El Paso Bandits Youth Football Team Wins National Championship

A youth football team is making sports history and putting El Paso on the map. Thursday morning, the El Paso Bandits won the American Youth Football Association’s National Championship Game in Florida.

In a defensive struggle, the El Paso Bandits, an Under-13 football team, defeated the Parkland Warriors, a team from Baltimore, Maryland. The final score was 12-6, according to Ben Ortega, with the AYF.

“They are first youth team from El Paso to win a national championship. This is a first for football in the city of El Paso. The Bandits and that program have done a lot for youth football in the city of El Paso and we hope to translate that into success at the high school football level in El Paso,” said Dante Leach, with the AYF.

The team — which is made up of sixteen 12- and 13-year-old boys — shut out a team from Dallas on Tuesday to make it to the final.

This is a first for a team from El Paso, according to the team’s boosters.

Congratulations, Bandits!