Submitted
Swift Current Minor Football is establishing a spring flag football league for players born in 2008 and 2009 this May and June. The eight-week league will run Saturday mornings in May and for the first four Saturdays in June. All games will be played at Highland Field.
SCMF, which administers a tackle football league in the fall for boys and girls aged 9-14, is venturing into the spring for the first time with this program and also into flag football for the first time.
“Flag football is definitely taking off in the larger centres in our province”, commented SCMF Past-President Elden Moberg. “In Regina, they started with 75 kids in flag football in the late 2000’s, and they have 2,500 boys and girls playing spring flag football today. Their growth has been amazing.”
“We’re starting with two select age groups as a trial for the program. If the enthusiasm in the community is there, we would consider expanding the program to older age groups moving forward.”
SCMF is partnering with the NFL Flag program on this initiative. For $100, players will receive eight days of football, a reversible NFL flag football jersey and shorts. Flags are also provided by the league. The only additional costs for parents would be football cleats, which are recommended but not mandatory.
Registration has been capped at 80 participants this year. The first 80 boys or girls, born in 2008 or 2009, to sign up will be accepted in the co-ed league. All others will be put on a waiting list.
“Given that this is our first time operating a league in the spring and the first time there has been a flag football league for kids of this age, we decided to cap participants to ensure that we can manage this logistically. If we fill our league at 80 players, it will be a good sign that we should begin expanding the league for future years.”
Registration for SCMF flag football is open as of March 15. Interested parents can sign their kids up by going to www.scmf.ca. Registration for the fall tackle league is also open with an early bird deadline of June 15th.
For more information, contact SCMF Past-President Elden Moberg at (306) 774-9088 or by e-mail at emoberg@starkmarsh.com
