With high school and college football season underway, local youth football players are lacing up their cleats and preparing to get in the action.

Registration for the Selma Recreation Department youth football leagues are still going on, but league director Terry Jackson said that the number of players currently signed up is in the hundreds already.

“Registration has gone good. Right now, we’re at about 375 [players],” Jackson said. “In the 5-6 age group, we’ve got four teams. In the 8-9 age group we’ve got five teams and in the 11-12 age group we’ve got for teams. But by the same token, we’ve got two teams in Marion and three teams in Uniontown.”

The teams coming over from Perry County will travel and compete against teams at Memorial Stadium, and Jackson said they will only help make the league better.

“It’s going to make the leagues much better and it’s going to make them more competitive,” Jackson said. “It gives the kids more games to play.”

Registration is still going on partly because Jackson is trying to get up to 400 players and add more younger players.

Time is running out as some teams have already started practicing and the opening day for teams is a couple weeks away, with games set to be played at Memorial Stadium.

“The first games will be Sept. 15. We’ve got a couple teams practicing already. They’re practicing without the pads,” Jackson said. “We haven’t gotten anybody in full pads yet.”

This year, the youth leagues will also give players chance to participate in the Punt, Pass, and Kick Competition.

For more information on registration, call the Selma Recreation Department at 874-2141.