“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress;
working together is success”
- Henry Ford

Originally started in 1989, the Kingwood Football League was originally named KAYMFL, which stood for (Kingwood Area Youth Mustang Football League).  There were only 8 people on the Board at the time and that number only went as far up to 14 Board Members until the fields on North park were built.  All the games were played at the Kingwood High School practice fields and only played on Saturdays.  Due to not having any lights on the KHS practice fields, we had to start so early on Saturday’s that those of us that had games at 8:00 arrived long before the sun came up.  And those dedicated Board Members that had to set up were there even earlier.  Games would run all day long until the sun set. 

The KFL began talking with Pastor Lee Short of the Family Life Church (presently know as Calvary Christian) in 2000. The main point of contact at the time was David Flannigan who was the junior commissioner of the league.  Mr. Flannigan was a parishioner of the church and was the reason the talk of the lease began.  He introduced the President at the time, Mr. Ken Pickett, to Pastor Lee.  When Mr. Pickett passed the torch of Presidency to Todd Swanson, he also passed him the task and information that he had accumulated in regards to the potential promise of the KFL securing their own property for a fully functioning facility. 

In 2001, the lease for the 10-acre land next to the church was secured for $10 per year.  The KFL was responsible for all the improvements on the property, which meant completely starting from scratch.  The KFL was tasked with site prep, clearing, water, electricity, building, etc. a HUGE task for just a handful of people.  Attorney, Scott Schrang whose son, Michael Schrang, played in the KFL, wrote up the lease agreement. It was so well written that it stated that the lease would be for a total of 10 years and that the KFL would have the option to purchase the property after that time, less the value of the improvements, which is what they did on or around 2011.

The KFL broke ground on the property on 8/2/2002. Demolition and construction of the fields took about 2 years.  Once clearing was completed, there were weeks of burning which required someone to stay out there through the nights to make sure the fire stayed ‘controlled’.  The ground had to be walked over and over and over to pick up the glass that was dug deeply into the ground before the grass was planted.  We drew water from the canal in order to keep the fields irrigated so it could grow.  The first structure built was the Press box at the Junior field.  It was built through the sole contributions of Rick Alspaugh and was named in honor of Mr. Alspaugh’s father, Dick, who had passed away.  The second press box was built next, followed by the completion of the Concession/KFL Meeting building.

Through the volunteer efforts of many, especially Todd Swanson, Chris Cashmareck, John Wisenbaker and many, many community volunteers donating time, money, and construction equipment, the fields opened for their first season in 2004.  If not for the diligence and dedication of time and physical labor of those three gentlemen, the fields may have not ever come to fruition.

In 2005, the three fields were named in honor of those families that were ultimately responsible for their development. Swanson Field is the Freshman Field; Cashmareck Field is the Junior Field, and Wisenbaker Field is the Senior Field.
            At the time of this writing (2016), it has been 26 years since the league began, 16 years since talks of the field began, 14 years since ground was broken, and 12 years that the fields have been open for play.  It took a village to make this all happen and Kingwood is a community that rallied together to bring it to fruition.  From individuals to businesses, this could not have been done without everyone’s help.  It is a wonderful legacy to be a part of and to continue to watch it grow and prosper and to keep with the true fundamental values that the league has always instilled.

It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.  Be the example.