Des Moines Venom football club brings fundamentals, family experience and more to area youth

Garrette Boone Sr. and the coaches of the Des Moines Venom, an elite youth football club, are on a mission. This mission involves football, the coaches working with a team and kids from more than just Des Moines. "A lot of programs are school related," Garrette Boone Sr. said. "We get an opportunity to get kids from all over the place."The Des Moines Venom began nearly a decade ago after the Inner City Urban Development League ended.Boone Sr. helped out with that league and knew something like it was still needed. He and Wayne Middleton started up the Des Moines Venom not too long after."We ended up placing second place our first year out and we kind of knew when that happened that we had something special," Boone Sr. said.Boone Sr. says it was something special then that continues to produce some of the best local talent now."We had Rashawd David, who is a great running back for Dowling right now. My son Garrette Boone Jr., who is currently at Valley," Boone Sr. said. "Zay Robinson, who is from Valley as well."Boys and girls from kindergarten age up through sixth grade can be a part of the Des Moines Venom. Girls are allowed on the football team. There are also cheerleaders. Parents and guardians can find out how to get involved with the Des Moines Venom here.The kids work hard and play harder each season, showing a strength and determination Boone Sr. hopes will go further than football."This football stuff is just a platform for us to get these kid and kind of give them a direction in life on top of what they're getting at home," Boone Sr. said.That is the Des Moines Venom coaches' mission: making sure the kids know they can have a future. It's why more than the fundamentals of football, the coaches focus on getting to know each and every player. During games on the road, they take the kids to experience things they've never done or gone to before like farms."Our coaches build these friendships with these kids. They feel open to talk about some things," Boone Sr. said. "Once they're able to talk about it, it kind of relieves some of that stress. It helps with the mental health issue type of deals."Boone Sr. refers to the team as a family and it's definitely something the children feel, too."I feel like they love me and support me," Joe'Miah Thompson, a 6th grader at Harding Middle School, said."It's like they're our other parents," Raidakai White, a 6th grader at Goodwill Middle School, said.