Vince James has played, coached and directed PAAL football in Columbus, and he sees the numbers taking a downturn.
So a few years ago, James started a flag football league. He’s not trying to compete with tackle football, but rather provide a complement to help kids develop their games.
“It is geared toward teaching those skills that the kids need to play on the high school level,” James said. “They’re not tackling, but they’re getting the skills that unfortunately kids who play tackle don’t get. The hope is that more and more kids will want to be introduced into the game, play it and love it and then want to play tackle.”
Only about seven kids are on a flag football team, and six play at one time. The flag football leagues are more passing oriented, allowing players to do more passing and catching than in a tackle league.
This year, the South Central Indiana Flag Football League that James operates will be part of UnderArmour’s “Brothers In Arms” program, which is led by former NFL players. Columbus and Elkhart are the only two cities in Indiana who are part of that program.
“They’re about quality vs. quantity,” James said. “The emphasis is more on competitive play. It’s more of, ‘Let’s do what the high schools would like to see us do.’ If (the kids) want to do it, you’re going to have a kid who’s better prepared to go to the next level and play high school football. You’re going to have more kids who are skilled and developed when you have something like this.”
James is planning to have elementary and middle school leagues and eventually a high school league in the spring. Elementary kids also would play in the fall, along with middle school and high school girls.
The tentative start for the spring leagues is first of April. Games will be played on Sunday afternoons for seven weeks at Central Middle School and Columbus East and Columbus North High Schools. League champions earn an invitation to play in the national tournament in August at Notre Dame Stadium.
The middle school league is open to players from surrounding counties.
“We’re wanting to make this a flag football club,” James said. “We want to include as many teams and kids as we possibly can. We will be hopefully a hub where people will come here and play flag football.”
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South Central Indiana Flag Football will hold a camp from 5:30 to 8 p.m. March 30 to April 2 at a location to be determined for the Coed Spring competitive-developmental league.
The league will feature a seven-game regular-season at Central Middle School. The league champion will qualify to play in the Under Armour National Tournament in August at Notre Dame Stadium.
To register, visit columbus@uaflagfootball.com. For more information on the camp or league, contact Vince James at 812-927-0495 or vejames@sbcglobal.net.
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