SYA’s New Flag Football League Proves Popular with Area Youth

Southwestern Youth Association officials were surprised at the overwhelming response they received this year with the launch of a new spring flag football league as area youngsters rushed to sign up for a spot on the non-contact teams.

SYA got about three times the number of participants they expected, cutting off the enrollment at 177 kids that make up 14 teams, said Michael A. Johnson, SYA flag football coach.

“Yeah is was a little bit of a surprise, but I thought there would be tremendous interest in flag football,” said Johnson, 43, who played quarterback in college and whose father played defensive back for six years for the Dallas Cowboys.

Flag football is a non-contact version of tackle football that SYA also sponsors. In flag football, plastic flags are hung from a velcro belt around the player’s waist. Unlike full-contact football, players don’t tackle each other, although there is some physical contact. Instead, players make a “tackle” by pulling the flags from the ball carrier or quarterback’s belt. 

Injuries, which are all too common in tackle football, are reduced in the non-contact version, said Johnson, who noted that there have been no injuries in the SYA league so far this year. The teams are open to youngsters aged 5-15.

Practices are limited to one day a week, and the games (which are set for Sundays) run from mid-April through May with tournament play starting the first week of June, said Johnson at a practice on the SYA Field of Dreams complex off of Bull Run Post Office Road. 

When SYA decided to offer flag football to the Centreville-Clifton communities, officials wanted to make the sport of football more inclusive and involve youngsters who normally would prefer to play football on a computer game console.

The league has succeeded in that, mixing tackle football veterans with a scrum of players who had never intentionally touched a football before joining the flag football teams. 

“We wanted to get kids outside, instead of them sitting inside their homes,” Johnson said. “We wanted to get them outside and to play football and I think they have been pleasantly surprised that they can win.”The hardest part, said Tim Yost, 34, another flag football coach, is teaching simple football fundamentals, like passing and how to handle the ball. 

“You’ve got to take a bunch of kids, who have no football experience,” Yost said, “and teach them how to play the game.”

And, those who have joined the spring games may find is so much fun they will want to test the SYA tackle football league when it starts in August, said Craig Wilson, another coach. “It can certainly help in SYA recruiting in the fall.” 

SYA plans to offer the league again next year, Johnson said, and expects probably double the number of kids to sign up.

“It’s a great opportunity to ease the kids into football,” Johnson said, “and teach them important lessons, like how to play with others and how to contribute to a team.”