After a youth football team had over $7,000 worth of equipment stolen, members of the community stepped up to help provide helmets and shoulder pads just weeks before the season begins.

Track and field and swimming are among the team sports that might be best for children with autism.

Hours after one area team claimed a Pop Warner football championship, another one followed. The mitey mite Forestview Outlaws beat the Sarasota Sun Devils 19-0 to win the Mid-America/Southeast championship on Wednesday in Winter Garden. The Outlaws beat Sarasota 39-8 in the regional championship. COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the full Pop Warner Super Bowl and moved what championships were left out of Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Instead of a traditional Super Bowl which includes qualifiers from eight regions across the country, only two regions played this year.

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. Although Nassau County gave youth sports the green light to restart games and practices on county fields, many leagues say the county is standing in their way from doing that. Bill Cantrell has been the president for a few years but has been involved with Nassau County youth sports since the 1980s. According to Cantrell, before the COVID-19 liability waiver, leagues had a good, working relationship with Nassau County. READ: Nassau County letter to leagues | Youth sports waiver | League sports program guidanceAccording to Cantrell, each parent should have to sign for that -- not the leagues on behalf of them. As nonprofits, Cantrell said leagues have very limited funds, and the county has not provided them training to safely reopen.

With more states lifting stay-at-home orders and loosening restrictions, it could lead to the return of youth sports sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic. While organizations in just about every state are formulating plans to return, some states have already set in motion dates for a return to action. The Ohio Department of Health said youth leagues for non-contact and limited-contact sports were able to start May 26, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said youth sports and camps could start back up May 31, with games likely starting in mid-June, while Florida Gov. For more serious and expensive travel sports, this might be about the time organizations start seasons and playing prominent tournaments, but the clock is ticking.

YULEE, Fla. Youth sports leagues in Nassau County have the option to start back up their games and practices, but many are moving slowly to do that. Ron DeSantis announced last week that the return of youth sports is up to local governments, Nassau County Manager Mike Mullin held a group conference call Thursday evening with county leaders and youth sports league officials to discuss whos going to enforce safety on the field. Mullin made a clear case during the meeting that leagues should be responsible for the enforcement of their own sanitation and safety. READ: Nassau County League Sports Program GuidanceIts very different," said Annelisa Winebarger, who plays travel softball. League presidents agreed they first want to see the county step in with the help in getting signs and cleaning supplies.

Little League International, which announced the move, also canceled regional tournaments but said the events would return in 2021. By contrast, the NFL, the world’s most affluent professional sports league, generated roughly $16 billion in 2018, according to USA Today. Major League Baseball generated $10.7 billion in 2019 and the NBA nearly $8 billion in 2018, according to Forbes, so youth sports generated more money than those leagues combined. The owner of Michigan Elite Volleyball Academy in suburban Detroit, an organization that’s home to 150 youth volleyball teams and has produced numerous Division I college volleyball players over the years, Sack had been, as usual, making preparations for the club’s signature event. “You go from ramping up to this.”Cancellations of such big youth sports events have a serious trickle-down effect, too.