFA was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
2. We have no travel, all-star or elite teams, as our goal is fair and balanced teams so that each child can enjoy and learn the game of football. Our goal is to support as many children as possible and to prepare them for their high school years and hopefully to play for and/or be active fans of the Eden Prairie Eagles some day.
Click here for more information about our philosophy.
3. The EPFA is governed by a board of directors made up of 18 members. We have 4 executive officers that hold 2 years terms and all other members are elected yearly. The board members and coaches are all volunteers. We have no paid staff with the EPFA.
Click here for a list of our board members and other EPFA contacts.
Click here for a calendar of our board meetings.
4. Each grade has a Grade Commissioner who is empowered to manage team selection and in-season issues associated with that grade. Each Grade Commissioner conducts a draft after evaluations in August with a goal of creating talent equality across all teams within that grade.
5. We participate in the South West Metro League that includes Eden Prairie, Edina, Chaska and Shakopee, and teams in grades 4-8 usually play 2 games per season against teams from at least some of those other cities.
6. In our 2009 season, the EPFA had:
a. 764 kids participated in grades 3-8
b. 40 teams
c. Over 90 assigned coaching team members + hundreds of parent volunteers
d. Over 300 football games were played
e. Over 200 were played on Eden Prairie fields
f. Each team plays a minimum of 7 games
g. Teams in grades 4-8 have a play-off system.
7. The City of EP supports our organization by providing game and practice fields free of charge. Click here for maps and directions for all of our fields of use.
a. 3 game fields at MillerPark
b. 2 game fields at Flying Cloud
c. 1 game field at FranloPark
d. 6 fields for grade level practices
8. The EPFA rents turf field space from the Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) for practices and games.
Click here for a layout of those fields.
9. EPFA uses a group of local community members to referee all of our home games.
10. We LIMIT our teams to 3 events a week (typically 2 practices and one game)
11. The organization prides itself in being a VERY affordable athletic option.
a. For a very reasonable registration fee, the association provides all pads/equipment for each participant. Unlike other youth sports, there are no additional association-driven expenses beyond the registration fee.
12. In 2007 we established an annual “Eagle Bowl” championship play-off format using the EPHS stadium field for the first time. We play 5 Championship and 5 3rd place games on the last Saturday in October.
13. As part of community involvement, the EPFA makes a practice of saving money to support football / athletic related initiatives with Eden Prairie. A recent example of this was in 2007 when the EPFA contributed to the establishment of the three turf fields at the EPHS.
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