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What is Eastside Crusaders Junior Football (ECJF)? |
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ECJF is a faith-centered junior football program headquartered in Sammamish, Washington. We are a proud member of the Northwest Junior Football League (NJFL) which is an age and weight restricted league with teams from Seattle to Mill Creek. |
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ECJF is a registered 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation |
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Who can play? |
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ECJF is open to anyone who wants to learn the sport of football. As a practical matter, we market mainly to parochial and private schools. We do this because most junior football programs have strict geographic boundaries for team assignments. ECJF does not have any geographic restrictions. As most private school kids don’t come from the same geographic areas, ECJF gives them an opportunity to play with their schoolmates. |
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What do you mean by faith-centered? |
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In a practical sense, it means we pray before our games. In a larger sense, it means we profess our faith in the way the coaches, players, parents and fans conduct themselves both on and off the field. |
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Do I have to be religious to play for ECJF? |
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No. ECJF is open to all regardless of religion. We do ask that all players bow their heads in respect during the pre-game prayer and all players will be held to the same standard of conduct. |
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What is the age limit? |
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ECJF is open to anyone between the ages of 7 and 14. |
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Can girls play? |
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Absolutely. |
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Will my child get to play with his/her friends? |
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Every effort is made to put friends on the same team; friends playing with friends is one of the main reasons ECJF was started. However, safety is our primary concern so friends of similar ages and significantly different weights (or vice versa) will likely play on different teams. |
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How long is the season? |
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The season runs from the first Monday in August through approximately the first week in November. |
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Where and when do you practice and play games? |
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Practices and home games are held be at Eastside Catholic School, 232 228th Avenue SE, Sammamish, WA 98074. Practice begins the first Monday in August and is 5 nights a week thru Labor Day. Thereafter, practice is held on three of four weeknights (Monday through Thursday). Games are played on Saturdays. |
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How much will my child get to play? |
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Playing time is based on attitude, effort and attendance at weekly practices. As a rule, players who show-up on-time, work hard and pay attention during the week are guaranteed at least 10 plays from scrimmage during the game. |
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What does it cost to play? |
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Participation fees for football and cheer for the 2009 season are $325 per participant. For football, an additional equipment deposit of $200.00 is held for the season and destroyed when the equipment is returned. |
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Are there discounts for multiple players from the same family? |
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Yes. There is a $100 dollar discount for the third and fourth players from a family. There is still an equipment deposit of $200.00 for each player. There are no discounts available for cheer as the bulk of the cost is in the cheer uniform. |
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What does the participation fee include? |
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The fee includes practice and game pants and pads, girdle, shoulder pads, practice jersey, game socks and helmet. It also includes a personalized game jersey which the player keeps at the end of the season and a copy of the ECJF yearbook. |
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What other equipment will we need? |
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Players will need to supply their own football shoes with molded cleats, athletic supporter and cup, and mouth guard. The NJFL does NOT allow screw-in cleats on football shoes. |
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Is there financial assistance available? |
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ECJF does provide a limited number of full or partial need-based scholarships. Please refer to the Scholarship page of this website. |
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What else does ECJF offer? |
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ECJF also has a cheerleading program for young women between 7 and 14. For more information, please see the Cheer page of this website. |
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This sounds fantastic! What can I do to help? |
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GREAT question! ECJF is a 100 percent volunteer organization with all of our funds going back into the program. We have a constant need for volunteers to help with everything from coaching to concessions to cheerleading. If you would like to contribute some of your valuable time to ECJF, please speak with one of the Executive Committee members. |