NFL players and officials will be on hand tomorrow as ground is broken for a new youth center paid for in part with $1 million from the National Football League.

Youth Education Town — which will be known as the YET Center — is the 11th YET Center the NFL has donated money toward, but it is the first in a city or area that doesn't have an NFL team or sponsors a Super Bowl.

NFL officials have said they are sponsoring the center in appreciation for the years Hawai'i has hosted the Pro Bowl.

The NFL chose the Nanakuli area because YET Centers are designed to help high-risk kids, said Myron Brumaghim, chairman of advisory council for the YET Center and former principal at Nanaikapono Elementary.

The Boys & Girls Club is working in partnership with the NFL on the YET Center, which is being built on 1.6 acres of land.

The first phase of the center is expected to be ready in January 2009.