New Approach To Junior Football
Now Part Of Montclair Program

MONTCLAIR- As he recently visited the three Montclair middle schools to drum up interest for youngsters in grades 6-8 about playing the gridiron game, new Montclair High head football coach Manj Singh saw firsthand why a united junior football organization in town could be such a huge plus.

“First off, I found more prospective football players than I ever thought were out there, but what I found disheartening was that many of them expressed the fact that they just didn’t know before where they should go to play,” said the Mounties’ first-year head mentor. “Some went to play in Glen Ridge - and nothing against what they are doing there - but we need to keep all Montclair kids here, playing for a team that is directly aligned with being a future Montclair High Mountie.

“The new Mountie Junior Football program will do just that, and with as full-fledged members of the Morris County Youth Football League.

“I’m tremendously excited about the future of the sport in town and at our great high school which has such a tremendous history to not only uphold, but to also bring back the winning ways we should also enjoy!”

Some of that history will be rekindled when a special Montclair High football alumni gathering is held 2-5 p.m. this Saturday (May 16) at Just Jakes, 30 Park St.

The afternoon gathering will serve as an opportunity to meet members of the high school’s new coaching staff. Any alums and all interested families and other friends of Mountie football are invited to attend. There will be food and drink specials and a 50-50 raffle.

A big change in town helping to energize the new Mountie Junior Football program is the addition of players and coaches from the longtime Montclair Cobras program as it becomes part of a brand-new all-encompassing organization.

At this time, the Montclair Bulldogs, who have been part of Montclair recreation, will not join in with the new-look Junior Mounties for the 2026 season, although there are hopes that will change next year.

“Our major plan was to bring the Cobras and Bulldogs together with us and it’s fantastic that Wil Young and the Cobras are on board, and we are hoping to have the Bulldogs join with us in the near future, although they indicated they could not do that with what they already had in place for this year,” said Singh. “It’s important that we all eventually come together as one in this effort to unite for what will be best for the future of Montclair football!”

Singh was joined in visiting the Montclair middle schools by fellow MHS football alum and new Mounties assistant head coach Chris Ferrara as they met some of the prospective, future MHS players and Singh recently said that there were already 20 players registered for this fall’s Junior Mounties 6th, 7th and 8th grade squads which will compete as separate teams in the MCYFL.

Wil Young, who is also a Montclair deputy police chief, had worked for many years with the late Howard Finney, who was the founder of the Cobras and served as longtime president and as a coach before Young took over those roles.

In a message he had recently sent out to Cobra families containing some important information about the consolidation of Montclair youth football, Young wrote, in part, “The Montclair Cobras program will be transitioning into the Montclair Junior Mounties, a move designed with one purpose at its core: the development of our student-athletes and the long-term strength of football in our community.

“This transition creates a fully-integrated pathway between youth football and the high school program. But aligning directly with the Montclair High School Mounties our young athletes will now benefit from: consistent coaching philosophies and systems, direct mentorship and oversight from the high school staff, a stronger and more structured development pipeline, and a renewed focus on fundamentals, safety and long-term growth.”

For many years in towns such as nearby Cedar Grove, which has been able to produce Group 1 powerhouse teams on an annual basis; or in other North Jersey towns including Verona, Mountain Lakes and Randolph, a unified approach between the junior football and high school programs has paid dividends through the years.

As part of the newly-instituted Junior Mounties those in grades 6, 7 and 8 will be involved on separate teams in tackle football, while those in grades 2-5 will be part of flag football programs with the hope that the elementary schools will become involved in fielding teams that can compete with each other.    

Singh stressed that the Montclair Board of Education and school administration are fully behind the Junior Mounties.

There will also be junior football registration and a free clinic available every Wednesday at Glenfield Park.

“Wil Young has done a great job bringing the Cobras in with us and we are ready to begin to move forward as one,” added the Mounties’ energetic, new gridiron mentor. “Our high school varsity players will also help with teaching young players about things such as proper tackling technique and how to put equipment on; all basic things that kids have to learn about while getting ready to play this great game.

“Part of our structure is going to be stressing education first and every student-athlete on our high school team will have to carry a 3.2 grade point average to play.

“It’s a unified approach which will eventually bring all  together who have the common goal of helping to make Montclair football the very best it can be moving forward!”