Talk to any player on a successful football team, especially at the college and NFL levels, and they will tell you that the fuel for success is because the team is like a family.

Think about it. They go through offseason workouts, training camp and the regular season and playoffs spending more time with each other than with their own families.

Much the same can be said for a youth football program, though on a lower level.

While everyone likes to win, the No. 1 objective at the youth level is to learn the proper fundamentals, have fun, learn the importance of teamwork and get better each and every opportunity.

Winning is great, but it’s the experience of playing that is most important.

From a program standpoint, there is so much more than just the games on the field. In fact, there’s so much more than the football players and the coaches. Many programs also include cheerleading, fundraising efforts and events that allow the coaches, players, parents, families and friends to come together.

You know. Like a family.

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A program’s success requires everyone from top to bottom to work together to ensure that the organization does an effective job with registration, equipment, safety, coaching, fundraising and community awareness. That means all aspects of the program working together and supporting each other.

If you wear the program’s logo, you are part of the family.

It all starts at the top. The head of the program has to have the pulse of the entire organization and needs to delegate authority appropriately. That means trusting people to run the football operations, the cheerleaders, fundraising efforts, the snack bar and parent relations. A comprehensive board of directors and staff are essential for a program to be successful.

What you can’t have is a disconnect among the different elements.

If the football players are doing a fundraising event such as a car wash, they should include the cheerleaders. If the cheerleaders are involved with a community project, the football players should be part of it as well. If the program is doing an event, then everyone in the organization needs to know about it.

Communication is so important when it comes to growing a successful organization. Everyone has responsibilities when it comes to each part, but if all parties aren’t on the same page, there will be problems.

There is no room for fighting, finger-pointing and lack of trust.

In some communities, there are multiple programs for families to choose from so it’s important for an organization to run like a well-oiled machine. Make it easy for parents to choose what is best for their children.

Registration efforts have to be coordinated well, getting the word out about the program has to be a group effort, and making sure the coaches are USA Football certified and teaching heads up football is vital for a program’s success.

Each home game is a group effort with the coaches, cheerleaders and parents volunteering for the chain gang, snack bar, and raffle tickets.

There should be a pyramid-type organization with the head of the program entrusting people to organize the football and cheerleading efforts. Those individuals should be able to involve parents and other volunteers to help with the immense amount of work that is required. And then the players and the cheerleaders should feel the community pride to wear that uniform and outfit.

A good football team has 11 players working together to effectively run a play, follow the game plan and win games.

Football is the ultimate team sport. To be successful, you have to work together.

Peter Schwartz is an anchor and reporter for the CBS Sports Radio Network. He also writes a CBS New York sports blog at http://newyork.cbslocal.com/tag/peter-schwartz/. You can follow him on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. Peter’s son Bradley plays for the Levittown Red Devils of the Nassau Suffolk Football League on Long Island in New York. His son Jared cheers on Bradley and then Bradley returns the favor when Jared is playing soccer.