For Timothy Young and Christie Pizzio, youth sports have always been more than just a fun way to be involved in their children’s lives. It’s a family tradition that they want to pass along to a new generation.

The husband and wife tandem is starting a new youth football program called the Vicksburg Buccaneers that will begin practices in March and play in the fall. It’s a rebirth of a team Young’s father started in the 1990s and, they hope, something that has lasting effects beyond the football field. Ultimately, they envision the Buccaneers as a community-wide sports program for all ages.

“It just was a calling on Tim to start something a little bit different, to maybe bring some integrity back into the sport. That’s what we decided to do, was rebirth something his family had started many, many years ago,” Pizzio said. “We started reaching out to the community to create a program that’s more inclusive for all the different communities in Vicksburg and Warren County and make sure everyone is welcome and included.”

Pizzio and Young moved to Vicksburg from Florida about five years ago. They have been volunteer coaches at the Vicksburg YMCA, and their children have been involved with its cheerleading and football programs. Young, a Vicksburg native, also coached for five years with the Vicksburg Packers, one of the two established competitive youth football programs in the city.

Over the past couple of years, Young and Pizzio talked about splitting off into their own football program and finally decided to go for it.

“A month or so ago both of us woke up. He had a conversation with a friend and came to me and said let’s just stop talking about it and do it,” Pizzio said.

The original Vicksburg Buccaneers were led by Ernest Young, Timothy’s father, more than 30 years ago. The new program’s name is an homage to both that team and the Young family.

“I’ve been in football for 17 years. When it first started I was with him,” Timothy Young said. “He went to California and started a youth thing there. He went to Florida and started a youth thing there. He’s still coaching football in Florida. I just think it’s right to do it at home.”

The Buccaneers won’t play their first game until later this year, but launched in February with a football clinic at the Purks YMCA. More than 30 children attended and got instruction on fundamentals and drills for more than two hours. Ernest and Anthony Moore, Timothy Young’s great-uncle and cousin and Vicksburg sports legends, spoke to the group.

Pizzio said she was blown away by the support — not just from the number of children who participated and the adults who signed on as coaches, but from the community. Businesses such as Super Junior, Domino’s and Lay’s provided drinks and snacks. The YMCA also provided guidance and support, as well as the use of its facilities.

“We were quite surprised. We went back and forth about what we were expecting. The pre-registrations on paper were not as strong as the actual turnout, so we were quite pleased,” Pizzio said.

Not only was the football clinic the start of the Buccaneers, it might have been the start of something bigger. Pizzio said she and Young would like to add other sports and activities as time goes on, whether it’s short basketball, volleyball and kickball tournaments or full seasons.

“We want to have a lot of instructional things, too, and football is going to be one aspect of our goal. What we want to do is try to keep kids busy all year long, and their families,” Pizzio said. “We’ve got in the works a kickball program for after football season is over, for both the parents and the kids. We want to do 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, volleyball. We want to do pool days, and movie nights, and art days. Even if it’s just weekend camps, cheer camps, whatever we can do to keep kids focused, active and engaged.”

To that end, the Buccaneers are trying to get teenagers as well as younger children involved. Only those from ages 5-12 can play football, but ages 13-17 are welcome to be a part of the team as support staff like the chain crew and managers. Pizzio hopes they eventually can become mentors and coaches.

“One thing we’ve noticed is the youth leagues cut off at 13. We want to do, even if it’s pick-up games for basketball, where we coordinate something so they can put their own teams together for the 14-18-year-old group,” she said.

The first step, though, is putting together a team for the 2025 football season. Registration began last week and offseason conditioning will start later this month.

The football and cheer team is open to children ages 5-12, or those who will turn 13 after Aug. 1, 2025. To sign up, call Pizzio at 601-529-7788; or Young at 601-618-6907. The team also has a Facebook page with more information.
Pizzio said there is no charge to register, although there will likely be some for equipment.

“In a perfect world our goal is not to have any expense whatsoever. But realistically we do know that uniforms and things like that cost money and we are a growing program,” Pizzio said. “So our goal is to get to that point where they have to pay zero for anything. But the most they would have to pay is the cost of the uniforms.”

Although the Buccaneers are a new venture, Young and Pizzio believe in the vision. It’s more than just a start-up youth football team, Pizzio said. It’s a calling to help Vicksburg’s young people achieve their own goals and dreams.

“Sometimes when you realize that children respond to you so well, it becomes a responsibility. I think that’s really what it is,” Pizzio said. “So many of these children — the cheerleaders, the football players, and just kids in the community that we interact with through different volunteer sports that we’ve done, and being involved in our children’s live and their friends’ lives — we just realized there’s a really healthy chemistry that they trust us and respect us. When that happens, you either take advantage of it or you walk away from it.

“We felt like we had a responsibility to fulfill that,” she continued. “There’s so many of them out there that need some healthy guidance. And even the ones that don’t and just need something fun to do, we want to be a part of it.”

VICKSBURG BUCCANEERS FOOTBALL
Registration for the inaugural season of the Vicksburg Buccaneers youth football and cheer program is now open.
The team is for children ages 5-12 and is free. Preseason training begins in late March and the season in late July.
To register, or for more information, contact Tim Young at 601-618-6907 or Christie Pizzio at 601-529-7788.