Local youth football team looking to replace broken, outdated equipment

FORT HALL — A local youth football team has launched crowdfunding efforts in hopes of replacing worn and broken equipment that may have led to several series injuries over the past two years.

Jeffrey Gallardo has coached the Forth Hall youth football team for eight years, and is looking for ways to keep the program thriving, the players healthy and the fees affordable.

“The helmets are absolutely outdated,” he said. “I have four bags of helmets that I just absolutely can’t use — I’m not going to put kids in these helmets again.”

Using the outdated, broken and breaking gear the past two seasons, Gallardo said, the players — most of whom around 12 years old — suffered a combined seven concussions.

During one of their games last season, Gallardo recalled, one of his players made a tackle, during which a facemask bracket broke off. Gallardo said he saw the bracket break free and grabbed spare parts to perform a quick repair. But upon examination, he found the helmet had cracked.

As members of the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League, the team could use equipment provided by the league. The problem with that, Gallardo explained, is, it would lead to an exponential increase in team fees.

“That would definitely prevent a lot of the kids from playing, there’s no question about that,” Gallardo said, adding that his hope is to purchase the equipment so there is no cost to pass along to the kids.

The Fort Hall youth football program has been running since 1969, never missing a season — save for the 2020 COVID season. Gallardo facetiously said that some of the equipment “may as well be” from that inaugural season.

Gallardo sent out around 300 letters to local businesses, pleading for help in the form of sponsorships, and has received responses from 15 — 12 of which have offered to help. But there is still around $20,000 he needs to raise in order to replace all the old gear.

So, he has set up a GoFundMe — which can be found here. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the team had received $450 in donations.

“Our team is more than just a group of young athletes — it’s a celebration of our heritage, a source of pride for our community and a chance for our kids to build resilience, teamwork and hope through the game we love,” Gallardo wrote on the GoFundMe page.

The kids, Gallardo said, play hard and are committed to the sport they love. In fact, three of them were recently selected to represent their community at the second-annual Southeast Idaho Youth Football League Idaho Bowl.

Quarterback and safety Victor Sanchez, whose helmet broke in-game forcing him to share a helmet with a teammate for the remainder of the game, is joined by running back-linebacker Riggin Haggard and center-defensive end Eres Eschief.

“This is a huge achievement — having three kids from Fort Hall being able to get their opportunity in the spotlight, in front of the whole state of Idaho,” Gallardo said.

The Idaho Bowl will be played at Brigham Young University-Idaho on June 14.