When the words “youth football” are mentioned in Southeast Idaho, it’s hard not to immediately think of Les Hernandez.

The longtime president of the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League has been providing an extraordinary gridiron experience for generations of youngsters — cultivating character, instilling grit and forging dreams with every play on the field.

The league bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic and now boasts over 60 teams from 18 local communities and more than 1,400 players ranging from fourth through eighth grade. The league is a big reason why Southeast Idaho fields many of the best high school football teams in the state.

With such success at helping to mold local youngsters into not just gridiron stars, but also better human beings, Hernandez was an easy choice to be inducted into the Idaho State Journal Sports Stars Hall of Fame.

Everyone is invited to watch as Hernandez receives the honor on Tuesday at the Journal’s annual Sports Stars Awards event, where dozens of local high school athletes, coaches and teams will also receive awards.

The Sports Stars Awards event is being held at the Idaho State University Stephens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and the event starts at 6 p.m. The Sports Stars Awards event is free and open to the public.

Hernandez lives and breathes youth football and his passion for making the league bigger and better every year is evident.

“We’ve added Firth to our program — they brought in four new teams to our organization,” said Hernandez, who has been running the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League since 1992. “We also brought the Marsh Valley junior high school program back in our league. And we’re expecting Aberdeen to be doing the same thing this year.”

Such growth, stability and a reputation for safety and inclusion have all made the Southeastern Idaho Youth Football League a model organization under Hernandez’s leadership. That, in turn, has led to his selection to the Idaho State Journal Sports Stars Hall of Fame.

“That’s quite an honor,” Hernandez said when notified of his selection. “It’s very humbling. I don’t do it for the recognition.”

Back in 1988, Hernandez first got involved in the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League when his younger brother was playing. His coach had a habit of not showing up consistently for practices and games and Hernandez, just 22 at the time, went to the league president and offered his services as a coach.

“I told the league president at that time, Gary Kinghorn, I said, ‘I don’t know much, but I’ll be there every week. I’ll be there every night.’ So he let me coach the team the next year and I just kept going,” Hernandez said during a Journal interview a couple of years ago.

When he started dating his future wife Nicole, Hernandez told her that his involvement in youth sports was just part of who he was. Now the treasurer of the league, Nicole and Les remain an inseparable team when it comes to making the league operate smoothly.

“I’m a lucky guy,” reiterated Hernandez, who lives in Pocatello and works as a manager for GE Aerospace.

The recent reintroduction of the Marsh Valley junior high program was an outgrowth of a failed COVID-related experiment. The Marsh Valley School District made the decision to operate its own junior high school program during the COVID outbreak. Last year, the district decided getting out of the junior high football program and returning to the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League for seventh and eighth grade teams was the right move.

Aberdeen is expected to follow suit this coming season.

“I’m very glad to see both those schools do that,” Hernandez said. “It’s very difficult to find dollars to pay for helmets and jerseys and transportation and everything. Their budget was stretched so thin. That’s why I think our program is the best fit for all these junior high schools in Southeastern Idaho.”

In a previous interview, Hernandez noted the factors that have allowed the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League to flourish, all while a number of other youth football organizations across the country have been struggling to maintain participation.

Hernandez attributed the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League’s success to:

— Working agreements with local law enforcement agencies to maintain order during games and with local health care providers to make sure the players get the best care.

— Coaches are certified and reviewed annually to make sure they have their players’ best interests at heart.

— Player weight limits by position are strictly enforced.

— All players are guaranteed a certain number of plays in every game. Each team has a person designated to count the number of plays for each player, and Hernandez and his board of directors visit games to check to make sure that every child is getting their entitled number of reps.

— The league employs only Fifth District High School officials, not volunteers, and having experienced officials has helped reduce the on-field friction with coaches and fans.

Hernandez said his selection to the Hall of Fame is a reflection of the excellent work done by the league’s many volunteers over the years.

“I think finding good people that I can tell feel the same way about the sport and about the kids and about the league — that’s what I’m always looking for is those kinds of individuals,” Hernandez said in an interview a couple of years ago. “I had one guy on the board of directors, he was going to step down. I talked to him and said, ‘You’re the kind of person I want in the league. You care about the kids, you care about the league, people know you. I want you to be a part of the league.’ He ended up staying on.”

During Hernandez’s time as league president, the organization has produced a number of players who have gone on to NFL careers or have played at Power 5 college programs. It gives Hernandez pride to talk about Southeast Idaho Youth Football League alums like Taysom Hill, now with the New Orleans Saints, and Tommy Togiai, currently with the Houston Texans.

“I think it’s great for our league to see that and I’m very proud of that,” said Hernandez. “I know all these kids went through some really good coaches and some really good teams and I know that’s where it started for them.”

But he also believes the kids who never see stardom still benefit from participation in the league.

“I think those kids get the opportunity to be a part of the team,” he said of players who may not be the best athletes. “One of the things we require as a league is that they get to play a minimum number of plays. So that way they are feeling like they are contributing to the team. Maybe not to the largest extent, maybe they’re not out there for 40 plays, but hopefully they are feeling like part of a positive experience.”

Now 33 years into serving as league president, Hernandez is still hustling for every advantage he can find for the organization.

“We’re still strong members of USA Football,” he said. ”We received another spring grant for a small number of helmets. Our league was recognized for multiple bronze and silver awards for our different locations by USA Football. Those are all things we have achieved recently.”