Ben Powell Takes Over as President of NBYF

When Ben Powell’s son, Ben Jr., started playing North Branford Youth Football (NBYF) four years ago, Powell didn’t think he would wind up as president of the organization.

But at the end of January, Powell succeeded Michael Gries, who stepped down after leading for several years.

Powell recalled that his son signed up with his friends in the 1st grade, perhaps to follow in the football cleats of his dad, who played football for back in the day.

North Branford Youth Football is part of the Shoreline Conference, which includes teams from Old Saybrook to East Haven and north to Cheshire, Wallingford and Southington. The league plays a nine-week season starting just before Labor Day, then has playoffs and a championship.

Children from kindergarten to 3rd grade play flag football. The children from 4th to 8th grade have teams at each grade level. The program gives the children the experience of playing football, while teaching them some of the fundamentals of the game.

On Feb. 25, Powell said North Branford will host a "tackling academy" at to teach the children how to tackle safely to reduce the chance of injuries.

Powell–who owns Precision Testing, an HVAC system testing company, with his wife, Kimberly–gradually got more involved in the NBYF organization, assuming the job coordinating the flag football program for one year and joining the Board of Directors two years ago.

He said Gries decided to step down as president and reached out to groom him as a successor.

Powell said being president is a year-round job. "I’m a coordinator for the league" and also the head of the board. "Basically, I’m the head coach for 35 coaches."

He and the other officials—athletic director Michael Rice, vice president Jason Fowler, secretary Lynn Sauro and treasurer Jeff Dobos—must make decisions about who equipment to use and sometimes intercede when parents get into arguments during the games.

During the winter, Powell said he is busy lining up coaches for the teams. Usually, the coaches follow the same group of children from 4th grade to 8th, so he looks for someone willing to make a multi-year commitment.

And he usually finds them. "We have coaches who have coached for 25 years," he said.

Powell said he is happy to take over as president of North Branford Youth Football and he likes working with the other volunteers. "It’s been a good experience."

For information on NBYF, check out the website or the NBYF Facebook page.