Southport Developmental Football
We take pride in developing skills that will help our players grow on and off the field. Many of you have a player in our "football track." Our goal is that this track builds confidence and a love for the game of football. Creating an opportunity for kids to play and join our tackle program when they are developed and confident to do so.
NFL Flag ➡️ GRIT Camp ➡️ Tackle
The Junior Cardinals tackle program competes in the Central Indiana Bantam Football League (CIBFL.) We encourage you to read the rules of our league. It will give you a better understanding as to why we are providing the information below.
LEAGUE
We compete with local schools: Bartholomew County, Beech Grove, Brown County, Edinburgh, Indian Creek, Shelbyville, Triton Central.
In the CIBFL, each division has two grade levels in it.
DIVISIONS
A Division - 5th & 6th Graders
B Division - 3rd & 4th Graders
C Division - K, 1st, & 2nd Graders
EXPLANATION
Within each division, there are two levels for teams, Senior & Junior.
Example: Senior A Team & Junior A Team (5th & 6th Graders can be on either of these teams.)
Senior is built with more experienced players, usually the higher grade level. Junior is built with less experienced players, usually the lower grade level.
Example: Your participant is a 3rd Grader that has played for two years. They do well during evaluations. They receive an invite to play on the Senior B Team.
As a member of the CIBFL, it is mandatory to have one Senior team in each division, organizations are not required to have Junior teams. The past two years, Southport has had two Junior teams at both A & B Divisions. Developmentally, it is important to have players playing against similar competition both at the Senior Division and Junior Division. Read more about the CIBFL Rules & Regulations.
EVALUATIONS
Junior Cardinals Mini-Camp will be Tuesday (June 25) & Thursday (June 27) from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium. We will begin our evaluations during this time and request all Junior Cardinals to participate. Evaluations will conclude July 18th or before. Read more.
COMMUNITY DAY
Please join us at Cardinal Stadium for Community Day on Sunday, June 23rd! We will have food, games, High School Coaches, Junior Cardinals Tackle Combine (Pre-Evaluation), Bounce House, and Coaches Clinics.
Sunday, June 23rd
12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Coaches Clinic starts at 4:00 p.m.)
Equipment Handout/Fitting
Sunday, June 23rd
Times to be announced.
*If you are unable to attend equipment fitting, we will handout equipment before practice starting at 5:00 p.m.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Practices are Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. All practices are at Southport High School, Mondays are normally inside Cardinal Stadium & Tuesdays/Thursdays are in the baseball field area on the southwest corner of Southport High School across from stadium. Practices start July 8th.
Games are on Saturdays starting August 3rd! Game schedule will be provided two weeks prior to season starting. We will host some weeks and others we play at the high school of our opponent. 7 Regular Season games followed by a single elimination tournament that will conclude the first weekend of Fall Break. More information will be provided as soon as possible. Also, please keep in mind, we will possibly have All Stars teams to compete on during the month of October.
WEIGH-INS
All players must “weigh-in” to play in the league. Weigh-Ins are typically the night before the first game, but we will provide the specific date as soon as possible. This is mandatory, if a player does not attend weigh-ins they cannot play in the CIBFL.
Documents
All players must turn in by :
1. Birth Certificate (DUE JULY 18th - if you are returning player, we should have it on file)
2. Grade Verification (DUE JULY 18th - all players must turn in a new screenshot of their Student Information page that lists Student Name and Grade)
Communication
GroupME is an app that we use for communication. Below are links to download the app. You will receive an invite to your division over the weekend.
Please download the app to stay connected this season!
RESOURCES
Check out our Resources page for all types of information regarding our programs and how to help your player get better. Financial Assistance Application is also located on this webpage.
WHAT DOES YOUR PLAYER NEED?
We need VOLUNTEERS! If you are interested in coaching or being a Team Manager, please complete the Volunteer Registration.
Financial Assistance Application