Mansfield and Hackett decided to change things up this season for their Flag Football programs. Both towns left their old league and joined with the Greenwood Boys and Girls Club to create a league of their own. Change can be a scary thing. It can either go horribly wrong or awesomely sweet. Thankfully, the Tigers and Hornets have made it a huge success.
Mansfield suited up one team, Hackett put together two, and Greenwood ended up with three teams giving the league a total of six competitive squads. Each team plays two games on Saturday and rotates venues every time giving each program two home games a season. With smiles and a pure love for playing, these young men and women put on quite the show. The games are so fun that at times, they put the towns’ Sr High games in their shadows.
The Flag Football players are grades Kindergarten through 2nd Grade so you know things can get really exciting really fast. The kids sometimes run forwards, backwards, and side to side while trying to allude their opponents. They dive and tumble attempting to grab flags. They tend to even dance a little jig and cheer super loud after any play (good or bad).
The coaches try to maintain a bit of control but a lot of the time ends up looking like they are trying to give a bunch of kittens a bath. These Flag Football games are a modern-day Little Rascals and Dennis the Menace show rolled up in one.
The overall benefits of Flag Football for Mansfield and Hackett are unmatched. The programs get to see what talent they have moving up into their Little Leagues which helps the coaches place them in positions that benefit the teams better. The players learn proper techniques of handling the football and how to tackle low with their heads up by having to look at the flag on the waist of their opponents.
Since both Mansfield and Hackett are not operated by the schools, they are able to help improve their programs’ finances by gate fees from hosting Flag Football games. Most importantly, it gives the kids a chance to show off their skills and have a lot of fun playing football at an early age.
The next Flag Football games will be played at the Hackett High School football field on Saturday, October 12th starting at 9:00 a.m. and going until noon. The gate fee is $3 per adult and kids are free. The last game of the season will be held at Mansfield on Tuesday, October 15th starting at 6:30 p.m.
That game will be held under the lights at Tiger Stadium for the purpose of giving the kids a big-time High School football game feeling. Why do a night game for something like Flag Football? Simple. Because all of the players on every team deserve the spotlight for their hard work and effort in making this season’s entire program a success.
