CRESTVIEW — George Soliz loves football so much that he’s trying to start a 13- to 14-year-old Amateur Athletic Union team in Crestview.
It’s not that Soliz thinks local middle school programs are suffering. He just wants to give kids more opportunities to play football. “There is no competition with the schools,” he said. “They come first. They have great programs.
“Shoal River won the county championship and right below them was Davidson. The county championship came to Crestview. What I’m trying to do is add more football to it.”
Soliz and a representative from Pensacola's AAU football program will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss forming the team and associated costs. The first round of tryouts are scheduled for Saturday.
Soliz said last year about a dozen players from Crestview played on a Fort Walton Beach-based AAU team.Games are played Saturday; practices were usually Sunday evenings and one other day during the week.
The season, late August until mid-November, consists of six to 10 games. The regular season is followed by a tournament that runs through December; it could add eight to 12 more games to the schedule.
Part of Soliz's plan is to help unite the local middle school players before they arrive at Crestview High School.
“There is a big population from the military coming up here,” he said. “You’ve got the two (middle) schools, Shoal River and Davidson, and I’m just trying to bring them together before they get to high school.
“I don’t want it to be a negative thing at all. I want it to be positive.”
UPCOMING
WHAT: AAU Football meeting; discuss forming a 13- to 14-year-old Amateur Athletic Unionfootball team in Crestview
WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE: Old Spanish Trail Park pavilion
COST: Free
CONTACT: George Soliz, 830-534-9500
UPCOMING
WHAT: AAU Football tryouts
WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Field on Commerce Drive across from the Crestview Public Library
COST: Free
NOTES: This is the first tryouts for a possible 13-14 year old AAU football team in Crestview
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: AAU football might be coming to Crestview