Pulaski County Public Schools

Pulaski County Parks and Recreation continues to enjoy significant growth in football programming as the Pulaski County community rallies around its young athletes. The department experienced 32% growth in football registrations in 2024 comparative to the 2023 season. This resulted from a 51% increase in flag football enrollments and 24% increase in tackle football enrollments.

“This year, we’ve experienced such growth in our tackle football registrations that we will have three mite league tackle football teams competing in the NRV Youth Football league for the very first time,” reports CJ Burgis, Sports Coordinator for Pulaski County Parks and Recreation. This is in addition to two Junior League teams and two Senior League teams. “With the support of our Board of Supervisors, we’ve been able to purchase additional helmets and uniforms to support this unprecedented growth in our tackle mite league numbers.”

As football numbers and programs continue to decline across the country, the department is proud to be a part of the future of successful football in Pulaski County. According to Parks and Recreation Director Shay Dunnigan, youth sport growth continues to be at the forefront of department initiatives.

“We recognize the importance of creating attractive programming that encourages our youth to be active,” says Dunnigan. “In Parks and Recreation, we have a unique opportunity to influence athletes at a young age and we take that opportunity seriously. We understand that their experiences as a young athlete will shape their interest in playing football at the middle and high school level.”

According to Dunnigan, support from the Pulaski County communities is a big contributing factor to the growth of the program.

“Our partnership with Pulaski County Public Schools is so important to the success of our youth sports programs, along with community champions such as our Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.”

Pulaski County Parks and Recreation partnered with public schools initially to heavily advertise and distribute information about available youth sports programming. This was accomplished through printed flyers throughout all elementary schools and shared social media posts between both Pulaski County and Public-School social media pages.

As registrations poured in, the excitement continued with a free pre-season football camp sponsored and facilitated by the Pulaski County High School Cougar football team. Coaches, athletes, and parent booster organizations came together to invite young recreation football players to the high school campus for a 2-day event. The camp offered both defensive and offensive drills as well as game play.

According to Cam Akers, Pulaski County High School football coach, “We look forward to this camp each year. The motivation of these young players to learn inspires us and we recognize our unique opportunity to nurture their love of football.”

Akers goes on to say “Seeing the light in their eyes as they step onto the high school field is something we won’t forget. We want them to understand what they are working towards as they learn and progress in the game.”

Parents of booster organizations also get involved with this cause by organizing and serving lunch to participating athletes at the closure of the camp. Also included this year were raffles prizes for the youth from local businesses.

According to Parks and Recreation, the community at large plays a big part of sustaining and expanding football in Pulaski County. For the 2024 season, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s office provided free football cleats to participants registered through the Pulaski County Parks and Recreation programming. Additionally, the office of Justin Griffith, Commonwealth Attorney, donated gloves and mouthguards for players.

According to Griffith, “I want every kid that chooses to learn how to be a teammate through football to have some little memories that might last a life time. That is my community.”

Pulaski County Parks and Recreation continues to look for innovative approaches to creating excitement amongst youth to participate in sports. As a new initiative for 2024, the department began offering “Sportsfest” – an end of season celebration for each sporting season in which all participating athletes come together to celebrate with free food, popsicles, inflatable activities, and opportunity to dunk their volunteer coaches in the dunk tank!

“This has been such a fun way to celebrate our volunteer coaches and youth players and the commitment they’ve displayed throughout the season,” reports Jenna Kinder, Parks and Recreation Assistant Director. “This event serves as an end of season banquet in which all players can be honored together. Community is everything and we want our youth to understand that Pulaski County athletes are a family and can celebrate each other both on and off the field.”

Pulaski County Parks and Recreation recognizes the significant role of the Pulaski County community in driving the sports experience for young athletes. The multi-faceted approach, including school camps, free sporting gear, and celebratory events has proven successful.

“We look forward to continuing the trajectory of this success story and building on the approach we’ve utilized this year. We believe we have even more growth potential in the coming years,” says Dunnigan. “You won’t find a community more passionate about supporting youth sports than Pulaski County!”

Questions should be directed to Pulaski County Parks and Recreation by calling 540.994.2587 or emailing sdunnigan@pulaskicounty.org