Youth football in Middle Tennessee: your questions.

The Middle Tennessee Football Association (MTFA) is a new nonprofit youth tackle football and cheer league for community programs across Middle Tennessee. It was incorporated in Tennessee in August 2026 and is recruiting founding programs for its first season in fall 2027.

Players aged 5 to 12 play in four age groups: PeeWee (6U), C (8U), B (10U) and A (12U). Age is set as of July 31, the same date Middle Tennessee programs already use.

Each age group has one ball-carrier weight limit: 65 lb for PeeWee (6U), 90 lb for C (8U), 110 lb for B (10U) and 135 lb for A (12U). Players over the limit play as Line Players under the double-stripe convention local programs already know. Every player is weighed once, on league-owned certified electronic scales, with no game-day weigh-ins.

No. Every team in an age group starts in one pool. The first four Saturdays, called the Sort, pair teams with similar records against each other. After Week 4 a published Placement Rating splits the age group into the Cup and Shield flights. Nobody classifies a team by hand and nobody votes on where a team plays.

Yes. Every team in every age group finishes the season in a bracket, playing for either the MTFA Cup or the MTFA Shield. Both are championships of equal standing, and no team is ever made ineligible for the postseason because of where it was placed.

The founding season is fall 2027. Two preseason Jamboree Saturdays start the first Saturday in August, Week 1 is the last Saturday in August, and the eight-week season ends with the postseason and Championship Day in early November.

Kickoff times are fixed for every Saturday of the season: PeeWee 9:00 AM, C 10:30 AM, B 12:00 PM and A 1:30 PM. Families know their kickoff time for all eight weeks before Week 1, even though some opponents depend on the previous week's results. The one exception is a published heat-safety threshold.

Player registration is handled by each member community program, not by the league. MTFA will list its founding programs here once they commit. In the meantime, ask your local youth football program whether it plans to join MTFA, or email president@mtfafootball.org.

Yes. Cheer and dance is open to ages 4 to 14, with sideline and competition tracks. Squads are tiered by skill within each age division, safety follows current USA Cheer and USASF standards, and cheer is governed by the same rules, votes and appeals as football.

The rulebook follows Tennessee's youth sports concussion law, including signed information sheets, immediate removal for a suspected concussion and written clearance before a player returns. It also sets published contact limits in practice, a written heat and lightning policy, and requires a CPR- and AED-trained adult at every practice and game.

Any youth tackle football or cheer program in Middle Tennessee can apply, including programs in Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Sumner and Maury counties and the surrounding area. MTFA is looking for six to eight founding programs for 2027. A program may enter any number of teams in an age group.

Read the prospectus, then email president@mtfafootball.org. Founding programs form the first board of directors and ratify the governance rules and the rulebook before anything else is decided. Communities, coaches and officials can also request the full rulebook and the mock season.

Yes. MTFA is a Tennessee nonprofit corporation. Recognition of exemption under section 501(c)(3) is pending; until it is granted, contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions.