It’s fun to watch all of the teams hit their strides as the season goes on. I’d say that our participation has been pretty consistent over the last few years.”

Jeff Manna

ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Junior Tackle football program is enjoying another successful season on the field. Whether it's through the action on the football field or the sideline and halftime entertainment from the cheer and dance programs, Rochelle Junior Tackle allows children to make new friends and form new skills both inside and outside of athletics.

Jeff Manna has taken over as president of the Rochelle Junior Tackle program after his brother-in-law, Derek Johnson, stepped down after several years at the helm. Manna, who comes from Oswego, has been involved with Rochelle Junior Tackle for the last few years, running the scoreboard clock as well as coaching flag football and serving as a member of the board. His wife Amanda also helps with the RJT cheerleading program.

“It’s been a good season so far, not only with junior tackle but with the flag football program,” said Manna, who’s also helping the eighth-grade team as an assistant coach. “It’s fun to watch all of the teams hit their strides as the season goes on. I’d say that our participation has been pretty consistent over the last few years. We went from having six or seven kids per team at our youngest level of flag football to eight or nine kids per team. Our numbers at the RJT level are looking good and we make sure all of our kids have a chance to get into the game.”

Rochelle Junior Tackle features four teams for its fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth-graders. Each team plays eight games during the season, which typically begins in the middle of August before ending in early October. Rochelle is a member of the Big 14 Conference, which includes Byron, Dixon, LaSalle-Peru, Oregon, Princeton, Rockton, Sterling, Stillman Valley and Streator.

“It’s fun to watch the kids grow from fifth grade through eighth grade,” said Manna, whose 5-year-old son Jaxyn is in flag football and whose nephew, Landon Johnson, is on the sixth-grade team. “They learn football skills and life skills, whether it’s sportsmanship or helping their teammates. We include everyone and it’s been fun to watch them grow over these last several years.”

Practices kicked off during the summer and are held at the Helms Park fields north of Jones Road during the school week. Games are played on Saturdays during the regular season, with the top four teams in the conference from each grade level advancing to compete for first and third place. One goal of the Rochelle Junior Tackle program is to be a feeder program for the Rochelle Township High School football program, which hosts an RJT camp every summer.

“The kids learn how important the running game is,” said Manna, who complimented RTHS alum and eighth-grade football coach Riley Hall for his work with the program this year. “Riley’s been doing a really good job of coaching the eighth-graders and getting them ready for what they’re going to see in high school… We see at each grade level how much the kids understand the importance of the running game, which has been successful at the high school level.”

While many children in the Rochelle Junior Tackle program are playing some form of football, the program also offers cheer and dance teams, which are coached by Rochelle Township High School student-athletes. Like football, many children who participate in cheer and dance at the Rochelle Junior Tackle level continue on to either cheer or dance at the high school level.

“The high-schoolers become role models for the kids before they even reach high school,” said Manna, who has a 3-year-old daughter Irelynn. “The RJT cheerleaders and dancers then become role models for the younger kids. My daughter can’t wait to cheer and she’s always out there cheering with the kids and having a great time. Our numbers are a little lower than they’ve been in previous years so we’d like to see those numbers increase, particularly on the dance side.”