Statement Issued On Decision To Dismiss Cookeville Youth Football Program From League

The Middle Tennessee Youth Football Conference has issued a statement on its decision to ban the Cookeville Youth football program from the league.

MTYFC attorney Kelly Tollett said the Cookeville youth program failed to comply with a zero tolerance policy preventing felons from coaching in the league. Tollett said Cookeville was the only program that failed to turn in background consent forms for each of their coaches during the August 4th jamboree.

“They were given several chances to turn in the forms in the following 10 days. We, as a Conference, put the safety of all kids as our first priority. The latest incident was the culminating event with the Cookeville program that forced the MTYFC Board to make this difficult decision,” Tollet said.

Tollet pointed out that the Cookeville program has been on probation for prior events.

Tollett said the conference adopted the policy last year after recent local incidents in youth sports. He said banning the Cookeville program was the only way to ensure the safety of over 1,000 kids involved in the Middle Tennessee Youth Football Conference.

“Again, the recent decision made with respect to the Cookeville program was not made lightly. The decision was made with first and foremost concern of the safety of ALL the youth athletes of the MTYFC,” Tollet said.

Tollett said any team or individual that is found to not be in compliance with the mission and standards of MTYFC will be dismissed from the Conference.