Hard knocks:

Steel City football program runs tackle football program for youth

Talk with Ricky Smith in the midst of football and immediately you are transported to the fall of 1979 and the Lorain Steelmen are playing Elyria for the conference title.

Lorain was the top-scoring team in the conference and the Pioneers, the best defense, had not given up a touchdown.

Elyria won 8-7. Smith was a defensive tackle on the squad and he’s still around Lorain football to this day.

He’s now in his 22nd year as the president of the Steel City Youth Football Mentorship program. The organization teaches kids ages 5 to 12 the fundamentals of full-contact tackle football, while breeding a passion for the sport and emphasizing safety.

This year the program spreads 120 kids among four teams; the ages range from six-and-under to 12-and-under. The teams travel to Akron for some games, said Smith. There was a ceremony held at the games on Sept. 11 to commemorate that dark day in our nation’s history, when the oldest players in the league were still eight years from being born.

Playing the game safely is emphasized. Young players are taught the proper tackling form, said Brandon Tolliver, a coach in the league.

The players practice three times a week, two-hours a practice.

Several recent Lorain High School star athletes, who went on to play football in college, played for the Steelmen while growing up, including current Kansas City Chief and Clearview graduate, Anthony Hitchens, Smith said. Rashod Berry, who went on to play at Ohio State, and in the NFL, also played in the program, said Smith.

Karrengton Wade played in the program and now at 21 is coaching in it while finishing up his degree at Kent State.

“It helped build character. Let me see things from a different perspective and helped me build discipline, Wade said when asked what he gained from playing in the Steel City program. “The coaches always wanted the best for us. They were strict and hard. They made us keep our heads in line, even in adversity, and that transferred from the field to my life.”

MICHAEL FITZPATRICK — THE MORNING JOURNAL Black-and-gold Steelmen 6U tackle football team lines up for a play on Sept. 25against an Akron team at Pawlak Park in Lorain.