For the first time since 2005, the Little Rock School District will offer sixth-grade football and the hope it will produce numerous positive results, including increased participation in higher grades.
The "6th & Goal-Model Up" program will focus on mentoring and life skills while also teaching football. It is privately funded through the newly formed Little Rock School District Athletic Foundation.
Former Arkansas Razorbacks assistant/recruiting coordinator and San Jose State head coach Fitz Hill spearheaded the effort to reinstate sixth-grade football in the district. A volunteer program led by the Rev. Marcus Elliott -- pastor at New Life Church in Little Rock and a former Little Rock Central and All-Southwest Conference offensive lineman for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville -- will supply the coaches and mentors.
Hill is optimistic that filling the void of sixth-grade football will help reduce crime in the Little Rock area.
"I said if they were involved in athletics and had a coach that gave them different goals and expectations, we may not be dealing with as much of a problem as we are," Hill said. "Not saying it's going to be a solution, but I believe when people know better they have a tendency to do better."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Hill to the Arkansas Board of Education on June 3, 2016, and his term will expire in 2023.
"Those kids will be graduating, and I'll be able to track this data to see how many kids started in the program and stayed in the program so we can look and see what difference we've made," Hill said. "If we save one, it was worth it, but we're hoping we can touch hundreds of lives."
The schools will be divided up into conferences called character and values.
"We're also going to track which team has the best GPA and which team has the best attendance," Hill said.
A byproduct of the program is the potential increase in the number of college prospects the district's high schools produce, which could benefit the Razorbacks. The last time the Hogs signed anyone from the district was 2005, the last time sixth-grade football existed. Both players were from Little Rock Central.
The Hogs usually sign 4-6 players a year from the state, but Hill and many others believe the number should be higher.
"I think you should have 8 to 10 players a year from Arkansas," Hill said. "The Little Rock district has 25,000 to 26,000 students and they're not producing. You should have three to four from the Little Rock School District."
The district has produced numerous all-conference performers for the Hogs, including Robert Farrell, George Stewart, Marcus Elliott, Leotis Harris, Mark Henry, Rickey Williams, Richard Richardson and Bert Zinamon in the SWC, and Cedric Cobbs, Keith Jackson Jr. and Jamaal Anderson in the SEC.
While there are challenges ahead, school district Athletic Director John Daniels said there's a lot of positives happening.
"I see growth in our programs just by people starting to take their job more seriously," he said. "Don't get me wrong, there were already a lot of people in our district working hard and doing it right."
The district also has put together a capital improvement plan. A new $100 million high school slated to open in 2020 in southwest Little Rock will replace McClellan and Fair.
Quigley Stadium, home of Little Rock Central, underwent renovations and will feature new field turf this season. Upgrades at Little Rock Hall include new weights and improvements to the locker room.
Daniel Whitehorn, who's the associate superintendent for secondary education for the district, was the principal at Pulaski Heights Middle School when football was discontinued. He said that school district was at a disadvantage after football was dropped.
"It's kind of a recruiting tool for the schools," Whitehorn said. "It's very attractive to a lot of our parents. For a lot of kids, that's their interest.
"We were in competition at the time with a lot of the private schools. We were strong academically, but having athletics made the school even more attractive."
Former Arkansas sports information director Rick Schaeffer is the communications director for the Springdale School District. He said the district started seventh-grade football two years ago.
"Our junior highs are already seeing increased numbers just because of seventh-grade football," Schaeffer said. "If that happens here in the seventh grade, there's no reason why it can't happen in central Arkansas in the sixth."
Sports on 08/27/2017