AFL

April 25, 2023 – Russ Stoner was a star athlete at West York in the late 1980s, Stoner was hired at York High in 2016 after a four-year stint as head coach at Spring Grove from 2011 to 2014. He was also an assistant coach at Central York for 16 years. When he took over the York High football program, the Bearcats were coming off an 0-10 season. Stoner has said there were only 14 players in the program at the time. The Bearcats have produced a number of collegiate football players during Stoner's tenure. Six players from the 2020 graduating class plan to play college football, and 14 of the class's 17 players are expected to attend college.  Stoner's effect on the program has also been noteworthy off the field. Stoner and York High assistant coach Mike Teyral created the nonprofit  Accountability for Life (AFL) to mentor at-risk kids in the community through a revival of the lost pathway of developing strong, traditional core values that were such a prevalent part of our parents' and grandparents' generations. Students must maintain a 2.75 GPA and stay out of trouble in school to join AFL. They provide coaches, educators and other community-based partners with a character-building resource toolkit aimed at promoting the importance of accountability in all areas of a student-athlete's life by teaching and modeling the concept of integrity and requiring ownership of one's actions.AFL has recently acquired a building on Vogelsong Rd where all kids can feel safe, workout, get help with school work and counseling. Coach Stoner dares the kids to be great in the classroom, in their community and on the competition field.