AMESBURY — Dust off your spirit gear, youth football is back in Amesbury this season.
The Amesbury Jets is a youth football program that consists of three teams, a second- through fourth-grade team, a fifth- and sixth-grade team and a seventh- and eighth-grade team.
Last year, the Amesbury Jets did not have enough players sign up for the 2025-26 season, leading them to cancel its season and send all registered players to Newburyport Youth Football.
Joe Gately, president of Amesbury Jets Youth Football and Cheer said while the decision was difficult, he was appreciative that Newburyport Youth Football opened their arms to their neighbors.
“It was heartbreaking for us, because Amesbury predominantly has been a big football town, and I’m just glad the kids got somewhere to play last year, since we couldn’t fill teams,” he said.
But now Amesbury kids will have the chance to play for their city once more, as registration numbers are looking good, Gately said.
“We have enough for our fifth and sixth, and our seventh and eighth, we have enough for those kids to all play. And, we just need one more second- to fourth-grader to register to fill that second-, third-, fourth-grade team,” he said Thursday.
Mainly, Gately said he is glad local kids will have a chance to represent Amesbury on the field this season, and wear the city’s name on their jerseys.
“To be playing on your home field with basically all of your friends from school, it’s just a camaraderie and a pride thing for the kids in Amesbury,” he said.
When discussing the positive trajectory of the program, Gately attributed the turnaround to Brett Holmes, the new director of football operations for the Jets board.
Gately said Holmes has a number of connections within the community that were instrumental in getting parents to sign their kids up to play.
“He is just a pillar of the community in Amesbury. He coaches baseball over there, he just knows the ins and outs of all the families. He’s made all the right connections, and I could say that he’s the one that clearly has done the rebuilding of the football program this year,” Gately said of Holmes.
Holmes joined the board after his son developed a passion for football when playing in Newburyport last year. Holmes said he hoped to give his son and other Amesbury kids a chance to play for their city, so he reached out to community members in a effort to drum up registration, which was ultimately successful.
Now, with a number of kids already registered to play, and the registration deadline a little less than a week away, Holmes said he is thankful for the community support, and hopes the momentum continues.
“We’re just super grateful for the community stepping up. We’ve seen a tremendous amount of people signing up in these last two weeks, and want it to continue, especially at the second- and fourth-grade level, so that we can keep this Jets football program continuing from the ground up,” he said.