Monroe City Academy League Inaugural Season

"It Takes a Village: Clearing the Path to Success."

Monroe, Louisiana – Monroe City Academy League opened their inaugural season on Saturday, September 25, 2021, with over 1,200 spectators in attendance cheering on as they watched an astonishing 11 action packed football games and young cheerleaders. The inaugural season began with 2 weeks of Jamboree play and has an official 8-week game schedule with championship playoffs. MCAL, as the league is fondly referred to, is presented to the community by Free Me Association. Overcoming many hurdles to get to opening day, MCAL's Co-Commissioner Tre Hunter say's "it was all worth it to see the village come together and support the young student athletes who cheered and played some great football." The league embraces a mission that demonstrates that MCAL is committed to bridging the gaps between our youth and the community by providing resources and tools necessary for athletics, cultural exposure, education, and team building by way of sporting programs and Parental Enrichment Workshops. In a Facebook post, the league's Co-Commissioner, Tyree Hollins says "Ultimately the biggest goal of MCAL is to pour wisdom, knowledge, hard work, dedication and proper skill development into our youth."The league's gameday atmosphere is remarkable. Fans in attendance not only enjoyed good quality football and cheer, but they also engaged in cheering on the athletes, enjoyed a Live DJ, great food trucks and other vendors. The league welcomes everyone to become a part of their Village as they put on their gameday experience every Saturday at Carroll High School in Monroe. Hollins writes "MCAL is working daily to make continuous improvements to our operations". To help facilitate this, "the league has started an intern program for youth to learn other aspects of the game", says Hunter. This will include "the other industries of sports such as media, journalism, sales, operations, and social networking. We encourage parents and teens to register via the website, TheAcademyElite.org beginning Wednesday September 29th." After football, the league has more sports in store for the community's youth, with Basketball beginning next in the fall. Aside from sports development, for the second year, Free Me Association will make available to all the cheerleaders and student athletes an after-school enrichment program at no cost. The league hopes to create partnerships with many organizations, including the City of Monroe, local businesses, and individuals to continue to develop the youth and present quality gameday presentations by local student athletes. The league encourages the community to get behind the student athlete programs and expound on what our youth see as their Village of support and enrichment.