Chester Stingers begin third year of operation

<span>CHESTER -- With 122 players signed up across all levels, the Chester Stingers began their third year of operation with the first day of practice on Aug. 2.</span>

<span>The Cohen Complex hosted practice for all levels on the first day, with junior varsity and varsity levels moving to Cole Memorial Park for future sessions.</span>

<span>"Everything went well," said Chester Stingers board member Aaron Runge. "When you start running out of equipment, you've got as many kids as you expected and more."</span>

<span>Chester participates in the Southwestern Illinois Youth Football Conference, which includes Columbia, Nashville, Pinckneyville, Red Bud, Dupo, Sparta, Freeburg and Waterloo.</span>

<span>Games will begin Saturday, Sept. 6, during Chester's annual Popeye Picnic.</span>

<span>"I played at Red Bud when I was a kid and we sent kids to Red Bud for over 30 years," Runge said. "Jeff (Mott) and I decided to stop doing it and we decided to start something for the parents who couldn't make that drive."</span>

<span>Children can start playing in the league as young as 5 years old at the "freshman" level and the varsity level covers teenagers ages 12 to 14.</span>

<span>"What we're giving every kid is an opportunity to play football before their freshman year in high school," Runge said. "It's something additional to give to the community and we started in full force on Tuesday."</span>

<span>In terms of scheduling, Runge said the conference goes with a computer-generated model that factors in the number of teams each program is able to field. He was not able to say when schedules may be released.</span>

<span>"The league goes by computer-generated schedule and we know how perfect those can be," Runge said. "They enter how many teams they have at each level and (the computer) spits out a home schedule and an away schedule."</span>

<span>Runge said if it turns out that three of the Stingers levels have a home game in one weekend, he tries to schedule them all in one day to make it easier for parents.</span>

<span>"There's been times when it's been the first week of September before we know the schedule," Runge said.</span>

<span>Before the season starts, Chester's varsity and sophomore levels will have an opportunity to play on the Edward Jones Dome - home of the St. Louis Rams - turf following a 3 p.m. preseason game between the Rams and the Packers.</span>

<span>Chester will be part of a jamboree that includes Sparta and will have a full hour on the turf, opposed to the limited time the Stingers had last year during a halftime event at the dome.</span>

<span>"Sparta wanted its varsity to have a shot at it and we wanted our sophomores to have a shot at it," Runge said. "We're going to split the field and do a jamboree.</span>

"It was a super-neat feeling last year, but it came and went so quickly."