Four SCV youth football squads make Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium 

The Santa Clarita Wildcats senior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.
The Santa Clarita Wildcats senior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.
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Four Santa Clarita Valley teams have made it to the Gold Coast Youth Football League Super Bowl games scheduled to be played Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. 

The SC Wildcats senior team is slated to play the Saugus Spartans, and the Wildcats junior team has a matchup with the SC Warriors. The junior game is set to be played Sunday at 5 p.m., followed by the senior game at 7:15 p.m. 

It’s the fourth straight year that the championship GCYFL games are being played at the home of the L.A. Rams and Chargers. The GCYFL is hosting Super Bowl games for the 18th year. 

Nathan Mellalieu is the coach for both Wildcats squads and has a son on both teams.  

The Saugus Spartans senior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.
The Saugus Spartans senior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.

“It’s a full-time job, seven days a week for five months,” he said. 

The senior team hasn’t lost in two years, Mellalieu said, and is seeking back-to-back championships with about a third of last year’s team on the roster this year.  

But this year, that squad only played one conference game before the rest of the league forfeited to the Wildcats. Mellalieu said the other coaches cited concerns over player safety, though he added that the league has strict guidelines for age and weight, and all of the players had the proper paperwork. 

“There was a lot of things to be disappointed about,” Mellalieu said, “but I think the life lessons that the boys learned that they’ll take beyond football were much greater than we could have ever hoped for from playing … We’re taking the positive out of it, and again, we’re right where we thought we’d be.” 

The SC Warriors junior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.
The SC Warriors junior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.

The senior game is a rematch of last year’s championship game that the Wildcats won, 48-42. 

Spartans head coach Travis Sharbonow said the majority of his team has been together since they first started youth football in the mighty mites division, and he’s been with them every step of the way. 

Sharbonow said this squad lost in the semifinals in the bantam and freshman divisions before finally making it to the championship in the sophomore division, losing to the Simi Valley Bulldogs. The Spartans avenged that defeat last year, winning in the junior division over the Bulldogs. 

“As coaches, our goal has always been to develop the hardest workers in any room and to prepare these boys for the next level,” Sharbonow said in a phone interview. “So to be able to have your team compete all the way through the playoff and then the championship game — so basically, you added three games to a season — to be able to do that three years in a row is great.” 

The Warriors junior team is coached by Dave Corbet. Warriors President Danielle Peña said it’s the first year that the chapter is part of the GCYFL and that this team is a model for other teams in the chapter to follow. 

The Santa Clarita Wildcats junior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.
The Santa Clarita Wildcats junior team is one of four Santa Clarita Valley youth football team set to play in GCYFL Super Bowl games at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. Courtesy photo.

“This junior team is unlike any other I have seen in youth football,” Peña said in a phone interview. “The dedication, the passion, the respect, determination — they definitely are our goal within our own chapters.” 

Mellalieu said his junior team is “ahead of schedule” as there are 12 new players and six who had never played before. The team beat the Calabasas Rams, the four-time defending champions, in double overtime in the semifinals. 

“That was a game which we just matched up well against them,” Mellalieu said. “We always thought we had a chance. You know, this team, we even said three years ago it would probably be the first team to beat Calabasas, just because we were built properly with the right type of kids.” 

Having all four teams in the top two divisions of the GCYFL competing for championships is a testament to the way that the SCV cares about its youth sports, Mellalieu added. 

“There’s great coaching out here, a lot of great football cultures out here,” Mellalieu said. “That’s why some of the high school teams here always overachieve in my opinion, as well. They might not be the biggest, but they’re disciplined, they try hard, well-coached.” 

To purchase tickets ($32.74 for general admission), go to tinyurl.com/4w4af8c3. 

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