Marquis Neal recalled five years ago when his son, Zyriek, then 6, signed up to play football in a program that promised equal playing time for each of the three dozen members on the team.
Zyriek, who Neal said has a knack for sports, played only a few downs each game.
"There's no way you can get 36 to 40 kids equal playing time," said Neal, 36. "It wasn't fair to the parents or the kids."
From that frustration, i9 Sports of West Baltimore County was born.
Established in 2002, i9 Sports has 100 franchises in 25 states that provide athletic programs such as flag football, soccer, basketball and cheerleading programs for ages 4 to 14, according to its website.
Seven franchises are in Maryland, serving portions of Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Frederick and Prince George's counties, the i9 Sports website stated.
Neal's franchise started in 2007 serving the Towson and Owings Mills communities, said the Pikesville resident.
He thought about bringing i9 Sports to southwestern Baltimore County while stationed in Iraq as an army sergeant.
"When I came back, I wanted to do something that was actually going to benefit the community," said Neal, who was known as Sean Neal when he played quarterback and cornerback for the football team at Mount St. Joseph High School before graduating in 1993. "I really feel that it's a need for the community."
Last spring, Neal started the first i9 Sports league in Catonsville when he offered flag football.
It attracted 103 players, ages 4 to 9.
Neal noted his franchise does not have leagues for children older than 9 because there hasn't been enough interest.
This fall, he offered a co-ed fall flag football league on the grounds of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 200 Ingleside Ave.
The league, which opens Sept. 24, had 46 registered as of Sept. 14, a decline Neal attributed to being new in the community and players defecting to play tackle football.
Neal said he expects registration to hit 55 by the time the season starts.
The program uses a tiered registration system which currently costs $145, up from $105 earlier in the year. The cost includes a jersey, insurance, eight weeks of games, awards for participation and sportsmanship and background checks for the coaches and staff.
Dutch Patel, a 7-year-old Catonsville resident, has played flag football for several seasons in an i9 Sports league.
"It's fun. You get to have a good coach, good team, good T-shirt," said Dutch, whose favorite position is running back. "You even get to have good medals. When I go out on the field, (I) feel really good. I like getting medals a lot."
To ensure maximum participation, each team's roster has no more than twice the number of players that can play on the field, he said. For a 5-on-5 game, for example, each team's roster has only 10 players.
"More or less, our whole goal is to provide life-long values through sports for the kids," Neal said. "We do keep score. But the focus is not on the score. The focus is more on the individual kids and the fundamentals of the game.
"Honestly, it's no pressure. It's for the kids to come out and enjoy themselves and still learn things through the game."
Having his young athletes feel good is Neal's goal. Now an assistant coach for Coppin State University's club football team, Neal said competition has its place.
"I'm there on the competitive side of it, and the competitive side is draining," Neal said. "At the end of the day, that's an 8-year-old child. He needs to be happy. He needs to learn. He needs to have fun."
Krishna Patel, Dutch's mother, signed her son up for the league after meeting Neal at Vineyards Elite, a wine store Krishna owns with her husband, Virendra, in Pikesville.
"They have a family environment. A lot of families get together (on days of games and practices)," Patel said. "When they play the games afterward, everyone is screaming and shouting. It's very spirited."
Before the league came to Catonsville, the Patels traveled to Owings Mills for the games and practices, which occur on the same day.
Patel said the league's schedule of having games and practices on the same day is convenient for working parents like herself.
"As parents, we want them to excel," Patel said. "At the same time, if it's too much to do it, we're not as happy."
Next year, Neal hopes to offer soccer and T-ball programs that operate under the i9 Sports philosophy.