Tucson's largest and longest-running youth football and cheer organization will be taking the field next week for the first time since 2019, but it will be smaller than in years past.
Two years ago, Tucson Youth Football and Spirit Federation touted 16 associations made up of an estimated 115 football teams and 60 spirit squads — a total of more than 3,500 kids ages 5 through 14. Heading into next week's Old Pueblo Classic, TYFSF is made up of just 10 associations. It's unclear how many individual players and cheerleaders TYFSF still has on its roster.
Commissioner Julius Holt said that the departures were related to TYFSF's decision to cancel the 2020 season because of the pandemic. But the Tanque Verde Cowboys, Marana Broncos and Tucson Scorpions indicate they left because of issues with financial transparency and favoritism.
"We wish them the best; there's no animosity there," Holt said of the departed associations. "The reason they gave us for leaving was more flexibility and better competition."
Three departed associations say there was more to it than that, but Holt insists they're just "bitter and fishing."
Questions about finances
Keith Regina has been with TYFSF since 2008, when his son began playing for the Tanque Verde Cowboys. He began volunteering with the Tucson Scorpions in 2015, and took over as president the next year.
Regina and the Scorpions' executive board and coaches wanted to play the 2020 season. When the Scorpions began practicing, however, TYFSF's board told them that the league's insurance wouldn't cover them if they played.
Regina began shopping for insurance on his own, and found it to be "super affordable" compared to what the Scorpions' assessment fees to TYFSF accounted for. Regina said it cost roughly $9,000 to secure insurance and referees for the Scorpions in 2020 — $4,000 less than what his association had paid in years past. Regina believes the league was charging extra fees to some associations to cover the costs of associations that couldn't afford it.
TYFSF's website says it charges $55 in league fees for each tackle football and cheer participant, and $45 for each flag football player.
Holt told the Star those fees cover more than just insurance. The money is also used for referees, city football and cheer championships, the annual scholarship banquet, trophies and the league's rental facility. If one association pays more in league assessment fees than another, Holt said, it's simply because that association has more players.
Regina said that when he and other presidents started asking questions about finances at an April board meeting, the league shut them down.
"We wanted to play TYF, but it became very clear that they weren't going to play," Regina said. "So we aligned with a league out of Phoenix to play. (TYFSF) suspended me the day after (the league) posted me on their Facebook page."
Regina was given a chance to appeal his suspension, but said he didn't bother.
"My difficulty is, I believe TYF does a good job with several things," he said. "I think that we're doing the right thing."
TYFSF's website said that all association presidents are given monthly league financial reports to ensure transparency. Holt said the monthly financial reports include league expenses and revenue in detail. TYFSF bookkeeper Sarah McCraren said that after two associations started asking for more information, she provided them with transactions in detail, and then eventually started including copies of the league's bank statements in the reports.
'Severe favoritism' alleged
Emails from the Marana Broncos and Tanque Verde Cowboys obtained by the Star indicate similar concerns.
In February, a Broncos board member requested a list of assessments and tax returns for all associations in TYFSF. Broncos president Roland Gutierrez wrote the TYFSF leadership and association presidents later that month to say that he had yet to receive them "despite correspondence with both TYFSF and an attorney for TYFSF."
"The Marana Broncos' board main focus is providing our families with the best experience possible and using their fees in a responsible manner," he wrote. "We are not in the business of covering the costs for other associations unable to do the same."
Holt said he sent along the Broncos' request to the league's attorney, Ali Farhang, but they were unable to confirm that the person who made the request was a member of the board. Under federal law, nonprofit organizations are required to show their three most recent returns to anyone who asks.
"We got a letter from someone we'd never heard from before asking for them. We weren't going to give them to that individual because we didn't know who she was," Holt said. "We sent a letter back and asked the president of the (Broncos) board to ask."
Holt said he never received a second request, but that he has "nothing to hide. There are no improprieties, there's nothing going on."
Holt said Gutierrez's real issue is that TYFSF suspended his wife — the Broncos' previous president — for breaking league rules, adding that he did not support the suspension.
Holt said the league does not cover costs for any other associations, calling the accusation "bullsh--."
Julius Holt
Meanwhile, a Feb. 14 letter from the Cowboys said that TYFSF officials contacted schools and parks to say, falsely, that the association did not have insurance "and that they would be wise not to give us field space."
The email said the association had the same insurance it always had, and that TYFSF was trying to undermine organizations that were trying to play during the pandemic.
"There is severe favoritism being played in their decisions, and the 'good-ole-boy' system is prevalent and painfully obvious," the email said.
Holt said none of that happened, and there's no favoritism on his or the league's end. He said every association is independently run and the presidents vote on everything. The league simply manages.
'We'll try to make it happen'
Holt said he has no hard feelings toward the associations that left during the pandemic.
"I wish them well because at the end of the day they’re part of Tucson and we want them to be successful. But I didn’t want to take that risk with someone else’s children," Holt said. "I have a pacemaker and defibrillator myself, so it's just not worth it to me."
Holt said TYFSF plans to follow all CDC guidelines and any guidelines set by the facilities its programs will use on the weekends. The league has recommended that all coaches and volunteers be vaccinated, but it's not been made mandatory. Each association has an emergency action plan and COVID-19 protocols.
"We'll try to make it happen, if something should come up," Holt said. "We're not going to cancel it. We'll push it back or something, but we'll make sure we have a season."
