About Us
The Suntree-Viera Youth Football League was founded in 2004, and was originally known as The Lightning. A group of 12 volunteers set out on a mission to create and develop a home for youth football and cheerleading for a part of Brevard County that would soon explode. The league’s success was merely a dream at that time, but the dozen men and women that launched the SVYFL Lightning program have to be very proud of what their League has become and what Suntree-Viera means to the state of youth athletics in the region. Because of those 12 men and women, today we are able to provide a program that serves nearly 1,000 athletes per year.
When the league was created, the Viera High School that our field sits in the shadow of, did not exist. Now sixteen years later, not only is there a thriving school, but Viera High School has seen many of our athletes graduate with an amazing education and their football team become a perennial contender in the FHSAA state playoffs. The football team’s intensity and work ethic is only rivaled by the three VHS cheer squads; Freshmen, JV, and Varsity. Because of this, many of our former athletes have gone on to either walk on or be offered scholarships to continue their playing careers at the college level and recently our first NFL Draft selectee to the New England Patriots, who got his start here at SVYFL. As this relationship has matured, and because of our pride to be the official feeder program of Viera High School Athletics, our Lightning organization transitioned and became the SVYFL Hawks in 2015.
Since it’s inception, our league has grown exponentially. In fact, the last few years have marked a time of unprecedented change and growth. In 2018, the decision was made by the League’s Board of Directors to become affiliated with the national standard of youth football programs, Pop Warner; but the changes were not complete. When the Hawks ran out on the field under the Pop Warner shield to start the 2018 Tackle Football Season, they were now playing on astroturf fields. The fields are state of the art and have incorporated many of the latest and safest technologies to enhance the new playing surface.
If there has been any constant at Suntree-Viera Youth Football League, it has been change. Change, which can often be met with some difficulty, is always welcome and keeps the league in the company with some of the most premiere youth football and cheerleading leagues in all of Central Florida. We could not have imagined or achieved this status without the help and support of our families, our volunteers, and our generous sponsors. This is your league. We will never forget that. We look forward to future success, but will always appreciate our humble beginnings. From our original home games at Holy Trinity and Satellite High School as the Lightning, playing in navy blue and gold jerseys; to our present green and gold Hawks jerseys played on turf at Viera Regional Park, we are proud of what Suntree-Viera Youth Football League has become.
Go Hawks!!
