Published: March 16, 2008 01:22 am      

Upward opens with special guest

New football program gets visit from Colts great Jeff Herrod.

The Upward Flag Football program starting at the Church of Christ in Logansport is looking to get off the ground running.

The upstart program got a boost with former Indianapolis Colts star linebacker Jeff Herrod paying them a visit during registration on Friday.

The Colts legend signed autographs and interacted with the kids, parents and fans in attendance.

“It’s a great situation to be involved with,” Herrod said of the Upward program. “They asked me how much it would cost for me to be involved, and I said it’d be meaningless if it was coming from the pocket and not from the heart.

“It’s good that the NFL and this program is promoting physical fitness for kids in the community. It’s important to get kids out of the house and to put the Playstation down and be physically active.”

The program is being started in the area by Trampas Young, the young adult minister at Church of Christ. He thinks football will fit in well with other Upward programs that are in place in the area.

“I got the idea from Crosswind United Methodist Church having had soccer the past four years and kids have been playing basketball at the Walton Christian Church,” he said. “We have a lot of open space out here and I thought football would be different and bigger and maybe more popular.”

Young, who hopes to start an Upward baseball program in the future, said he’s gotten a lot of help getting the football program started.

“The community’s been great. We’ve gotten a lot of financial support,” he said. “We’ve had 45 volunteers helping us out. Pepsi has donated us a concession stand. The whole community is helping us do everything.”

One of the philosophies of the Upward program is “every child is a winner.”

“Everybody plays. Everybody runs the ball, throws the ball,” Young said. “In a lot of the leagues and in high school, a lot of the times kids don’t get that opportunity. We have the kids memorize verses of scripture and they can win awards at practice. During the Saturday games kids get awards for best offense, best defense and sportsmanship. So we’re trying to raise kids’ self esteem and teach them Christian values.”

Young added the new program has “kids from Peru, Rochester, Winamac, and Logansport... It’s not just Cass County, it’s wide spread.

“Upward has been around for 10 years and it’s now in 55 countries with over 500,000 kids involved, he said.”

Due to high demand, registration is being extended this week from 4-7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Church of Christ. The church is located at 2347 Burlingon Ave.

The program is open to all boys and girls in grades K-6. Cost is $50.

The season begins on April 12 and concludes May 31. There will be a closing program at McHale Auditorium at Logansport High School on June 6 with an awards ceremony and Christian comedian Jerry Ackerman performing.

Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574)732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker @pharostribune.com