History of the League

Three Rivers Youth Football is an organization devoted to the sole purpose of providing full-contact, tackle football for the children in grades 3-6 in Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Newcastle, Silt, Rifle, and Parachute and all areas in between.

Started in 1994, it is a totally volunteer organization operating as a subsidiary of the Roaring Fork Football Foundation; no coaches, town representatives, or officers of the board of directors are paid.

Participation fees are among the lowest of any club sport in these communities. For a relatively low fee, children are given at least two practice sessions a week, at least 7 games during the season, a four-day preseason football camp run by former Denver Bronco star Rick Upchurch, clinics for parents and coaches in the Positive Coaching model, and full uniform and equipment use at no additional cost. Therefore, fund raising is always an issue. We raise additional funds to provide the opportunity for our children to play football two ways. The Roaring Fork Football Foundation hosts a golf tournament at Aspen Glen in early June and proceeds from this tourney and raffle fund college scholarships for local youth and provide money for the TRY football budget. The primary source of funds comes from the team sponsorship we solicit. Each team in each town is required to have a $500 sponsor; that sponsor's name is then printed on each jersey of each player and in many cases the jersey is given to the player as a souvenir at the conclusion of the season. Scholarships are available to families which enable free or reduce fee participation in exchange for volunteer activities within our organization.

Each town has a volunteer representative whose job it is to secure these sponsorships, enable registration, identify coaches, and prepare/book fields for the games. Coaches are volunteers from the community who agree to adhere to the rules and ideals of the organization and attend a pre-season coaching clinic. Many coaches are parents, but we are starting to see community members without children in the program who volunteer their time simply because they like the sport or because they want to see the high school programs return to the 'glory days'. Referees are paid per game, but the pool of referee talent is very limited; we need people interested in football to help us out on Sundays by refereeing.

If you are interested in football in this valley or if you have a child who is or will be interested in playing tackle football, we invite you to become involved with the organization. We need volunteers for fund raising, community representatives, officiating, coaching, chain gang, and inventory control/maintenance.