2018 CVAYFC Board of Directors
Ronald Irving
Commissioner
Ronald Irving has served as commissioner of Central Virginia AYF since its creation in 2015. Ronald’s two boys (Brandon & Robert) grew up playing youth football in Chesterfield where he served as team dad. Furthering his desire to help grow youth football in his area he joined the Chesterfield giant’s leadership. Ronald served as Operation director and President of the Chesterfield Giants for three years and then President of Virginia Youth Football which was the first local unlimited weight program. He parlayed that successful program into being granted the initial charter for American Youth Football in our area. Under his leadership, Central Virginia AYFC host the state tournament which consisted of over 50 teams’ statewide playing in Henrico Virginia. Currently, Ronald is leading CVAYFC in presenting AYF spring football and 7 on 7 football to central Virginia. Ronald is a product of Richmond public schools (Huguenot High) with continued education at Virginia Statue University and ECPI majoring in Computer technology.
Our vision is “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment.”.
My philosophy is to constantly work on improving our organization to provide a positive and constructive environment to learn the game of football and to give each player an opportunity to have fun while being part of one of our teams! I understand that as part of a team we will achieve success by focusing on teaching the basics of football and cheer. We will teach the fundamentals to every player so they can be successful and develop the confidence to move on to the next level. Every player will be treated fairly and know that they are an important part of the team and their contributions are valued. I believe that children can learn valuable life lessons from the game of football.
April Brown
Assistant Commissioner of Central Virginia AYF
April G. Brown serves as Assistant Commissioner of Central Virginia AYF.
April is originally from Greenville, NC and relocated to the Chesterfield county area in 2011. She is a proud military mom as her daughter, Breonna serves in the U.S. Army and is also the mom of her wonderful grandson, Dylan. April’s son, Brenden, currently plays for Matoaca High School. Prior to his high school career, he played for the Central VA Hurricanes. It was during Brenden’s time playing for the Canes that April developed a love for youth football and a desire to be involved.
She served as team mom for the 12U division for several years as well as held a position on their board. She also assisted Dr. Robyn Clark with the Canes free tutoring program that is available to all Canes players. April was also nominated and placed in the Top 100 Team Mom of the Year in 2016. April assisted the leadership of Central Virginia AYFC host the state tournament which consisted of over 50 teams from across the state playing in Henrico, Virginia. As assistant commissioner of CVAYFC, she oversees the spring and fall football programs, the new 7 on 7 football program being implemented in Central Virginia and the upcoming cheerleading program.
Our vision is “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment.”.
April’s personal philosophy is to help create and ensure a positive environment in which all players can exceed and grow into productive young men. She also wants to help other moms and women in general find their place in the world of football so they can be educated as well as their son’s biggest fan.
Matthew Kern
Web Master
Matthew Kern was named Web Master of Central Virginia American Youth Football Conference (CVAYFC) in January 2017.
Matthew comes to CVAYFC from the Rich City Spiders where he has served as Web Master and coach since 2015. During his time at Rich City Matthew has been a part of several Conference Championships 2015 8U and 2017 10U and a State Championship and Regional Runner-Up in 2015 8U. Matthew Serves in the capacity of offensive and defensive line coach. With Matthew overseeing this area the Spiders have always led the way on both sides of the line. Matthew, led the Spiders to the 2017 10U Spring Championship Game falling short of the title.
In 2014, Matthew along with several other passionate coaches formed the West End Tornadoes Youth Football. Matthew was the offensive coordinator for the 12U in 2014 and Head Coach for the 8U in both the 2015 and 2016 Seasons. In 2016 The Tornadoes merged with the Spiders.
2014, Matthew was the head coach of the 7U Western Wildcats. The team was comprised of kids who either had never played football or were 1-year novice. The team started off slow but capped the season off by winning its last two games and defeating Glen Allen in the Bowl Game.
2013, Matthew served as offensive line coach for the Tuckahoe Tomahawks 10U team. Through coaching and hard work this was an area of strength for the team. Many of the kids from this 2013 are now playing for their respective high schools today.
In 1994, Matthew Founded the Fredericksburg Generals Semi-Pro Football team. He served in the capacity of General Manager and was instrumental in putting together a team that would win 2 league championships in three years and the 1995 AYF National Championship. During Matthew’s tenure as GM 1983 NFL MVP Mark Mosley was the kicker for the Generals this was a great addition to the community and football.
From 1986 to 1989 Matthew played varsity Football for the Spotsylvania Knights. Matthew had the luxury of learning under multi state champion head coach Tim Coleman. Matthew lettered and played Center, the very same position his son plays today.
Matthew and his wife, Angela Kern, have four children: daughter Emily and three sons, Matthew Jr., Gabriel and Thomas.
Our vision is “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment.”.
Joy McDaniel
Administrative Assistant
Joy McDaniel serves as Administrative Assistant of the Central Virginia American Youth Football Conference (CVAYFC) as of January 2018.
Joy McDaniel is a native of Richmond, Virginia and has served as team mom to several youth organizations in the Richmond/Chesterfield area for football as well as baseball for the past eight years. In addition to serving as team mom in youth sports, Joy served as vice president on her local PTA board from 2014-2016, and now serves as secretary. Joy is a part of the League of Woman Voters and actively participates in educating first time voters on the importance of being involved in their local and national government election process.
Joy and her husband Darius (who is also a youth football coach) have four children, three boys who all play football, and one girl. Joy’s passion for sports (especially football) started at a young age as she watched her five brothers all benefit in areas of self-confidence, accountability, responsibility, and discipline from being a part of a youth football team. “Being a coach’s wife I see firsthand the time and commitment these coaches put into this sport, being a mom of a player, I see firsthand how that time and commitment benefits and sometimes changes our children’s lives”. It’s Joy’s belief that when you can relate to children in an area that they are passionate about, you open the door to poor into them life lessons that will shape their future and change their lives.
It is our vision “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment”.
Linwood Johnson
Football Commissioner
Linwood Johnson has served as the Football Commissioner of Central Virginia AYF since 2014.
Linwood graduated from Huguenot High School and continued to play football at Saint Paul’s College. He has been coaching for 11 years and founded the Rich City Spiders in 2012. He has worked on multiple football boards that assist the youth of Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico counties.
Linwood helped to spearhead Central Virginia AYFC host the 2017 AYF VA state tournament which consisted of over 50 teams from across the state playing in Henrico, Virginia. He is also the tournament director of the Holiday Bowl, hosted annually by the Rich City Spiders.
Our vision is “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment.”
Linwood wants to bring the metro Richmond area youth organizations together and to ensure all those involve remember to have fun while doing it. He states, “I really love been around the kids and being a mentor, especially to the ones that lack a father figure.”
Allison Stover
President of Spring FootballAllison Stover serves as President of Spring Football for Central Virginia AYFC.
Allison began volunteering in youth sports as a team mom for her son Jeffrey's football and soccer teams. In 2014 she served as Team Parent Director for the Western Wildcats. She oversaw team correspondence for 11 teams and helped plan events, such as homecoming.
Allison's son registered for Spring football with the West End Tornadoes in 2015 and she began volunteering as a team mom. During the Spring of 2016 she was asked to join the West End Tornadoes board of directors and assisted in managing registration, equipment distribution and acted as the game day representative that corresponded with the league. The league noticed her efforts and invited her to join the league board of directors as the Assistant Secretary in December of 2016. As Assistant Secretary, she helped design and implement the leagues game day field representative training program and offered administrative support to the rest of the board.
Also in 2016, Allison joined the RichCity Spiders as Fundraising Coordinator and later transitioned to Field Marshall. As Field Marshall, Allison's goal was to ensure a safe and fair game day environment for players, coaches and spectators. During this time, Allison familiarized herself with AYF policies and assisted in completing roster binders per the AYF guidelines required for State and Regional play.
In 2017 Allison helped form Money Team Football - a program designed to highlight outstanding local student athletes by providing opportunities for them to play in tournaments outside the Richmond area. In Money Team Football's first tournament, their 9U team placed first and several athletes were invited to participate in All Star tournaments and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy.
Our vision is “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment.”.
Jason Edwards
President of 7 on 7
Jason Edwards serves as President of the newly formed 7 on 7 division of Central Virginia AYFC.
The goal of this division is to give the youth in the “804” an option to develop their skills in a non-contact setting, while giving coaches a chance to teach individual techniques in a smaller group. The nature of the game has grown to more of a passing league, and the hope is that our youth will be more prepared when they get to the next level.
Jason has coached in Chesterfield County since 2003, when his son, Damien, first started playing in the CQL. He is currently the Vice President of the Central VA Hurricanes and also an assistant coach with their 12U staff. As a part of that coaching staff, they have won numerous championships at the local and state level. In 2015 the team won the 10U AAU National Championship.
Jason has held positions on local league boards, as well as, recreational team boards over his career in youth football. As a concerned parent, and a dedicated coach, he has always stride to improve the landscape of youth football in the area.
Jason helped facilitate the first state tournament hosted by CVAYFC, which was held in Henrico County. The tournament hosted 50 teams from around the state at three different locations. The winners of the state tournament were able to advance to the regional level of competition. This was the first time a tournament of this size has been held in this area.
Royal Cousins Jr.
Compliance Officer
Royal Cousins Jr. serves as the Compliance officer of the Central Virginia American Youth Football Conference (CVAYFC) as of January 2018. Originally from New York, Royal has lived in Henrico, Virginia since 2000. He is the proud father of 5 boys and 1 girl. Three of his sons played for the Laurel Panthers and his daughter was a cheerleader.
He has been involved in youth sports for over 20+ years as a football coach, softball coach and basketball coach. Royal helped facilitate the first state tournament hosted by CVAYFC, which was held in Henrico County. The tournament hosted 50 teams from around the state at three different locations. This was the first time a tournament of this size has been held in this area.
Our vision is “To be the best youth football organization possible by keeping the interests of the children first and maintaining strong values which include sportsmanship, teamwork, responsibility, and commitment.”.