The American Football Association is in search of semi-pro football leagues across the country looking to pull together for a common cause.

Now in its 25th year of operation as the national association for semi-pro football teams and leagues coast-to-coast, the AFA is ready for expansion. The popularity of the sport on the adult amateur level has grown over the past few years and new leagues seem to be forming all over the country.

The AFA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation dedicated to the advancement of adult amateur football in the United States and has been monitoring the game action of over 750 semi-pro teams playing in 65 different leagues throughout the years. In an effort to provide more quality services to the teams on this level -- the AFA has begun soliciting complete leagues for their membership commitments for the 2005 season.

In order for a league to qualify for AFA membership during the 2005 season, the league must be a non-profit corporation whose players are not paid to play and whose league operation is designed as a state or multi state regional operation -- rather than national in structure.

"The AFA's new "league membership agreement" is designed to give our member leagues a more involved relationship with our 25 year old national association", says Ron Real, the AFA founder and president. "Sometime we tend to loose site of the fact that the individual semi-pro league administrators are the glue that holds our level of the sport together and we (AFA) need to do more to p romote their leagues and teams".

In soliciting league memberships the AFA will remind the commissioners of the various leagues across the country that membership has its privilege and only official AFA member leagues will be covered under the association's popular "power rating" system for the 2005 season.

Likewise other benefits such as the AFA's reduced rate liability insurance policy will only be made available to official AFA member teams in the future. The annual AFA Semi-Pro All-American status at the conclusion of the 2005 season will be reserved for players from member leagues only. Teams winning their league championships will qualify to advance to the AFA postseason regional and national "Tournament of Champions" -- in hopes of playing for the AFA's National Championship (Arkush Memorial Cup) at seasons end. The Arkush Cup is similar to ice hockey's Stanley Cup as it has the names of every semi-pro football player (1277) who has played on an AFA National Championship team in the past 25 years engraved on it. The trophy stands 4-1/2 feet high, is nearly 2 feet wide and weighs more than 85 pounds.

Each "member league" will be given the opportunity to suggest someone associated with their league as a nominee for induction into the AFA's annual Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame. Over the past 25 years, the AFA has enshrined 461 individuals into its elite brotherhood of semi-pro football "Legends". This year's AFA Hall of Fame Induction Dinner will be held in Chicago on Saturday, June 4th. Because it's the 25th reunion for HOF Alumni the banquet committee is expecting a record number of dinner guests to help honor the incoming "Class of 2005". The previous dinner attendance record (322) was for the class of 2002 and held in Canton, Ohio.

In conjunction with the 2005 HOF Induction Dinner in June, Chicago will be the host city for the AFA Semi-Pro Football National Convention/Seminar and AFA league commissioners meeting. Hotel and dinner reservation details regarding the induction banquet and convention are expected to be released soon by the AFA national office.

"While we've tried to be everything to everyone on this level over the past two and half decades", says the AFA president, "it's time we concern ourselves with only those teams and leagues who share the same philosophy as that of the AFA national association in our promotion of semi-pro (adult amateur) football awareness. We have one league who has been in business for 44 years and another for 36 years. Several leagues have been part of the AFA since its inception in 1980. These leagues have member teams who have had local semi-pro football organizations in operation for decades. The oldest AFA member team (Watertown NY Red & Black) is in its 109th year of operation . . . proving semi-pro football has a long history of its own."

At the December board of directors meeting in Sarasota, Florida, the AFA decided it was time to register complete leagues as AFA members. Leagues of 6 teams or more meeting the AFA's league membership requirements may qualify for "official" league status for the 2005 semi-pro season. Leagues requesting AFA membership will be asked to donate $100 per team to the AFA's general fund to help cover the cost of putting the national association's membership "2005 Game Plan" in action.

Semi-Pro Football League commissioners seeking membership applications for the AFA for the 2005 season may do so by contacting the American Football Association via e-mail at Amerfoot@aol.com -- or phoning the AFA national office at 941-388-3510.