By Brad D. Bates
C & G Sports Writer

The Center Line St. Clement Catholic Youth Organization football team has a secret they want everyone to know.

When St. Clement High closed its doors at the beginning of the 2004 school year, left behind was the grade school and all those high school athletic facilities — creating a perfect situation.

“We don’t have a lot of expenses,” said Dan Janice, whose son, Donald, plays football for St. Clement. “We don’t have to rent a field, and we have all the equipment.

“The Dad’s Club has raised $10,000 to $15,000, so kids don’t need to pay anything to play here. It’s free.”

The only problem with St. Clement’s embarrassment of riches is that there simply aren’t enough kids in the program to take full advantage of the no-cost opportunities.

“I’ve read where people say, ‘St. Clement is dead,’” Dan Janice said. “We’re not dead. We took first place last year.  We’re barely afloat, but we’re still alive.

“We want to help anyone who’s hurting, and it seems like everyone is hurting right now. All the parents need is to be able to get their kids to the field.”

St. Clement’s ability to provide free youth actives, through the efforts of the St. Clement Dad’s Club, extends beyond the gridiron.

“We’ve had kids that would love to have a soccer team,” Dan Janice said. “We’ve got uniforms and equipment and a field, but we don’t have enough kids.

“It’s the same with volleyball and softball, too. It’s all free. Most AAU teams cost around $200, so this is a great option.”

Almost lost to this shortage of bodies was the football program. Last year, there was only one team for fifth- and sixth-graders and no team for the older kids.

“To have a free program go under because we didn’t have enough kids would have been horrible,” Dan Janice said. “Here’s (a program) that wasn’t threatened because of money, and it might close.

“It’s completely free if you’re a Catholic. You don’t even need to be a member at St. Clement.”

Interested athletes will need a baptismal certificate from their parish in order to sign up.

Saving the football program
St. Clement lost its football coach following the 2005 season because there were not enough kids to field a seventh- and eighth-grade team, but that didn’t stop Dan and Donald Janice, as the duo enlisted the help of Dan Skover to save their program.

“Donald knew (Skover) from the (Warren) Jets and really looked up to him,” Dan Janice said. “I told Donald that he was the person to ask, and that if he got him, he’d win a title.”

The duo brought Skover, who coached Warren Jets youth football from 1992-2003, out of retirement to take over at St. Clement.

Skover proved Dan Janice right, leading St. Clement to a first-place E Division finish in 2007.

“The reason I came back was Donald Janice,” Skover said. “I can’t say enough about that young man. He’s not the biggest kid, but he’s got a huge heart. How am I going to turn him down? I couldn’t turn him down.”

Along with guiding St. Clement to a first-place finish, Skover has helped the team in its other endeavor — increasing numbers.

A year ago, the team was only able to pull together one 20-member fifth- and sixth-grade team. But this year, it will have two 20-man squads after adding a seventh- and eighth-grade team. 

The hope is that by next season, they’ll be able to fill four 20-man teams, one for each grade.

“The more kids we get involved, the more dads we’ll have for the club,” Dan Janice said. “I asked the Dad’s Club if they could support four teams, and they said, ‘yes.’ They said they might go bust doing it, but they’d try.”

Anyone interested in participating in St. Clement CYO programs should contact St. Clement Athletic Director Tom Lieckfelt at (586) 757-7500.

You can reach Sports Writer Brad D. Bates at bbates@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1029.