Ferriday &8212; One of the greatest joys a parent can have is watching their son play football. Brian Davis, of Ferriday, would like to see more parents experiencing that joy and that&8217;s why he created the Ferriday Youth Football League.

&8220;The problem we were having is that the existing league was only for kids in Vidalia,&8221; Davis said. &8220;I want to see kids from all of our local communities given the opportunity to play football.&8221;

Davis&8217; league will be a part of American Youth Football and will be for boys ages 12-13 and is expected to consist of six teams. Of those six teams three will be from Natchez, two from Ferriday, and one from Jonesville.

&8220;I am getting interest from all over the Miss-Lou,&8221; Davis said.

With as wide of an area base as the Ferriday Youth Football League will encompass, Davis believes that it is important that the teams be localized.

&8220;We are going to have kids from all over, the way that we are dealing with that issue is to make sure the teams are made up of kids from each of those areas,&8221; Davis said. &8220;Natchez kids will play on one of the Natchez teams. It wouldn&8217;t make sense to have the parents driving all over the place.&8221;

Davis said that the Ferriday Youth Football League will focus on teaching the players solid fundamentals, and stress the values of leadership, character, responsibility and team work.

&8220;Football taught me a lot of things and opened so many doors for me.&8221; Davis said. &8220;I started this league because I wanted to pass on some of that to the youth in our communities.&8221;

Children ages 12-13 are welcome to sign up.

Cost of participation will be $50 per child and will cover jerseys, insurance and a team photo.

Anyone interested in having their child participate in this year&8217;s league can contact Davis at 318-757-4463.