This article was originally published in The Examiner on Feb. 23, 2017.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
The Beaumont Bulls youth football team’s season ended early in October 2016 after their head coach was fired following the team’s kneeling protests, but many former players banded together and created a new team, the Southeast Texas Oilers.
The Oilers held their first registration event Sunday, Feb. 16, in Rogers Park in Beaumont.
April Parkerson, vice president of the Oilers, said the in-person registration event was “pretty successful.”
“Our rosters are one-third of the way filled,” she said after the registration event.
Another 14 kids have signed up online as of Feb. 22, Parkerson said.
The Southeast Texas Oilers is now registered under the Texas Youth Football and Cheer Association (TYFA), based out of San Antonio. The Beaumont Bulls team is still under the Bay Area Football League (BAFL).
Former Beaumont Bulls head coach Rah-Rah Barber is now president of the new Southeast Texas Oilers team.
Parkerson believes the Texas Youth Football and Cheer Association offers the team more opportunities.
“They’re the largest football organization in Texas, and one of the largest in the US,” she said. “They’re more competitive, their ages start at 4 and they go all the way up to 13, so our senior boys could come back and play.”
“Some of them would have aged out with BAFL or any of the other organizations here,” Parkerson said. “Not only that, there’s no zone restrictions or weight limits. TYFA was the only organization that allows that.”
Parkerson encourages parents to “continue to sign their children up online or attend one of our upcoming registration events.”
Online registration is available at http://www.setxoilers.com.
Eleanor Skelton 