Peninsula Youth Football League Seeks Funds For Upcoming Season

SAN MATEO, CA — A non-profit youth football program in San Mateo County is seeking help in covering costs as it looks to return after a year off due to COVID-19.

Al Elzey, President of the Bayside Broncos Youth Football and Cheer organization, started a fundraiser to help cover equipment, field usage and other expenses. He’s also looking to cover the registration fees for the 20 to 30 percent of families who are on scholarship.

Bayside Broncos, which is affiliated with Pop Warner, have served the area for more than 30 years and aims to teach the fundamentals of football and cheer to youths ages 9 to 14.

The organization typically receives financial support from local businesses and restaurants to fund costs that can run up to $25,000 a year, but things were different in 2020.

“We usually get donations from restaurants in the area, but we don’t feel it was right for us to seek donations from these restaurants because they are still struggling financially,” Elzey said to Patch.

The fundraiser on GoFundMe is seeking $5,000. As of Thursday, over $1,600 has been contributed.

Elzey said that it’s important that youth sports leagues like Bayside Broncos can return to provide an outlet for kids who have been stuck inside for more than a year. Some kids have recently been coming back for workouts.

“Before kids were depressed,” Elzey said. “They would see their friends via Zoom. They wouldn’t really connect with them during COVID. Now there’s a sense of normalcy coming back. When the kids show up to workouts, they’re happy to be there. They don’t dread coming to the workouts.”

All of the organization’s coaches and board members are volunteers, who “do this for the kids,” according to Elzey.

“You can just see the difference, what it does to a kid’s psyche and demeanor,” Elzey said. “I think it’s great that youth sports are back and hopefully we don’t revert back to [last year].”

Click here to view the GoFundMe page.

GoFundMe is a Patch partner.