LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Meet the Nevada Youth Sports Junior Gaels.
The young Las Vegas footballers are being recognized because they are featured in this month's issue of Vogue Magazine. There's an entire layout titled "Usher: Super Bowl MVP", promoting Sunday's halftime performance by the R&B legend.
"What do you remember most about Usher," I asked the team.
"I remember that he picked up Max," Carter replied.
He sure did and you may be wondering how these local ballers made it into Vogue. Team dad Kenny Solomon had a mutual connection with Usher's photographer, who was asking for some young tackle footballers.
"How has it been life-changing," I asked.
"He thinks he's famous now," Solomon said smiling. "A lot of people have called and texted and said I saw your kid on Vogue."
I asked the players what they thought.
"A lot of people recognize me now and I am famous," Damian said.
"People recognize me and say I am famous," Devin said.
"How it's changed my life is I saw Usher," Carter said.
"I met Usher," Max said.
Junior Gaels' parents said the smiles you see in the Vogue pictures are truly genuine.
"They were excited to be there at the stadium. They got to go underneath to see what it looked like," mom Brittany Stuckey said. "This was all done at Allegiant. Their eyes got big to see the real football stadium."
"They had fun. They are kids and they enjoyed it while we were there," mom Vanessa Duran said.
The exposure for Nevada Youth's Sports, the tackle football league of Las Vegas, is tremendous, having these young ballers in a Super Bowl spread.
"It's the cherry on top," Ben Joffenys, Dir. of Tackle Football for National Youth Sports, Nevada, said. "You know these kids all look up to the stars playing here this weekend, whether it's Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey. They look up to them. Whether they get there or not, we are still working on that while these guys are still young."
But it's the older NYS football players who put Nevada in the national football spotlight this past year when the 13U NYS All-Stars brought home the AYF National Championship Trophy for the first time in Nevada history.
Two local players from that team were selected to the 8th Grade National All-Star Game, an NFL event during the Pro Bowl.
Who knows? Some of these Junior Gaels could be next!
"The Junior Gaels are a massive team. They represent themselves. They represent their community, look good, and if they have Usher behind them, what can go wrong?"
