MOUNT VERNON — The rivalry between the Raiders and the Vikings in Mount Vernon colt football may soon be a thing of the past.
Local leaders of the Knox County Colt Football League have taken the first steps toward a revamping of youth football in Mount Vernon.
The league is looking into the possibility of joining the Mid-Ohio Colt Football League, which has teams in Knox County and surrounding areas.
If that happens, the KCCFL will be renamed Mount Vernon Colt Football and will have multiple teams in the new league.
Exactly how many teams is still undecided.
“It’s going to depend on the number of kids we have,” said KCCFL president Dan Selby. “They (the MOCFL) want an even number of teams. So we may keep four teams, or we may have just two.”
Under the current KCCFL format, new players are drafted into one of four teams: The Raiders, the Browns, the Vikings and the Cowboys.
The proposed changes would do away with the team names. Their new names have not been decided, but Selby said they will somehow incorporate the high school. He and other supporters believe this would help Mount Vernon colt football fall in line with the middle school and high school formats.
“This way, their focus is Yellow Jacket football from 7 years old all the way through high school,” said Selby. “That way, they’ll want to be a Yellow Jacket instead of beating up on one another and saying, ‘I’m a Raider,’ or ‘I’m a Viking.’”
