Editor's Note: This story was previously posted on StratfordToday.ca.
Registration is now open for the spring season of Huron Perth Flag Football (HPFF), which now will include a division for adults.
Entering its sophomore season, the HPFF is now expanding its membership to an adult league to join the youth league that exceeded expectations last year.
“The season went really well, we had lots of kids sign up and lots of businesses supporting the league which ensured we had enough equipment for everyone,” said David Levinson, a co-operator of the league with his partner Mélanie. “We ended up with 95 kids, so we had eight to ten teams in multiple age groups competing for eight weeks finishing with a championship.”
The league, which runs sessions that last an hour and a half, allowed participants to learn skills for half the time before playing a game for the other 45 minutes, and it was through that time that players put those learned skilled to use.
“The growth of the kids throughout the course of the season was incredible; seeing them start where many never played football or knew any of the rules to fast forward eight weeks later and the progress was really good,” Levinson said. “We got a lot of comments from parents about the positivity and the camaraderie of the teams.”
It was that feedback that has led to the league now expanding into an adults league which will start in the spring.
“We had comments from parents asking if we were going to start an adult league, or that they would be interested in playing if we started one,” said Levinson. “We had been talking about starting the adult league for a bit, but we wanted to make sure we got the kids league up and running. We have already gotten a bunch of registrations, but we are hoping to get enough people to run five, six, or more teams.”
Games will take place Friday night for adults and Saturday morning for kids at the Exeter Community Soccer Fields. The cost to participate is $150 but all equipment will be provided.
“We supply the flags, and people can bring their cleats if they have some, but they are not required,” said Levinson.
Businesses have been getting in on the excitement by providing donations, and helping to keep costs down for players. The 18-plus league will be a co-ed league.
“To me all the business support just shows that there is a huge interest from the community,” said Levinson. “One of our goals as a league is to obviously teach the skills of the game, but to also teach sportsmanship, positivity and community. We ran community fundraisers, and we donated to local food banks in towns throughout Huron and Perth. So not only do we have an outlet to play the game, at an affordable price, but we also give back to our local communities.”