By Treiston Burnette, Siler City Parks Recreation Director
Siler City, NC – I’ve been thinking about one of the biggest issues facing high school football in Chatham County.
Too many kids finish recreation football at 12 years old and then have nowhere to play until they reach high school. Those are two critical years of development. Many kids lose interest, choose another sport, or simply never come back. By the time they reach ninth grade, high school coaches are trying to teach fundamentals that could have been learned years earlier.
I believe there’s a simple solution that doesn’t require middle schools to start football programs.
Keep it at the recreation level. Don’t even keep waiting on the county to create the avenue. Sitting around talking without any action is not solving any of the issues.
Create 13–14-year-old teams based on the high school attendance districts. If you’re going to attend a particular high school, you play for that community’s recreation team. That gives every future high school program a true feeder system while allowing neighboring middle schools to combine players.
In Chatham County, for example:
* Future Jordan-Matthews students would play together. Chatham Middle, Silk Hope, Chatham Charter.
* Future Chatham Central students would play together. Bible, Bennett, Goldston.
* Future Seaforth students would play together.
* Future Northwood students would play together
Each team would represent its future high school community, compete against the other district teams, and give athletes two additional years to develop before entering ninth grade.
This isn’t just about football it’s the same with wrestling. It’s about giving young people structure, mentorship, accountability, and a stronger connection to the community they’ll represent in high school.
Instead of losing athletes during those critical years, we’d be developing them.
I truly believe this would fill the gap. I’m already ready in Siler City. We could start having practice after the first week of school. And at a minimum, give them 4-6 games.