Marine Corps veteran creates program to expand kids’ access to football coaching

By Mick Garry, for Pigeon605

Caden Olsen is a Marine Corps veteran who returned to civilian life in October 2025 with a goal of helping kids. Eventually, this led to coaching football and basketball in Sioux Falls at Memorial Middle School.

Shortly after getting involved with young athletes in grades 6 through 8, he decided there was more he could do to bring football – a sport he played and loved through high school – to the kids he was coaching.

“In talking to my wife and a few others, I was like, ‘Why don’t we just create a program that helps teach kids preventable injury techniques?’” Olsen said. “So that’s what our main goal is.”

What makes this effort distinctive is that no kids who want to be part of Elevate Football will be turned away based on their ability to pay for coaching. The money coming in from donors, sponsors and paying members will be devoted to participants.

“Many families in our community can’t afford private training, so Elevate Football offers scholarships funded entirely through donations and local sponsorships,” Olsen said. “Every dollar we receive goes directly toward helping kids, some of whom would not otherwise have access to programs like this.”

The organization’s GoFundMe page tells it this way:

“In today’s world, so many young athletes want to imiprove, stay active and be part of something positive … but not every family can afford private training programs. That’s where Elevate Football steps in.”

Olsen, who also will be coaching baseball and softball this spring and summer, is in the process of building a base of players who want to be part of an organization that will stress the fundamentals – how to block, how to tackle, how to pass and catch – with an emphasis on off-season development.

To that end, Elevate Football has been training players every Wednesday at Impact Sports Center and will be scheduling an open football clinic in July that will feature the guidance of several area college football players. Olsen already has heard from more than two dozen parents and their children via interest forms with the goal of covering Sioux Falls and surrounding communities.

Devonrick Williams, a basketball coach this winter at Ben Reifel Middle School who also plays for the Northwest Iowa Lightning semi-pro football team, works with skill position players for Elevate, with Olsen coaching offensive and defensive linemen.

“We’re both coaching the basic skills of football,” Williams said. “We want to give them a chance to be successful as they continue to play their sport. It can get expensive for families. We want to offer great training and make it affordable for kids.”

The campaign to seek out donors and sponsors also will continue. Support has been encouraging so far, Olsen said, with Moody Mutts, Big Frog, Hy-Vee, Fareway, the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Collector’s Cove among the area businesses already onboard.

Elevate Football expects to have teams participating in seven-on-seven tournaments and leagues eventually but will emphasize one-on-one and small-group development opportunities during the winter months.

“We’re trying to teach basic fundamentals and techniques,” Olsen said. “We want our kids to know the right way to do drills that help prevent injuries. We’re trying to give them the basic knowledge so that when they move on to another level, they don’t have to ask themselves, ‘Am I doing this wrong?’ Those are the kinds of things we’re going to be teaching.”

At the NFL level, the sport is madly popular, but watching it on TV doesn’t translate to being able to play it correctly as a 12-year-old. While acknowledging it’s an aggressive activity, especially at the elite levels, there is still space for young people to safely seek out the rewards of participating in a sport that demands teamwork and discipline.

“It’s a sport that needs to be more about injury preventiveness for young players,” Olsen said. “It can’t be a situation where you’re just telling yourself you’re going to go out there and get wins and it doesn’t matter who gets hurt.”

Elevate Football wants to develop character while also developing football players. In that regard, Olsen’s status as a Marine has provided him with a perspective that he wouldn’t have otherwise.

“It’s taught me a lot,” he said. “You learn to control yourself and your emotions. At Elevate, it’s not going to be just about building football players. We want kids to know what it takes to be a leader and how to be a good person. Kids will be part of a very professional structure.”

This professional structure will include Olsen imparting a balanced perspective to young people about what is important in sports.

“We want kids who want to give back to their communities,” Olsen said. “We’ll be asking ourselves, ‘How can we better prepare our youth for the future?’”