Young football players and cheerleaders have taken over the fields at Marguerite Maze Middle School as the Hollister Cowboys prepare for their upcoming season. Over 220 youths, ranging from 3 to 15 years old, gather in the evenings three times a week.
The football and cheer teams are getting ready for the scrimmages taking place on Aug. 21 at San Benito High School. It will be their first time in front of spectators.
The Hollister Cowboys is affiliated with the American Youth Football organization and has played in USA Football and NorCal competitions. It was founded in 2019 by local parents including Jose Martinez, president of the organization, who got his start with Pop Warner football and played in their championships as well as playing in high school. Martinez has been coaching for 10 years and, like all the coaches, he is a volunteer.
“A group of us just decided to start our own league to help the youth,” said Martinez. “We wanted to get them out here playing football to have fun and give them skills that can lead into playing in high school.”
Coach Jose Perez grew up in Hollister and began playing at an early age as well.
“It brought me a lot of joy and it kept me occupied,” he said. “We want that for these kids—to stay out of trouble, stay off the video games. We try to be proactive, hanging out with the kids here and trying to build relationships. It is amazing to watch them grow over the years and see them get better.”
There are five divisions for football based on age groups—under 6, under 8, under 10, under 12 and under 14—with a separate program for cheerleaders. Players are provided with uniforms, helmets and pads.
Perez said the hardest teams to fill are the youngest and the oldest ones.
“It’s true for any sports organization,” he said. “With the five to six-year-olds, they are still young enough for the parents to have concerns over sports injuries and particularly with concussions in football. With the older kids, we lose some of them because they want to play in their freshman year in high school instead.”
Martinez coaches the 6-year-olds and said the play at this level is, of course, very rudimentary.
“They are getting started in how to work together as a group,” he said. “They learn the fundamentals of the game and how to hold a football. They have very short attention spans and we have to be very active with them. You gotta have patience with these guys.”
Perez coaches the oldest team and said play is very competitive at this level, with a mix of eighth-graders and freshmen participating. On average, he said, 80% of the players on this team will go on to play football in high school.
“Here at this age, we are also progressing our offensive systems,” Perez said. “What is good about our program is that every single level is working with the same offense so as they get older, we add more plays, drills and more footwork. By the time they get to this level, they are able to run and throw the ball.”
Jayden Hunter, 13, plays on the 14U team. He became interested in football at an early age after watching the 49ers play and already has his sights set on high school and college football with the Cowboys being the first step.
“I have a lot of passion for the sport,” said Hunter. “This is a nice organized program and I get a lot out of it. I get to play the positions and I get to tackle people, which I like. It is a good way to get physical and it’s fun to come out here and play.”
About 30 girls are participating in the cheerleading training. There is no age breakdown with the squads; the coaches have sought to create mixed age groups so that the older girls can help the younger ones. While the youngest football players are five years old, the cheer squads contain girls as young as 3.
“We are trying to bring something new to the table for the community and for these girls,” coach Teresa Castillo said. “We give them a chance to learn cheer routines and the basic motions of cheer. We expect that some of these girls will go on to cheer in high school and we are trying to give them the fundamentals to move forward.”
The scrimmage at San Benito High School will take place on the football field, with the 6 and under team starting at 9 a.m. The rest will play in order of age throughout the day. The cheerleaders will perform between scrimmages and the final teams will play around 6 p.m. The first full games, ranging in time between 10 and 12 minutes a quarter depending on age, will be played on the same field starting Aug. 28.
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