Here is information about our Spring 2026 season...

Spring 2026 Season Dates and Changes – We have been given permission from Columbia Parks and Rec to start using the field sooner in the spring so we can have a longer flag season. See the Spring 2026 schedule below. One change that Columbia Parks and Rec asked us to discuss was to move away from standings/championships as a recreational program since most other recreational sports in Columbia do not have standings/championships. We discussed this as a board and voted to implement this change with spring flag season only. Starting in 2026, spring flag will be completely recreational and there will be no play-offs or championships. If a team would like to have some competition, we will be hosting a free flag tournament on June 7^th for all CYFL teams that would like to participate. Registration for Spring 2026 will open at the end of December 2025.

Below is the Spring 2026 Schedule:

a.           Registration closes March 20^th

b.           Practices Start March 30^th    

b.           First game April 12^th

c.           Season ends May 17^th

d.           May 31^st will be a rain make-up day

e.           Optional tournament on June 7^th

Here are updates for our Fall 2025 season....

Coaches - If you want to coach in the fall, please let Amanda know ASAP. Coaching is “first come, first serve” so just because you coached a team this spring does not mean you will automatically have one for the fall. If you have never coached before and would be interested in coaching this fall or next spring, please also let Amanda know. We usually need a few coaches every season so all help is appreciated!

Day Dreams Scholarships - If you are applying for a Day Dreams scholarship for the fall, please use the “Day Dreams Applicant” registration so we can register for free while we keep track of everyone. Once approved, we will apply the scholarship to the registration and move you to the correct grade to be rostered. If your Day Dreams application is not finished by July 15^th, you will not be approved for the fall season.

Fall 2025 Schedule – Below is the schedule for our Fall 2025 season. Our tackle season will include teams from Jefferson City, Sedalia, and Marshall with games being in Columbia, Jefferson City, or Sedalia. Again, if you plan on coaching a team in the fall, please let Amanda know ASAP.

a.       Registration closes July 15th

b.       Amanda & Julie meet to make rosters July 21st

c.       Practices start July 28^th

d.       Equipment will be handed out the week of August 4^th. Teams will be assigned a time slot for equipment hand-out and coaches MUST be in attendance to assist

e.       Jamboree August 24th – All teams should participate. If you are unable to make it, please let Joe know.

f.        CYFL first game August 31st

g.       Playoffs – October 19th

i.        Championship – October 26^th

Changes to Registration and Coach/Player Requests – We have always tried to keep kids together based on their school district but have allowed for coach/player requests and have tried to accommodate as many as we can. For the past few seasons, we have had an increased issue with disgruntled parents and coaches that are unhappy when their request cannot be completed. As a recreational program, we need to find a balance of maintaining a recreational environment where all players get equal consideration but also honoring rapport and relationships that are built between parents, players, and coaches. We discussed this as a board and voted on some changes that we will be implementing starting this fall.

Flag coaches – coaches can choose 4 kids to be on their team and the rest will be distributed based on school district

Tackle coaches – coaches can choose 11 kids to be on their team and the rest will be distributed based on school district.  

All other coach and player requests outside of this will have to be approved by the board and must be need based (i.e. – cousins wanting to play on the same team, transportation sharing between families, etc…). If a coach/assistant coach has a kid playing on the team, their kid does NOT count toward the request limit. Head coaches should send Amanda their assistant coach staff and player requests to cyfl.footballsecretary@gmail.com no later than July 19^th as rosters will be finalized on July 21st.

Hey everyone! I apologize in advance for the multiple emails coming. We have a lot of information to share and the website limits how much information I can send out at one time in these annoucements so I have broken them up into 3 different emails - end of season notes, Fall 2025 updates, and Spring 2026 updates.

Thank you to everyone for a great spring season and congratulations to all our championship winners! Some housekeeping items and updates for the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 seasons…

Board Meeting – our next board meeting will be during the API Camp on Sunday, 6/29 at 6:00pm at Concessions. Anyone in the league is welcome to attend.

Cosmo Park Updates – As some of you noticed at our games last week, the City is starting construction on bleachers and an updated concession stand for Field 6! Stay tuned to our Facebook page for pictures and construction updates.

Coach Equipment – Coaches, if you have not turned in your flag equipment, please contact Amanda at cyfl.footballsecretary@gmail.com so you can coordinate a time to return equipment. You can also bring it during our board meeting on 6/29.

Free Football Camps – our first two free football camps are this weekend! We will have BSP on Saturday 6/21 from 11am to 1pm and Bellavation on Sunday 6/22 from 10am to 12pm. No registration is needed! All camps will be on Field 6 at Cosmo and participants should bring cleats and a water bottle.

CYFL and Columbia Parks and Recreation are excited to host FOUR free football camps this summer! See attached flyer! All camps will be at Cosmo Park on Field 6. Registration is not needed, but campers should wear tennis shoes/cleats and bring a water bottle. 

We would like to thank API, Bellevation, QB Edge, and BSP for donating their time to help the youth of Columbia!

Code Ninjas is hosting a CYFL Parents Night Out fundrasier on Friday, June 13th from 6-9pm. The cost is $40 per child and includes pizza and 3 hours of games (including Mario Kart and Smash Brothers tournaments) and all sorts of fun. If CYFL fills all 25 spots, we earn $500 back to the league! There are only 17 spots remaining so get signed up today! The child does not have to be a participate in our league to sign up for this event so please share will all of your friends and family! 

https://members.codeninjas.com/e/?uuid=466afd44-4a89-48b4-a7d0-cf72f3c4ff6e

Hey Monday!

I just wanted to remind everyone about our CYFL fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse tomorrow (Tuesday May 6th) from 3-10pm. Show our flyer and we earn 10% back to the league. We hope to see a lot of you there! :)

We also have another fundraiser planned on Friday, June 13th through Code Ninjas. They are sponsoring a Parents Night Out on our behalf. The cost is $40 per child and includes pizza and 3 hours of video games, such as Mario Kart and Smash Brothers tournament, and fun for the kids so parents can enjoy a date night or some just quiet time at home. There are 25 spots and if we fill all of them, we earn $500 back to CYFL. There are only 19 spots remaining to get signed up today! See the link to get signed up - https://members.codeninjas.com/e/?uuid=466afd44-4a89-48b4-a7d0-cf72f3c4ff6e

Also, we have moved our board meeting to Sunday, May 11th after the last flag game (so around 5:30ish) since we had several members unable to attend Tuesday. The board meeting will be at the concession stand and is open for anyone in the league to attend. 

Thanks!

Amanda

I have received several emails from families about their registration being deleted somehow and that they are no longer on a team roster. I have sent several emails to our website company about this, but do not have a cause or resolution for this issue yet. I know this is affecting player/parent/team communications so if this has happened to you, please go back on the website and register in one of the DayDreams applicant registrations so that you are not charged another registration fee. Once you have done that, please email Amanda at cyfl.footballsecretary@gmail.com with which DayDreams applicant registration you completed (because there are 3 different ones) and which team you are supposed to be on and we can get you re-added to a roster.

Thanks!

Amanda

Happy Friday!

As our spring season is starting, I have just a few annoucements to go through.

1) CYFL is having a "Dine and Donate" event at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday, May 6th. Attached is the flyer so dine in that day and show this flyer between 3pm and 10pm and CYFL will get 10% of your total food order back. We are a non-profit organization so we rely on donations and fundraisers to help keep our league going so please share this with your friends, family, and coworkers!

2) Fall registration is officially open! As a reminder, we offer cheerleading, flag football for K-2nd grade, and tackle football for 3rd-6th grades. Please head over to the website (www.columbiayouthfootball.com) and get registered today. Registration will close on July 15th. If you are planning on applying for a DayDreams scholarship for the fall season, DayDreams will not start reviewing applications until May 15th, but you are welcome to submit your information earlier. Please reach out to Amanda (cyfl.footballsecretary@gmail.com) and Julie (cyfltreasury@gmail.com) if you plan to apply for DayDreams as we will have a different registration process for you to go through. 

3) Coaches - coaching is on a "first come, first serve" basis so if you want to guarantee that you have a team to coach in the fall, you need to let me know your intentions ASAP! This will make fall registrations run a lot more smoothly and will also let us know sooner rather than later if we need to find more coaches for certain grades. You can either send me an email, text message, or a private message in GroupMe. 

Other important fall season dates to note:

-rosters will be sent to coaches the week of July 21st

-practices will start July 28th

-tackle equipment hand-out will be the week of August 4th - I will create a SignUp Genius and coaches will pick a day/time for their team to come get equipment. Coaches MUST be an attendance and help with equipment hand-out, in order to ensure players get the right sized equipment.

-Jamboree for tackle teams in Jefferson City is August 16-17th

-First game will be August 24th

-Labor Day weekend with be a bye week

-Playoffs will be October 19th (pending weather/make-up games)

-Championships will be October 26th (pending weather/make-up games)

As always, if there are any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Thanks!

Amanda Bracken

CYFL Secretary