Brandon Twp.-National Football League fans of all ages dream of managing teams with star players such as Peyton Manning and Brett Favre on their roster.
Local teenagers will soon have the opportunity to draft players for their own team. The Brandon Township Library, 304 South St., Ortonville, is the site for a scheduled Teen Pro Fantasy Football League draft beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 9.
Ben Peterson, an information technology specialist and assistant librarian at the library, will oversee the draft and the league along with teen librarian, Kevin Botos. Peterson is himself actively involved in fantasy football. He said he recently drafted his 28th team; in addition, he said he had a total of 41 teams in fantasy football action last year, winning the league championship in 19 of those leagues.
‘Actually, it was kind of my brainchild from last year, but we didn’t have enough time to set it up,? Peterson said. ‘Some teens had talked to me and said they were taking part in fantasy football leagues, so we decided we’re going to get a league together.?
Peterson said the upcoming teen league grew out of his passion for fantasy football. ‘Kevin and I are in a lot of leagues together,? he said. ‘It was natural for us to start this league.?
In fact, Peterson said he and Botos will join forces to have a team in the league.
Although roster sizes and point systems vary from league to league, fantasy football teams accumulate points based on actual performances of NFL players during each week’s action. Typically, each fantasy team is comprised of about 14-15 players (including team defenses), with about eight or nine starting spots and five or six bench spots.
Fantasy football players pick their starting lineups for each week based on a number of factors, including an NFL player’s history against certain teams, whether or not a player is injured, and whether or not that player’s team is on a bye week.
Peterson said the starting lineups for each team in the Brandon Township league will follow a standard fantasy football format, with one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one defense.
‘We didn’t want to get anything too complicated,? he said.
In addition, Peterson said Botos has talked to students at different grade levels (high school, middle school and intermediate school) about getting involved in the league. Peterson said he could possibly split the league up into different divisions by grade levels (if there’s enough interest to warrant them) and then have a championship tournament between those divisions.
As of right now, Peterson said there are 10 teenagers signed up for the leagues, although that could increase or decrease in the days leading up to the draft.
He said he wants to limit the number of teams in each league to 12, and then divide the league into divisions.
In order to ensure fairness regarding the draft, Peterson said he will draw names out of a hat to determine the draft order. He said most of the teens that have signed up for the draft so far are football players from the area.
Peterson said the only requirement is interested participants must have a Yahoo account set up, since the league will be set up through the Yahoo Web site.
Peterson said he is not limiting his fantasy sporting sights to just the NFL; he said he and Botos are planning to have a similar league for the National Basketball Association, with a draft to take place before the start of the NBA season.
Details: Brandon Township Library, (248) 627-1460.