No matter where you are, there are some amazing football traditions. There are also great uniforms. Those two things mixed together are better than spaghetti and meatballs, and the Harrisonville youth football league proves it.
Each and every year in the small Missouri town, it's been tradition for the Harrisonville 7th grade team to choose their jerseys for the upcoming season. This year, the players decided to wear "Thin Blue Line" uniforms to support law enforcement. After all, their coaches are police officers.
"From what I've seen it's been positive support all the way around," Belton Police Department Officer and Coach Steve Bechtel said of the community's reaction on Fox & Friends. "Everybody seems to like them."
The team had several designs to choose from, but they went with these. It has a black and white American flag with a blue line down the middle of it. The Thin Blue Line flag became popular during the Blue Lives Matter movement in 2014, and is being brought back by the youth football team.
"It represents our coaches as officers and sometimes they just don't get enough credit for what they do," Harrisonville Youth Football wide receiver Eli Baker said.
As for the team itself, the Harrisonville Wildcats hope to build off the success of last season while listing to coaches and law enforcement officers Michael Adair and Bechler.
"My philosophy kind go comes from my law enforcement background. How it's structured and how we work together as a team and how we build self confidence among ourselves through hard work and dedication to our craft. It seems to resonate with the kids and they push themselves everyday.
"We have a saying amongst each other of 'Wildcats, what do we got?' And they'll say 'one more' because we always go one more."
— Retired Police Officer and Harrisonville Youth Football Coach Michael Adair
The show of support of local law enforcement, and the sacrifices they make in the line of duty, is impressive, especially for kids in the 7th grade. Not only should it make the Harrisonville community proud, but for many who support police officers in the United States.
