It was hard to tell which was brighter Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium — the colors of bold new football uniforms or the smile on the faces of the children wearing them. The Selma Recreation Department held opening day for football season Saturday, but before the league’s 22 teams started their season, they were introduced to the friends and family in the crowd.

“It’s exciting to me to see the kids out here and see the participation they’ve got with their parents,” said Terry Jackson, the city’s football director. “The parents are really supporting kids in youth football and that’s the most exciting thing about today.”

Every team in the league played its first game Saturday. Games started at 9 a.m. with the Packers vs. Panthers and started every hour, with the last one scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The Packers won the first game of the year behind two rushing touchdowns from JoDarius Hamilton. The Packers led 22-0 at halftime and held off a Panthers comeback attempt to win 30-16.

“The kids love it, I love it, all the coaches love it,” said Packers coach Calvin Pritchett about being the first team to win a game this year.

The players weren’t the only ones with some new year butterflies. Chico Cleveland, coach of the Speed Hustle Panthers, said he didn’t get much sleep Friday night in trying to get ready for his first game as a head coach.

“I think I slept two hours last night trying to get helmets and decals ready,” Cleveland said. “I found myself screwing together helmets and putting in pads and things like that.”

Although the Panthers didn’t win, they had brand new uniforms after holding fundraisers to pay for them. They had team specific helmet logos and sharp powder blue and black jerseys.

“The uniforms came through but we didn’t come through on our end,” Cleveland said. “The uniforms will be back next week and we’ll be back next week.”

The teams in this year’s league are broken into four age groups: 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12.

The 5-6 age group includes the Jr. Bears, Jr. Bengals, Jr. Dolphins and Jr. Hurricanes.

The teams in the 7-8 age group are the Pee-wee Bears, Pee-wee Rams, Bengals, Lions, Packers and Panthers.

In the 9-10 age group are the Bears, Broncos, Dolphins, Jr. Bobcats, Jr. Rams and Raiders. In the 11-12 age group are the Bobcats, 49ers, Falcons, Jets, Rams and Vikings.