With baseball coming to a close, the Selma Parks and Recreation Department is already calling on local athletes to sign up for another year on the gridiron.

Registration for the Selma Parks and Recreation Department’s youth football leagues will begin on July 24 and run until August 25.

Registrations will be taken Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the recreation office at Memorial Stadium.

Registrations will also be taken on Saturdays for Aug. 4, Aug. 11, Aug. 18, and Aug. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

All players, including those who played last year, will have to register again, and parents are asked to bring a birth certificate for their child and $10 for a non-refundable registration fee.

Terry Jackson, Selma Parks and Recreation Department football director, said he’s looking forward to another successful year for the city’s youth football leagues after a great year last season.

“The leagues had a good year last year,” Jackson said. “We had more to come out than ever last year. That’s about the most I ever had last year. We had six teams in the 8-9-10 year olds, four teams in the 5-6 year old group, and four teams in the 11 and 12-year-old group.”

To be eligible to play, players must be age 5-12 years old before May 1, 2012.

Tryouts will be at Memorial Stadium on Monday, Aug. 27 at 4:30 p.m., and players will be weighed, with 10-year-old boys who weigh less than 90 pounds having to play in the 8-9-year-old league, and 10-year-old boys who weigh more than 90 pounds having to play in the 11-12-year-old league.

Jackson said he’s expecting numbers to go up this year, as there’s a chance more players from Perry County could participate.

“The way it’s looking right now, there are going to be more kids,” Jackson said, “and the reason why I say that is I’ve got some calls already from Marion and then I got some calls from Uniontown to see if they can keep participating in our program. We have some of those kids already, but they’re saying a big number want to come from down there and play because word has gotten out that we run a good program.”

Following the tryout date, players will be contacted by their coaches around Sept. 10 with a start date for practice.

Players will have to purchase their own football pants and must furnish their own NOCSAE [National Operation Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment] approved helmet and a mouthpiece prior to the start of practices.

For more information, contact the Selma Parks and Recreation Department at 874-2140 or 874-2141.