Across the country, the FCIAC is known as one of the most successful leagues in almost every aspect, especially football. The FCIAC is considered a college football breeding machine with alumni such as NFL hall of famer Gary Cobb, former New York Giants quarterback Andy Robustelli, and more recently linebackers Khairi Fortt and Alex Joseph.

In the past 25 years, the FCIAC has seen a grand total of four different championship teams. Those teams are Darien, Greenwich, Staples, and New Canaan. After watching the FCIAC Championship game myself and seeing Darien beat New Canaan for the fourth year in a row, I, along with many others, am sick and tired of the repetition. Year after year we watch the same team with a new generation of kids, run the same plays they have known since they were nine, playing for a title that, to them, has become an easy accomplishment. But why?

Youth football in towns such as Darien and New Canaan are fully devoted to preparing their children for high school. In Darien, coaches are hired by the high school to teach elementary school kids the basics of their offense, defense, and overall atmosphere of the program. All their teams are either blue or white, and every single playbook is identical, meaning most players on the Darien High School roster today have been preparing for high school football for eight years.

On the contrary, youth football leagues in other towns are coached by certified volunteers, who do a good job coaching the kids, but utilize their own systems. This means kids learn a new playbook and a new style of play every year. Once they reach middle school, they have a solid routine for three years, but this routine still has no relation to the high school because multiple middle schools feed in to each high school. Therefore, towns such as Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury, and Trumbull learn and prepare to play varsity competition for the four years they’re in high school, as opposed to Darien, New Canaan, and Greenwich’s lifelong preparation.

In the end, what does this all come back to? Money! Money gives them the ability to have a farm system, professional physical training, and more importantly, real coaches. Kids get new pads, new helmets, and new jerseys every year, and this money doesn’t just fall out of the sky. Donations are made to make this possible. In other words, in towns such as Darien and New Canaan, money is given, not raised. Stamford High School doesn’t have all new helmets, and I can guarantee that most of the players struggle to afford all of their equipment, while 7-year-old Darien youth players are wearing cleats given to them by boosters, parents and alumni.

So at the surface, towns with this system step on the field with an unfair advantage already. Other teams play against Darien and New Canaan with the hopes of losing by 20 instead of 40, and it has been this way for the last 25 years. Occasionally you get a lucky shot like Central High in 2010, or Danbury in 2003, who make it to the final game and give everyone hope for change, but to no avail. I think it is clear now that the FCIAC needs to change something. Whether it’s the playoff bracket, or the divisions, or more evenly distributed money, something has to change!