Serra football coach Patrick Walsh wins the fight to return Next Level Sports

But, when COVID hit, Walsh hit back. He was at the forefront of the Golden State High School Football Coaches Community in December, which joined with Brad Hensley’s Let Them Play California, to advocate for youth sports to be allowed to play.

And while Next Level Sports has been running football camps since last June, Walsh said he expects upwards of 1,200 youth athletes to take the field Sunday when the company opens youth league play for the first time since March 2020, when he was forced to cancel the three-month season just days before the finale championship weekend.

“I’m anticipating a lot of smiles,” Walsh said. “Next Level, this is our 10th year in San Mateo, and for a lot of local families this is their favorite sport. And it was really depressing not being able to play our championship weekend in 2020. So, people were anxious about — What are we doing? Are we ever going to be able to do it? So, it’s going to be exciting seeing all the kids out there in their brand-new uniforms.”

Next Level traditionally plays its 10-week season from January to March. So, it has been 13 months since the company has played an official league format. Walsh said had it not been for the running of pared down football camps, consisting of 14-player pods at out-of-county Marin Catholic in Kentfield, the company would not have survived financially.

“We fought mostly to stay alive by running camps, where our bread and butter has always been a league business,” Walsh said. “We quickly transitioned to be a camp business. And that’s how we stayed alive.”

The Golden State High School Football Coaches Community was formed by Walsh with CIF executive director Ron Nocetti, Torrey Pines-San Diego football head coach Ron Gladnick and De La Salle-Concord football coach Justin Alumbaugh.

“In late 2020, I came to the realization if no one advocates or fights for the kids, we may never open,” Walsh said.

The three held a Zoom meeting with California executive secretary Jim DeBoo and California Health & Human Services secretary Mark Ghaly earlier this year to request the attention of Gov. Gavin Newsom on the matter of youth sports.

“I feel like our team’s involvement in it made it happen,” Walsh said. “There was no plan prior to our meetings. It just kept getting pushed and getting pushed and getting pushed, so we applied pressure on Gov. Newsom, respectfully applied pressure, but also we made it clear these kids were struggling.”

California loosened the rules for youth sports Feb. 19, allowing for Walsh to plan for Next Level Sports to ramp up operations. And it’s a big operation. After launching at Serra High School in 2012, Next Level has gone on to operate leagues in Nevada, Colorado, Texas and Oregon. The league utilizes high school student athletes to coach teams. The league has played in several NCAA Division I venues, including California Memorial Stadium starting in 2016, as well as Cal Poly, University of Nevada, University of Colorado Boulder, Southern Methodist University in Texas and Arizona State, Walsh said.

Now, Next Level is ramping up locally. When it returns to its league-play format Sunday, three San Mateo high schools will open its fields. Serra will be home to the middle school league, while neighboring San Mateo and Hillsdale will be used for the K-6 divisions.

Walsh said “it’s been really cool” to see his company flourish, especially now with players from Next Level’s early days emerging at the local high school varsity level. One of those players is Aragon sophomore Cole Smith, son of Next Level co-founder Lance Smith.

“We build community,” Walsh said. “That’s what we’re excited about. … We’re not perfect, like any other youth sports organization, but our goal is to impact lives one student athlete at a time.”