HAINES CITY, Fla. – Thousands are in Haines City this weekend for an international youth football tournament featuring teams from Canada and cities throughout the United States.

What they’re saying:

Alex Junk hails from the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan. They have the Canadian Football League, but he likes playing American Football too.

“It’s different,” said Junk. “It’s different field sizes and there are fewer people on the field here and the rules are different, so I find it more fun.”

It’s his second year playing in the North American Youth Championships in Haines City. Fifty to sixty percent of the 62 teams are from Canada and the others are from throughout the United States.

“Since the day I was born and all my life, I’ve heard Canada was our greatest partner, and we wanted to keep that relationship going no matter what’s going on in the world right now,” said Horace West, the tournament’s Managing Director.

Haines City is Horace West’s hometown, so he was instrumental in bringing the tournament home to boost the local economy.

“We have thousands of people here. Our hotel rooms are full, and our restaurants are full,” said Omar Arroyo, the Mayor of Haines City. “That’s what the city has been doing to help the economics of the city.”

West says he’s received interest from other countries like Ghana and Israel, so they’re going to try and get other countries involved next year.

“What the intent and the goal is here is to create something similar to the Little League baseball championships or World Series. We want to try to do this with football and this is our starting point,” said West. “I want Haines City to be our starting point.” 

Junk says his team will play their hearts out for the replica Lombardi trophy and will for sure get into the competitive spirit.

“It’s a whole different game than Canada,” said Junk. “(In) Canada there’s no trash talk or anything. It’s a lot different than here. It’s funny. It’s fun to listen to.” 

What’s next:

The tournament started Friday afternoon and will run through Sunday. The championship game will be played at Denison Stadium in Winter Haven.

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