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Health & Fitness

Wolves Football Dads Share 15 Years of Volunteering

Football Teaches Teamwork, Discipline and Accountability

Football season is well underway and the boys of fall have been working the gridiron since early August. Area youth football organizations cater to grammar school players, teaching the fundamentals of the game.

Two area dads have a combined 15 years of volunteering with the Orland Hills Wolves, which is part of the River Valley Football League.

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Rick Iannantone, of Orland Hills is marking his ninth season with the Wolves, having joined the organization when his now freshman daughter began as a cheerleader in first grade. Jim Poynton, of Tinley Park, has been active with the Wolves for the last six years.

“Football was my passion --- my sport when I was a kid,” Iannantone said. “I loved watching the kids play the first year my daughter cheered and I wanted to do more with the organization,” he recalled, adding, “Our son, who now plays on the Wolves JV Team, was just two years old.”

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“We followed my brother-in-law, who is the head freshman football coach at Providence Catholic,” Poynton recalled.  “He did most of the research and his son now plays for St. Ambrose. Our main reasons for choosing the Wolves were proximity, their being a part of the River Valley League and wanting to be a part of a smaller organization,” Poynton said.

Founded in 1999, the Orland Hills Wolves is one of approximately 15 area football/cheer organizations in the River Valley League. This year’s football and cheer rosters include more than 250 children from Orland Hills, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Homer Glen, Oak Forest and other south suburbs.

“Every kid is different,” Iannantone said. “I believe in coaching them individually, helping them building on their strengths,” he said. “I like the River Valley League because it’s a competitive league and the bigger boys are able to play as stripers,” Iannantone explained. “This gives more kids the opportunity to learn the game in grammar school,” he said, adding, “River Valley has higher weight limits than other leagues in the area.”

Echoing Iannantone, Poynton said, “The heavier weights are able to play, which is huge for kids who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance and the league has specific safety rules for these striper players. I also like the River Valley’s fifth quarter development period played before the regular game, giving learning players an opportunity to play.”

Poynton added, “It’s also nice that all of our teams play at the same location each weekend, letting families travel and spend the day together all at the same field. They bring their patio canopies and it’s a tent city at the football field for every game.”

An alumnus of St Laurence High School, Iannantone said, “I played football all four years in high school and I believe any sport is best for all kids. It teaches the value of team work, discipline and sportsmanship --- and sports help keep kids out of trouble,” said Iannantone, who is a carpenter.

Both Iannantone and Poynton have held a number of positions within the Wolves organization and currently serve as the head coaches for Varsity and Junior Varsity, respectively. Iannantone has served as athletic director, has coached every level and is currently the Wolves Board president. Poynton has been both offensive and defensive coordinator, coached Super Lights, Lightweights and JV, serves on the Football Coaches’ Committee, is a board member and currently serves as athletic director for football operations.

“The Wolves are fortunate to have a great core group of volunteers who run the organization with the help of parent volunteers on every level,” Iannantone said. “Everyone works together to make the Wolves the great family oriented program that it is,” he said.

Poynton is a graduate of Marian Catholic High School, where he played offensive and defensive tackle. He played offensive guard at the University of Iowa, where he also coached for five years under Hayden Fry. Poynton, who also coached at Northern Illinois for four years under Joe Novak,  owns his own healthcare consulting business.

“Let them make the decision,” Poynton said of kids wanting to play football. “If they like it --- great. If they don’t, at least they gave it a shot. We’ve had kids come out when they were seven or eight and take the following year off only to realize they missed the sport and hanging out with their buddies, so they signed back up,” he said smiling.

Iannantone and Poynton both have three children. Rick and wife Jenn’s oldest, Gianni, cheered for the Wolves for eight years and is now a freshman at Andrew High School. Son Rocco plays for the JV team and Reanna is beginning her cheerleading career.

Two of Poynton’s three sons play for the Wolves, with Seamus playing for JV and Ronan on the Lightweight team. Mary and Jim Poynton’s youngest son, Conlan, will play for the Wolves once he’s old enough. Both Jenn Iannantone and Mary Poynton have served on the Wolves Board of Directors with Jenn Iannantone having served as cheer director for five years.

While many youth football groups now turn to area high schools to use their fields, the Orland Hills Wolves play at the village’s Kelly Park.

“Mayor Hastings is a huge supporter of the Wolves,” said Iannantone whose wife Jenn is the Orland Hills Village Clerk. “We are very proud of our home field at Kelly and are grateful to the village crews that make it ‘look like a football field in a small Texas town on a Friday night’,” he said.

“The Wolves have unbelievable support from the Hastings family,” Poynton said, adding, “The village ran a speed, strength and conditioning camp for our kids to start the season. It was great.”

“Our kids learn the fundamentals. They call themselves a ‘band of brothers’ and learn to work as a team --- it’s the ultimate team sport,” Poynton said. “The intangibles are competition, accountability and discipline.”

“We’re all very proud of all that the Wolves have accomplished since the organization formed in 1999,” Iannantone said, adding, “We have kids from throughout the region enjoying one of the greatest sports, making friends and having a great experience. We are a family --- we are the Wolves.”

 

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