Mentor Cardinal Youth Football moves seventh graders to middle-school teams in 2026

Mentor families with a child entering seventh grade no longer have a youth-league option in 2026. The Sept. 3 Mentor Cardinals Youth Football Association FAQ says seventh-graders “must play for their respective middle school.” Players who previously could remain in the youth league must now make the school-team handoff after sixth grade.

Fifth- and sixth-graders remain eligible for the association’s NFL Football division. Its remaining registration divisions are Flag Football for kindergarten through second grade, AFL Football for third and fourth grades, and NFL Football for fifth and sixth grades.

For seventh-graders, the next team is at Memorial Middle School or Shore Middle School, depending on the family’s address.

The timing is notable. Memorial’s 2026 seventh-grade schedule called for practices from 4 to 7 p.m. beginning Aug. 3. The association’s Sept. 3 FAQ update came a month after that scheduled preseason start.

The school handoff

The change moves affected players into the Mentor school football program a year earlier. Instead of playing another season through the youth association, they join a grade-level team at their assigned middle school.

Memorial fields a seventh-grade team, while Shore’s athletics page lists separate coaching staffs for seventh- and eighth-grade football.

Mentor Redline Club reflects the same divide. Its school-level program is identified as Mentor Football 7th & 8th Grade 2026, with separate schedules for Memorial and Shore.

That makes seventh grade the required entry point into Mentor’s school football pipeline: the youth association runs through sixth grade, and Memorial and Shore take over from there.

What families need to do

Mentor Public Schools operates Memorial and Shore. Families can use the district’s attendance maps to determine which middle school serves their address.

At Memorial, the athletics FAQ says athletes must complete the required forms and provide a valid physical before trying out or participating. Families use FinalForms for the other paperwork through Memorial athletics’ links page, while the physical is submitted separately.

Shore’s football page directs athletes to complete FinalForms, add football as their sport and upload a current OHSAA physical before trying out or participating.

For families coming out of sixth-grade NFL Football, the dividing line is now clear: association football ends after sixth grade, and seventh-grade football begins with the middle school assigned to the player’s home address.