The Elizabethtown Area Youth Football (EAYF), in Elizabethtown, Kentucky is not-for-profit organization that consists solely of volunteers that create and administer tackle football and cheerleading programs. Over the past 50 years the program started out almost as a sandlot game led by up and coming community leaders and has grown into as significant program four our youth to participate in.

The birth of the EAYF occurred around 1955. It was modest at first but has grown throughout the years. Originally it consisted of a flag football league which was played at the site of the present Pritchard Community Center. The coaches for the teams were local high school football players who gave up their Saturday mornings to promote an interest in football. It was very informal in that after the coaches initially chose teams on the first Saturday from those who were present. The players showed up every Saturday morning, picked a worn-out, tattered jersey from a cardboard box in the trunk of the coach’s car, and prepared to play. With an “open enrollment” situation, new participants could join the teams any week.

In 1957 the Elizabethtown Jaycees mounted a fundraising drive in order to buy complete uniforms and equipment for a full contact football league. This league commenced its first season in 1958, consisting of four teams: Rams, Redskins, Wildcats, and Little Panthers. The first season climaxed with a championship game between the Little Panthers and the Redskins played during an extended half-time of an Elizabethtown Panther football game. The game ended in a 6-6 tie with Jame Gregory scoring the only Little Panther touchdown on a pass from Mike Wilson who now has a car dealership in Winchester. In spite of the tie, the Little Panthers team, coached by the late Danny Boone, was declared the winner because of the Little Panthers better season record. Each player was awarded a blue and white football-shaped patch saying “Panthers- 1958 Champions.” The program has changed significantly which now sees a Super Bowl occurring on a separate day vice during a high school half time.

In 1991 the youth football program was re-designated as the EAYF. Our philosophy is simple; teach the fundamentals of the game of football and promote a sense of sportsmanship and fair play to youth through participation in team activities in an environment that stresses fun for all participants. The EAYF strives to provide a positive athletic experience and to nurture and support each child in his/her individual development.

All participants in the EAYF program have the right to and should expect to:

The value of the EAYF experience is reinforced each time a former player or cheerleader reminds us of how the EAYF experience positively impacted their life. The inductees into the EAYF Hall of Fame illustrates some of the community leaders who participated in the EATF and made an impact on a youths life through this program.