New Flag Football League Starting In Somerset

Children between the ages of 6 and 13 were on the Somerset Berkley Regional High School football field last Thursday running pass routes and having a lot of fun.

In this version of football, there is no hitting and tackling. The open house and players evaluations was the first event for the new Somerset Youth Flag Football League that has been started by some local parents. Joshua Darlington, a parent who founded the league, stated that he was a little nervous but excited about getting the league started last week. He said the idea for the league came during a conversation he had with parents Matthew Dionne, Robert Plummer and Neal Cadorette during a basketball practice.

Darlington thinks the league has received a positive response with about 90 children who have signed up. He stated that some of the children last week came to the combine to see if they would like to join the league.

Darlington said his son was playing baseball year round, but he saw him taking an interest into football. He said he looked at flag football programs in Lakeville and Teamworks in Somerset, but then found a National Football League and USA Football sponsored youth flag football program that he could start in Somerset.

According to South Coast Today.com, the season for the new youth flag football league will start in the first two weeks of August with the teams playing at Somerset Middle School and Pottersville Field. There will be eight regular season games and playoffs that start in October. The players will also be able to wear NFL jerseys. There are three age divisions for the league.  One division will be for 6 to 8-year-olds; another division for 9 to 11-year-olds; and an older division for 11 to 13-year-olds.

With additional reporting by Sal Lopez