Flag Football program opens to elementary students

photo courtesy of Allison Turner Students interested in flag football attend a camp hosted last summer to increase their skills and widen their football knowledge.

Flag Football kicks off for elementary students after administration came to Athletic Director, Mr. Chris Camp with the vision of the program last year. The new field, interest from families and support from the athletic department helped bring the vision to life.

“Flag football is a great first step to instill that love of football in our young athletes,” Junior Knights Athletic Coordinator Mrs. Caitlin Keith said.

Practices and games will take place at the Knight’s Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoons and evenings. According to Mrs. Keith, Flag Football is the first step to building skill and love for football towards a varsity level.

“It has been such a blessing to be a part of the Junior Knights program and to build relationships with families from both sessions,” Mrs. Keith said. “Elementary athletics have brought athletes and families together in a really special way. With the growing interest in flag football, offering this sport will help attract new families to TKA while also helping to retain our current athletes by developing them for our football program starting at a young age.”

The new program will give the opportunity to introduce students to the sport and for them to see if they enjoy playing. Although that is the main reason for the program, it will also let students play alongside their friends and develop their character while working together.

“We are looking at playing a five to six game schedule where there would be a 45-minute practice before each game and a 45-minute game after that,” Mr. Camp said.

Elementary students will be in a league with two different divisions. One will be kindergarten to second grade and the other will be third to fifth grade. The teams will have a mix of boys and girls, but depending on the levels of interest and the amount of students joining, there could be separate teams later on.

“Like any other extracurricular activity that we have, we hope that this will create interest from students and encourage them to come and be a part of this program,” Mr. Camp said. “We also hope that this will continue to build community for our families.”

There will be no tryouts to ensure participation, but students will be divided by grade and skill after registration to create competitive games for TKA’s Flag Football league.

“I think boys and girls see it as a fun sport to play and so the interest in it has exploded,”  Mr. Camp said. “It will be an Olympic Sport in 2028 in Los Angeles.”