Last fall as we made the weekly drive out to the soccer fields every Saturday morning, Jack would always comment about how he really wanted to play flag football. Daniel and I weren't so sure.
He would bring it up periodically, but we didn't really know how serious he was.
Our parenting style is to try to say yes as much as possible, within reason, and our current stance is one sport or extra-curricular activity each week. At the time that football season rolled around, he was already doing Taekwondo .
He kept persisting, so we told him he had to make a decision: stick with Taekwondo (which he really enjoys), do fall soccer again, or sign up for flag football. He picked football.
Then we kind of forgot about it and a couple of days before signups, Jack reminded us that he wanted to play. So we signed him up.
Where we live (maybe in other places too?), flag football is split up into kindergarten-first grade, second-third grade, and fourth-fifth grade leagues. This allows the younger (and smaller kids) to get experience playing with kids who already know what they are doing.
Jack was definitely one of the smallest and youngest on his team, but it ended up being a great learning experience.
Our coaches were really amazing. They put a focus on fundamentals and had all the kids learn all of the positions.
In games the more experienced kids got more time on the field, but every kid go a chance to play offense and defense, and every kid had a chance to run the ball – even Jack who ran the wrong way down the field (more than once!).
Like I said, it was a good learning experience!
Our coaches were also really good about encouraging the team after each practice and game. They would have the kids share what they thought that other kids did well, and then they would also point out good stuff. This was a great motivator for Jack.
Jack’s flag football team ended up being undefeated in
the regular season and went on to win the championship game.
After the last game of the season, the coach had the team sing Happy
Birthday to Jack since it was his birthday, I'm not sure what Jack thought about that, but it was really sweet.
The final game in this league was a really big deal – they play on a field at a private high school with announcers calling the game from the box. The team was announced and each kid got to run out on the field and then through a sign, just like the big kids do!
At the award ceremony, we learned that one of our coaches was the coach of all three age groups, and all three of his teams won the championship games (our other coach helped co-coach two of those three teams).
Jack really
enjoyed being a part of flag football this season – his favorite thing was playing Sharks and Minnows at the end of each practice. And getting a trophy for first place. He is thrilled that it was the biggest trophy and "gold." We may have to work on his humility!
My favorite thing about flag football is that every kid learned each position and had plenty of opportunities to play. I didn't think I would enjoy flag football (they had to practice 1-2 times each week and games were on Saturdays), but it is one of my favorite peewee sports, so far.
We are so proud of Jack's team and their coaches. They had a fantastic season
and finished strong as the undefeated K1 Champs of the 2017 season. We are so thankful for the new friends he has made and all that he learned during this season. He is looking forward to playing again next fall. Go Scots!
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