In Florida, Mitey Mites Play in AYF Tournament

Over this past weekend, the players, coaches and families of the Holmdel Mitey Mites flew down to Orlando, Florida. After a highly successful regular season, the Holmdel team had received an invitation to participate in a tournament as part of the American Youth Football National Championships in Orlando Florida. (National Champions will be crowned in several different competitive divisions in older age categories.)

Mitey Mites is the instructional division for AYF.  Our team is comprised of mostly 8 and 9-year olds as of July 31, 2011 weighing no more than 109 pounds by season's end. All 19 kids reside in Holmdel and are members of the Holmdel Football Association. Holmdel Football is part of the Jersey Shore AYF Conference and Jersey Shore is part of a larger Big East conference.  In total, there are 8 regional conferences throughout the country.

The Mitey Mite tournament was a way for some of the younger players to participate in the same atmosphere as the older players, however no National Champion will be crowned at this level. You are guaranteed to play two games against Mitey Mite teams from one of the eight regional conferences.  We accepted the invitation to participate and represent the Jersey Shore Conference at Nationals.

Our first game was played on Sunday, December 4th against the MOT Cowboys from Jacksonville Florida. Prior to the game, Head Coach James Smith told the boys that they were there representing their families, our town, our conference and the State of New Jersey.  

He asked the boys to play hard, give 110% effort and most importantly to go out and have fun.

At halftime we lead 12-0 thanks to our defense. Our first score was a running touchdown was scored by Vinnie Condito, thanks to some great blocking from our offensive line.  

Our second score was a pass from quarterback Brendan Crowley to tight-end Joey D'Acunto.  

After another short touchdown run by running back Cameron Lamountain followed by a 1 pt conversion run from Vinnie Condito, we went up 19-0 late in the 3rd quarter.  

The MOT Cowboys responded with a touchdown of their own to make the score 19-6 but our defense stepped up and shut them down the rest of the game.  

Another touchdown by James Smith and successful conversion by Cam Lamountain ended the scoring leading to a 26-6 victory.  

After shaking hands with and congratulating the other team, Coach Smith gathered the players in front of all the parents. He thanked the parents for their unwavering support and loud cheering throughout the game. He congratulated the players for their hard work and effort.  

We were then commended by a member of the National AYF staff for our play and conduct on the field throughout the game. Afterwards, the parents and kids were heading back to the hotel celebrate to go swimming and eat pizza.

After on off-day Monday (to allow the families to check out some of the attractions in Orlando), we will play our second game against the Manassas Mutiny from Northern Virginia. Game time scheduled for 10am.  

The rest of the week families can spend at all of the various attractions in Orlando.  Many will stay through the weekend to watch and root for our 3 Holmdel cheerleading squads that will be competing for a National Championship on Saturday.