Chasing the flag in Linwood: A safer option for youth football?
By Bill LeConey
At its essence, football is a highly physical, high-contact sport. But it doesn’t have to be physically harmful, especially at a younger age. And, if you take the harmful element away, maybe it becomes more fun.
That’s the idea behind the Athletes Arbor Flag Football program, a non-tackle league for boys and girls held every Sunday afternoon through May at Linwood’s All Wars Memorial Fields.
Nearly 200 children ages 5-14 from throughout the area take part in the program, which is run by former NFL player and Mainland Regional High School graduate Dave Klemic, co-owner of Athletes Arbor Sports Performance Institute in Linwood.
“It’s really fun. The kids love it,” Klemic said. “They really get to learn football, not just like, handing the ball off to the kid that hit puberty first and he runs everybody over. It doesn’t matter how fast or how big you are. In flag football, if you can run and you’ve got moves, you’re very effective.”
“I like this compared to other football because there’s no injuries,” said Brady Kallen, 10, of Northfield. “But I really like the other football, too.”
Klemic got the idea for the league while playing for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. He said the team used to visit local flag football programs that gave children a chance to play non-tackle football in the spring before they reached seventh or eighth grade.
“There could be laws passed about playing football until a certain age, until their brains develop to a certain level,” Klemic said. “We thought of that. And every other place in the world does spring football, seven on seven. We just don’t have it here.”
On this early-spring day, three six-on-six, pee wee (ages 8-10) games were taking place simultaneously while Klemic gave shouts of direction and encouragement into a megaphone. Beat-heavy music blared from loudspeakers while a public-address announcer did play-by-play on every touchdown pass or clutch “tackle” (flag-grab).
League sponsors include Charlie’s Bar and Restaurant in Somers Point, the D’arcy Johnson Day law firm, Nick’s Pizza in Northfield and Cornerstone Plastic Surgery in Linwood. Athletes Arbor will also host a league Combine and Football Skills Day on Sunday, May 27, at the fields.
“We set the rules so everything’s a downfield pass,” said Klemic, who was a speedy wide receiver in his playing days for Mainland, Northeastern University and the Chiefs. “If you run it, the whole defense can automatically blitz, so it’s not even worth it. We teach the kids how to play and read zone defenses … so they really get to learn not only how to play street ball. They’re running real routes and stuff like that.”
“I like it because it’s fun,” said Lucas Hankins, 7, of Galloway. “I’m a quarterback and I get to throw the ball. I threw two touchdowns today.”
His mom, Kerrie Hartman, likes the league too, but for different reasons. Hartman said she looked into having Lucas play tackle football at an early age but decided to stick with the flag football.
“As a mom, I feel much safer with this, for now,” she said. “I don’t want to see my baby get hit.”
She is not alone in that sentiment. The number of children playing flag football jumped 8.7 percent from 2004 to 2015, according to the Physical Activity Council’s annual participation report. That’s a higher increase than softball, soccer, baseball or basketball.
Over the same time, the number of children ages 7-17 who played the traditional tackle game dropped from 5.1 million to 4.4 million, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. That decrease is due in part over safety concerns.
Parents are more worried about the head injuries that are occurring in physical sports like football. There are a growing number of children that still want to play football but might be hesitant to put a helmet and shoulder pads on – and parents that might be hesitant to let them.
Proponents of tackle football say coaches and leagues are addressing the danger through rule changes, awareness and technology, to make it as safe as soccer or lacrosse. But many current and former NFL players have joined a growing chorus of people who say that flag football at an earlier age is the way to go.
“I don’t think there’s a real need for the tackling, the tackling drills, the high-impact on these young kids when their brains are getting developed at such a young age and early stage in their lives,” said Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz in a story on NJ.com. “The participation in tackle football will go down and the participation in flag football will go up.”
“I’m on the fence about it,” said flag football mom Kerrie Hartman. “I don’t know whether it’s better to start them young so that they learn it, to prevent the injuries, or if it’s better to stay with this until they’re bigger and stronger and more developed.
“But if you wait until 14 to play tackle football, will they learn enough? They’re learning all the drills, and to be quick with their feet … I think they’re learning what they need to be learning, but if they don’t get hit until they’re 13 or 14, is that a huge shock at that point? So I don’t know what the right answer is, but I feel more comfortable with this, at least. For now, I think this is perfect.”
It was hard to argue with that on a beautiful spring Sunday when children of all ages were carrying the flag – for football, and fun.
