NEW ULM – Trever Coxworth has been around the game of football long enough to know that it can draw fans pretty much anywhere you take it. And just being around him for 30 minutes, it’s hard not to get excited about what he’s attempting to do in the area.

Coxworth decided to bring the game of football to New Ulm and Madelia, heading the Minnesota Brawlers, a semi-pro team that begins play in May and wraps up action in late July or early August, depending on how successful the playoff run is.

Coxworth’s team is a member of the eight-team Northern States Football League. The Brawlers will open the season at Johnson Field in New Ulm before playing the rest of the regular-season games in Madelia. He’s hoping to have another home playoff game in New Ulm. He is also hoping that Semi-Professional football here at the local level can be successful to both the players and the fans involved.

Those interested in potentially playing for the Brawlers can come to the tryout at the New Ulm Park and Rec Center (Vogel Fieldhouse) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. Cost is $30 for trying out. Tryouts are open to anyone age 18 and older.

His involvement with semi-pro football

The 43-year old won’t be suiting up this year, at least he doesn’t intend to, but Coxworth is very involved with the team. He’s in charge of everything behind the scenes, from lining up the promotional ideas for each home game to getting players on the team.

He’s the team president and he’s also in charge of making the fan experience good enough so that everyone wants to come back.

But what makes him unique is his passion for the game. He knows that semi-pro football won’t bring him millions of dollars, and he’s quite fine with that. Instead, his goal is to get fans involved and to keep them wanting more through the game experience every Saturday night.

This isn’t the first time Coxworth has been involved with semi-pro football. He got involved with a team about 20 years ago, and he’s been hooked ever since.

“There was a 9-man team my friend started about 20 years ago. I ran into him and played that for a while and then he had an 11-man team,” Coxworth said. “The idea then was to play 9-man in the spring and 11-man in the fall and that was kind of the beginning stages of adult football in Minnesota. From there, I played with him. and then I started a team in Sioux Falls and started a team in Northwest Iowa.

“After that, I finished my career as a player and then took a break,” Coxworth said. “Then about three years ago I started the Minnesota Brawlers. A lot of experience has gone into starting this team and running it.”

Coxworth said that initially it was difficult getting started with the Brawlers because it’s tough to find a field in South Central Minnesota that will make itself available for the season.

“It was a bit of a struggle the first couple of years, but we’re well on our way now,” Coxworth said. “The biggest problem that we’ve had is the facilities. There’s not a lot of field turf around here, and you get up in the Cities, they’re all field turf. So we’ve had to satellite our team around, but we’re really excited to have the opportunity here in New Ulm. New Ulm is very set up for a football team like this.”

He thinks that the Brawlers, who will play their first game in New Ulm and the rest of the regular season games in Madelia, can make the two-city co-op work.

“I think Madelia is close enough to New Ulm to where we can keep the momentum going. I think we’re really going to do well in Madelia as well,” Coxworth said. “Then we have to sit down and talk about the future.”

Coxworth said that Nicollet and Gustavus Adolphus College may also work as alternate sites for games.

“In this business, you’ve got to have a lot of cooperation,” he said.

His intentions are to keep the games fun for the fans.

“We try to keep it fast-paced, and we have the music going. We’ve got a really good announcer too and he has a knack for it,” Coxworth said. “We want to run the show for the fans, we want the fans to come and win prizes and to be involved. We want them and their kids to have a good time.”

Team goals

and other info

Coxworth isn’t one to just lay out some simple goals for the Brawlers. He just doesn’t want to settle for being competitive. He wants the whole thing.

“We’re looking to win a national championship,” Coxworth said. “There are a lot of national championships, and we know it probably won’t happen this year. We have to win this league to get noticed nationally.”

The Brawlers practice on the weekends, and they have games on Saturday nights.

Coxworth said that while a lot of the players have high school and college experience, there are some players who have very little playing experience at all. He welcomes everyone to try out.

Currently, he’s got a bunch of players from Mankato East and West High School, Austin High School and some other towns in southern Minnesota. He also has former college players from MSU-Mankato as well as other colleges in the area.

While he invites those who have an interest in playing, he also has to warn those that they should be ready for the game.

“We got to make sure they’re physically fit and see if they can do this,” Coxworth said. “We also very highly recommend that they have insurance, and we do all sign injury waivers. From there, they’ve got to buy their helmet and shoulder pads, and we supply the uniforms.”

Although there is a roster limit to how many players can be on a team, Coxworth usually keeps his number of players at about the same.

“I try to keep my roster at 30, but we are willing to go more,” Coxworth said. “It’s just if you go 50 guys, you can’t get everyone in.”

Of course, understanding the game is always a plus, too.

“We try to get the high IQ football player, and we try to practice on the weekend about a month before the season and during the season we get special groups,” Coxworth said. “We have a lot of rules that we have to follow, but it’s a pretty professionally run league.

“But we don’t want to scare away the common Joe,” Coxworth said. “If you’re over 6-foot tall and over 250 pounds and like to play basketball or softball, this is probably for you, you’re probably going to do well at this.”

Those interested in trying out for the Minnesota Brawlers Semi-Pro football team can go to the New Ulm Rec Center (Vogel Fieldhouse) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. Cost is $30 for trying out,

and tryouts are open to anyone age 18 and older.

2015 Minnesota Brawlers Football Schedule

May 16Midwest Nightmare (Johnson Field, New Ulm)

May 23West Central Broncos (Madelia High School)

May 30at Midwest Monarchs

June 13at West Centeral Broncos

June 20Midwest Monarchs (Madelia High School)

July 11Granite City Renegades (Madelia High School)

July 18at Fargo Invaders

July 25Playoffs

Aug. 1NSFL Championship