Niagara Youth Flag Football took over Youngs Sportsplex last Saturday.
About 150 athletes, including a three-year-old participant, were taking part in the opening night of the association’s winter camp at the same time as four travel teams were preparing for a Family Day tournament in Woodbridge.
The winter camp, which runs every Saturday for the next four weeks, focuses on a number of things. When the camp ends, NYFF will transition into its high school league, featuring 10 high school teams from Hamilton and across Niagara.
‘We are doing a lot of individual stations and working on fundamentals such as catching, running footwork and flag pulling,” NYFF coach and founder Matt Hill said. “Eventually we will get into a lit bit of play stuff to get them used to systems, some of the language and what we are trying to do here.”
It is also to give the kids something to do.
“Coming out of this latest lockdown, it is to get them moving and have some fun,” Hill said. “That is the big emphasis and we have a great group of coaches out here who are just trying to keep them active.”
Hill had 16 volunteer coaches helping out last Saturday.
“It has been great and a lot of them have stayed both hours. We have university-level coaches, high-school level coaches, parents, high school players and a little bit of everything.”
One of the coaches on hand was Hamilton resident Alisa Van Veen. She is a new coach with the association but has been coaching been coaching flag football for the past 10 years. She is very familiar with Hill.
“He coached me when I was 13,” she said.
Van Veen is a big proponent of the sport.
“For girls, it is a great way to get into football and that was the way it worked for me. I have noticed in leagues that I have coached in before that so many girls have loved the sport and are able to play with the guys,” she said. “That is a cool thing for them to see that they can play and compete with them. It’s a great way for girls to learn the skills and even for guys who end up playing tackle, flag football gives them the fundamentals.”
She encourages every parent to get their kids involved in flag football.
“I played probably every sport you can think of and this is my favourite,” Van Veen said. “It is the most fun sport and it is a diverse group that plays flag football. A lot of sports you need to be bigger or stronger but this is a sport where you can be any size and any age and it helps you develop for other sports as well.”
She is impressed by the level of coaching in NYFF.
“These guys are great coaches. I haven’t been here very long but I can tell that everyone here knows their stuff and they are a lot of fun. I have fun every time I am here.”
The outdoor flag football season, called Friday Night Lights, will start at the end of April, likely at Kiwanis Field, and run until the end of June.
“We are anticipating our biggest season yet,” Hill said. “Last fall, we finished with about 330 (players) and I think we are going to blast through 400. We think we are ready and we are just going to keep teaching and developing more coaches and referees.”
Enjoying the winter camp and eagerly anticipating another flag football season was 11-year-old Ezra Ivory, the son of former CFLer Clifford Ivory. The Grade 6 student at Smithville Public School is in his second year with the league.
“It has been really good,” he said. “I love the intensity, the fun and scoring touchdowns and winning. I like the skill level and getting to play with and getting to know other people.”
Ezra was thrilled to be back on the field after another pandemic pause.
“It is straight up amazing.”
