Latest / The Scene Projects / JJ Kern on Youth Football, Inclusivity, and Building the Future of MPFL

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JJ Kern on Youth Football, Inclusivity, and Building the Future of MPFL · The Scene Projects

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  Hi, my name is James Kern, I go by JJ and we're here representing the Midwest Premier Football
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  League.
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  A lot of people know us as the MPFL.
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  We got adult football as well as youth football and we're linking them together throughout the
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  entire state of Minnesota beyond.
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  We're an organization that started in 02/2009 where we were a semi pro and in 02/2020 we
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  transitioned to our focus into the youth sports and we've played games all over like The US
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  Bank Stadium, Fargo Dome, Alaris and we've had our youth programs travel down to Atlanta.
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  We had a team get we participated with a team that got third in the nation.
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  We played against high level teams in Kansas City, went down to Dallas.
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  So traveled a lot with our youth program and now we're in a little bit of a transition where
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  we're bringing the adult portion back to be feeder systems to the Arena Football League
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  teams.
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  Where really a lot of it came from is having a younger son that was really had a passion for
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  football as probably his primary sport, multi sport athlete, really loves football.
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  And in this region, there's a lot of competitive sports where people have an avenue
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  to get as good as possible and possibly make college and pro like hockey, Minnesota is
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  fantastic.
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  Basketball is on the rise.
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  But in my opinion, seeing from going around the country, there's not a lot of options for kids
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  to start football competitively at a young age where in other regions especially down south
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  where a lot of the college players are coming from that eventually go pro, I do really think
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  that they take advantage of the opportunity of having a lot more experience at a younger age
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  being ahead of the game and when we went and traveled down there and saw how that looked, I
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  wanted to help bring more of that up to this region and so that's kind of why giving that
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  opportunity to my son and then wanting to give it to more kids has really been a passion of
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  mine to give these kids the opportunity.
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  We do have showcases and in the showcases we bring kids from all over.
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  We have four of them a year, spring, summer, winter, fall.
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  And even just those four events right there giving kids something to work for, playing
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  against high level kids knowing that when they come to that you gotta be ready.
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  And a lot of times when they go home, they work harder, train harder.
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  And for the ones that really want to exceed, we can get them involved in tournaments where they
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  can travel all over the country.
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  So and we start with our flag and stuff at four years old.
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  So whether it's flag, tackle football, all the way up to adult football now, we really have a
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  place that we can find for you depending on how far you really wanna take it.
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  It's up to you.
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  Hard work pays off and make plays not excuses.
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  That's really what we kind of go by.
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  And we also tell the kids, those two things right there really don't even have much to do
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  with football.
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  It has to do with life and making stuff happen, working through stuff.
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  Whether it's your mom telling you to to clean your room, make plays not excuses.
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  Get along with your brother, get along with your sister, figure it out.
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  And so it's really, become a way of life with the MPFL group that continues to come back.
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  That's what we try to strive for is being accountable, working hard, and not being afraid
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  to shoot shoot high.
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  That's that's what we really wanna we wanna have their back.
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  If a kid has high goals, don't just tell him you can make it.
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  We we gotta be honest with them.
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  It's gonna if you wanna be different, you gotta work different.
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  So that's kind of a little bit about what we do.
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  And another thing that we've just added in Brainerd and I wanna replicate it in other
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  communities, we just are announcing that I got a field that we're going to have available on
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  Sundays and Wednesday nights starting April 6 going all the way through July.
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  So for four months, we're going have two days a week where you can come whenever it's going be
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  free training.
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  Boys, girls, flag, tackle, adult, we are going to section off into different areas.
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  You can work on plays, you can work on skills, drills, all free.
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  Show up and if you want to do additional things like play at US Bank Stadium, play at you do
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  have to purchase your equipment.
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  But as far as our trainings in our camp, two days away, free for four We've probably had
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  4,000 at least athletes.
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  The ones that come when they work and they train.
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  This is a fact.
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  Not one kid has ever been turned away for not having money.
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  We do get sponsors and we do teach them how to go out there and do fundraising.
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  So if somebody doesn't have the money, that's fine.
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  But you have to be willing to work and go out and do some things with the fundraising and
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  different things and we do not leave anyone behind.
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  We figure out a way to get them their equipment, everything.
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  One way or another, we figure it out.
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  We're not an organization that has an abundance of money, but we do always figure out a way.
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  If we got a dedicated athlete, I promise you, they will be with us.
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  There's no better value.
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  They want to prove that you can go to the next level, having film, showing how that you
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  conduct yourself, and then having an organization behind you that's worked with you
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  where we are working with multiple colleges and pro teams so they can come and ask us, Hey,
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  what about this player?
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  Having that on your resume for them to to call and ask, I don't know how it could be any
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  better.
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  How are they going to conduct you?
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  How are they going to represent your organization whether it's a college or on a pro
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  level?
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  To me, if I'm on the other side of that, I would love to know this information, like how
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  they're going to act as a pro or as a collegiate athlete at your campus.
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  And then you're obviously going to have the game fill.
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  You're gonna be able to evaluate that.
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  They're they're professionals at that.
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  But then a lot of scouts, they know what they like they see on the field.
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  Their next thing is they wanna know everything else.
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  And giving them a little sneak peek behind that, being able for you to show that to
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  people, to me, that's very valuable.
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  That's why we do this.
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  Right.
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  We want our kids to be prepared because everybody makes mistakes.
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  And the first time, if you have a a third grader up here, I they they might be fumbling,
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  you know, not knowing what they're doing.
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  They might be a little nervous.
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  They might be all over, you know, doing all different type of stuff.
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  That's okay.
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  We're learning right now.
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  You're in third grade.
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  Now when the lights come on and you get a little bit older, you wanna be ready from your
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  experiences.
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  If you've never had a camera in your face, they're gonna be nervous.
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  They've never played against higher level football.
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  They might be a little bit nervous.
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  We play at US Bank Stadium.
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  We play at we play in NFL and college stadiums when you're in third grade.
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  I'll tell you this, our core group of players, it doesn't matter what stadium.
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  They they played my son played at Cowboys Stadium when he was eight.
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  Think he's gonna be nervous if he has to play a section game at the Fargo Dome?
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  Not so much.
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  They've already been there multiple times.
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  Cameras on them, already seen them, already on videos all over.
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  They know what comes with it.
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  We prep them for this.
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  This is what we do.
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  You're you're focused on your game.
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  This other stuff is stuff you've done.
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  It's not gonna throw you off.
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  You're gonna be ready to perform.
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  And like even even playing in stadiums like that, say you're a receiver and you're going
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  back to catch a ball and you're losing the ball and the lights or different things like that
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  because you've never played in a stadium like that.
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  Well, you drop a ball I want I want you to that in third grade.
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  I'm I'm just super excited about the potential of the future from the adult level all the way
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  down to the youth.
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  I believe with the group of people that we're working with, the sky is the absolute limit and
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  what we're gonna be able to do is help these kids with dreams be able to tap in with us so
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  we can help people.
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  That's what it's about, helping.
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  Helping these young men and women be able to do things like, we're about to introduce a general
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  manager of a team that's a female that's getting in you know, going from the
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  cheerleading going up into the management.
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  We wanna give opportunity to everybody that wants to do it.
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  We just wanna work with good people.
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  I actually got some guys that have played for me in the adult leagues that now their kids are
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  playing for my youth.
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  And some of them have had the longevity to play the sport long enough, which is, wow, that's
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  amazing, that they're still playing in the adult leagues as their kids are playing.
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  I had a couple sets last year at US Bank where the kids played and the dads played in the same
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  day at a at a NFL stadium.
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  Just looking at that, was like, man, I'm getting old, but, you know, this is awesome
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  feeling seeing the next generation.
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  And that brought me to to want to even do more now with reaching back out to help more adult
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  stuff because I'm seeing that I've already done a lot of the stuff, but I wanna I want the next
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  generation to take over and do better than me.
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  That the then the next year it can be even better.
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  And a lot of these kids that are playing now, they're probably gonna end up being coaches or
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  players and then probably owners at some point when I'm far gone.
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  And that's that's something that I just I just kinda wanna watch it, you know, watch it play
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  out and I'm proud of these got the people that are all, you know, doing something different.
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  Everyone from broadcasting learning, doing different opportunities to coaching, owning all
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  of it.
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  It's it's all exciting.