With summer vacation ending, not only has school begun, but fall sports for Tooele County youth have begun also.

TC United's program started earlier with a float in the Fourth of July parade with Leo the Lion from REAL Salt Lake, Casey Walker said. They also hosted a British Challenger soccer camp at Deseret Peak.

TC United is not the only one having fun in their league. Tooele and Grantsville Ute Football leagues are also in full swing.

All three leagues, TC United, Tooele Ute Football and Grantsville Ute Football, play their games on Saturdays.

John Cafe with Tooele Ute Football said the kids in his league are having fun and learning the concepts of football.

The kids in Tooele Ute Football not only play teams from the county, but they also play teams from Salt Lake City, Cafe said.

Cory Landon, with Grantsville Ute Football, said his league is in District No. 2, but they play the teams in the Tooele Ute Football league, along with teams in Salt Lake City.

TC United players practice with a 1:1 ratio, Walker said. This means they have one practice to one game.

"The coaches may justify that a little depending on age," Walker said. "For example younger kids may practice less and the older kids may practice more."

Recreation TC United teams play only other TC United teams, he said. While competition TC United teams play teams outside of the county and play two games a week.

Both Ute Football leagues have five age groups, with the Tooele league adding one more age group than Grantsville.

The age groups and are 8 and 9 year olds, known as Gremlins,10 year olds, known as Peewees, 11 year olds, known as Mity Mites, 12 year olds, known as Midgets, 13 year olds, known as Bantams and for Tooele, 14 year olds, known as Juniors.

Tooele Ute Football has 14 teams -- three Gremlins, three Peewees, two Mity Mites, two Midgets, two Bantams and two Juniors.

While Grantsville has 15 teams, having four Gremlins, three Pewees, three coach's Mites, three Midgets and two Bantams. Their Junior program plays with the high school.

TC United has 1,300 youth in its recreation program, Walker said. It has only 200 in its competition program.

While Grantsville plays their home games at Grantsville High School, Tooele plays their home games at Deseret Peak.

Each team can practice up to three times a week, both Cafe and Landon said.

Cafe said the coaches for Tooele pick when and where they want to practice, while Landon said Grantsville coaches have a schedule for when and where they practice.

Each league has a large number of children participating in their program.

Tooele has 290 youth, Cafe said.

"We're up approximately 45 players from last year," he said.

Grantsville doesn't have as many players, but they are close. They have 245 players this year.

They've grown in the past year, Landon said.

"We're up by about 35 kids from last year," he said. "Last year we had 11 teams and this year we have 15. We're definitely growing."

While each league has more than 200 kids participating it's important to make sure they have fun, but learn the skills of playing football at the same time.

"All of our coaches main focus is to the kids. We want them to learn the game, and to enjoy what they're doing," Cafe said.

Landon said that all their coaches are volunteers, and are there for the kids.

"All the coaches try to make the game fun," he said.

Walker agreed.

"We do our best to educate the coaches on how to teach at the appropriate age level," Walker said. "We just hope the coaches will take some pride in getting these kids to enjoy themselves and enjoy the beautiful game."

With that many children in a league it can be difficult for every child to be able to play, but Landon said there is a required amount of play that each child must participate in.

"Each kid is guaranteed 10 plays during every game," he said.

Landon is excited about this year.

"We're positive about this year," he said. "Last year we had four teams win the championships. We're looking forward to a great year and positive year."

The football leagues will play through the end of October with playoffs and state championships in November.

Walker said TC United could use more coaches to keep the league moving forward.

To find out schedules or track out how any Tooele or Grantsville Ute Football teams are doing go to www.utefootball.com. In the right corner there is a pull-down menu, just click on the district you want to find the information on. The site will guide you to where you need to be.

For more information on TC United go to www.tcunited.org to find out more about volunteering or for changes in the league.

Abby Palmer: apalmer@tooeletranscript.com