While the high school players will be lighting up football fields in the coming Friday nights, there’s plenty of action to be seen the next morning as well with the Poplar Bluff Youth Football League.

The first sign-up for this season is from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday in the gym lobby of the Poplar Bluff Junior High School. Dues of $35 are to be turned in at the time of signing up and that fee includes a team T-shirt.

Kindergarten through second grade are available to sign up with them playing flag football, not the tackle they’ll see on Friday nights when the Mules.

All games will be at 11 a.m. at PBJHS.

PBYFL Commissioner Austin “AJ” Jefferson is ready for another year at the helm of the league.

Jefferson has been a part of the league for about 12 years with his time starting as a referee.

From there, he worked his way up. Jefferson was a white hat referee, lead score keeper, assistant commissioner and eventually commissioner.

“I just love giving back to it because I just knew I wanted always wanted somebody to give it to me when I was young,” Jefferson said. “Now I’m just trying to give it back to somebody else.”

Jefferson is the wide receivers coach and the freshmen team head coach at Poplar Bluff but he admitted his football story started a little bit late.

It wasn’t until his freshman year, the team he now leads, that Jefferson played football and by the time he was a senior, he was a team captain.

“I just knew with working hard and listening to my coaches, I had that advantage,” he said. “Through the years, I just did that did that and then it my game started to elevate until I got to get some decent playing time my junior and especially senior year.”

After graduating from Poplar Bluff in 2015, Jefferson knew he didn’t want to leave the sport he’d grown to love.

One day, on a whim, he went by the football field and saw an old coach working with the junior high team. The coach asked Jefferson to show the players what he learned during his time as a Mule.

What turned into one practiced turned into the end of the week, then the month. Eventually, Jefferson was brought on as a volunteer and the rest is history.

“It’s very fulfilling,” he said. “I just wake up and I go. It’s not really work. I’m just going to help somebody out.”

For Jefferson, it’s the ability to connect with his players that he gets the most joy from. Whether it be helping them in the weight room or with a problem they have in school, Jefferson wants them to know he’s there to listen.

As Jefferson and the Mules prepare for another season, he’ll surely see a few faces that have come through the Poplar Bluff Youth Football League.

“I may not remember but an old saying my dad would say, ‘You may not remember a person or remember what they did but they will remember how you made them feel.’”

Jefferson said if anyone is interested in coaching to put that they’re interested on their child’s sign-up for. If they don’t have a child to sign-up but are still interested in coaching, fill out a form with your information and that you’re interested in coaching.

Sign-up forms are available at the Poplar Bluff Parks & Recreation Department office.

Any questions can be directed to Jefferson or Casey Porter.