Deerfield Beach approves up to $127,000 to relaunch Packer Rattlers youth football program

The Deerfield Beach City Commission on Feb. 18 approved a one-year facility-use agreement and funding package totaling up to $127,000 to relaunch the Deerfield Packer Rattlers youth football, cheer and academic-support program.

Parks and recreation Director Greg Warner told the commission the city will fully fund the program in its first year to help it regain stability. Warner said the package includes $35,000 from the parks and recreation budget plus up to $92,000 from the Target Area Trust Fund, for a combined not-to-exceed amount of $127,000.

The agreement requires the nonprofit DPR Youth Enrichment Association for Academics and Athletics Inc. (the Packer Rattlers’ corporate filing name) to provide youth tackle football, cheerleading and academic supports for ages 4 through 14, to maintain nonprofit status in Florida, and to submit audited financial statements at the end of the one-year term. Warner said all league volunteers will be required to undergo level-2 background screenings as required by state law.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the program provides supervised activity, mentorship and community pride for District 2 youth and can feed the high-school program. Commissioners and many residents called the Packer Rattlers a longtime part of Deerfield Beach’s civic fabric and argued seeding…