(0:00) And joining us live in studio as well on First Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday is Alan Simpson. (0:05) Alan helps with the Town of Afton Youth Rec Department and had a big announcement last (0:10) year with the introduction of an official NFL flag football league, youth flag football, (0:17) and now they’re expanding that even more this year. (0:19) Alan, thanks for stepping in studio today.

(0:21) Yeah, thanks for having me. (0:23) Well, let’s start with that. (0:24) How did that initial offering go with the NFL making that transition and going official, (0:31) as it were? (0:31) Yeah, it was really, really well received by the community.

(0:35) I think we had over 200 participants, which was almost double what we usually have for (0:40) our fall flag football. (0:41) And so it was really awesome. (0:43) I think the kids really loved it.

(0:45) We got to see that the jerseys were cool. (0:48) They’re reversible jerseys that had the different NFL logos on it. (0:51) The official flags, which the kids loved, that were a little bit more high tech than (0:57) our typical Velcro flags.

(0:59) And so I think overall, it was really well received by the community and by the kids (1:04) that played. (1:05) Now, I had a son in the age to play, and so I was able to coach the Raiders. (1:11) And just like the Raiders, we had a struggling in the win column.

(1:14) But the kids had a blast for those reasons. (1:16) It felt like it felt just a little more kind of real, right? (1:21) And they loved the jerseys, even though they had to wear the black and silver, it was fine. (1:26) And no, it was a good time.

(1:28) I think it was a good first year overall, and participation seemed like it was that (1:33) way, too. (1:34) Yeah. (1:35) Yep.

(1:35) We had great numbers, and we had awesome coaches. (1:39) And sorry about the Raiders, that we couldn’t get you a W. We even tried to get you some (1:44) refs on your side and everything. (1:46) Coaching matters, man.

(1:47) Coaching matters. (1:48) That was the conclusion we drew at the end, is that the Raiders curse is more than just (1:53) in Vegas. (1:54) It’s very widespread.

(1:57) No, but the biggest feedback we got from last year was that they loved the NFL flag participation. (2:06) They loved how the league was set out. (2:09) But it was so gosh darn cold by the end of the season, right? (2:12) Yep.

(2:13) So the end of October, we were playing in snow, and it does get a little bit chilly, (2:17) especially for our younger players. (2:19) So we tried to listen to what people said, and we’re going to try a summer league this (2:25) year. (2:25) So kind of give us the timeline, obviously, wanting people to sign up and participate (2:31) through the summer.

(2:32) What’s the timeline for people right now that are like, oh yeah, sign me up. (2:36) I got kids to come and play. (2:38) How do I do it? (2:39) Yeah.

(2:39) So our registration deadline will be next Friday, and then we will have a couple days (2:44) after that where you can register late for an additional fee. (2:47) But if you just put in your calendar now that June 12th is the registration deadline, and (2:52) that can be done on our website, aftonwyoming.sportsites.com. (2:57) The games will run on Saturdays, so that’ll be July 11th through August 1st. (3:03) And I know that has ruffled some feathers to play on Saturdays.

(3:09) And so one of the reasons we’re doing this is softball has the fields on Wednesdays and (3:15) Thursdays, which is when we typically play or what we use for flag football. (3:20) So we reached out to the high school, and they are going to let us play on Braves Field, (3:24) which I think is really awesome. (3:26) So we’re going to be able to play flag football on the high school fields.

(3:30) But to do that, the day that they had available was Saturday. (3:34) So we will play on Saturdays, and that also gives us opportunities that we can run some (3:39) double headers and things as well. (3:41) So it might be a couple games on those Saturdays, and that will be in the morning.

(3:46) But those games will run from July 11th through August 1st. (3:51) And then this year, we are going to let the kids pick their own jerseys. (3:55) So the jerseys are reversible.

(3:57) And so we can kind of group teams by colors, or we can group them by divisions. (4:02) There’s different things we can do. (4:04) But when you go on and register, and it says pick your team, that just means your NFL team.

(4:08) So give us your top two choices. (4:11) This is a national league, and so when we order the jerseys, sometimes they’re in stock, (4:16) and sometimes they aren’t. (4:18) They’re getting orders from all over the country.

(4:20) So give us your top two teams that you’d like your kid to be on. (4:24) We also are offering, you can pay half the cost, and you can use your same jerseys and (4:30) flags from last year. (4:31) So if you are a super parent, and you know where your flags are from eight months ago, (4:39) then you can register your kid for half the cost of the typical registration fee.

(4:44) But I think it’s going to be awesome for the kids to play on Braves field. (4:49) They watch these high school athletes, they idolize them. (4:52) And for them to be able to play on that field, I think is going to be another fun added element (4:58) to this league.

(4:58) All right, so registration open right now for summer NFL flag football through the town (5:04) of Afton. (5:05) Alan, the jerseys are cool, that’s what all the kids talked about. (5:09) But what other benefits have come to this program, because it’s an NFL flag football (5:15) partnership? (5:15) There’s been quite a few.

(5:16) Yeah, so they have a pretty, they have it all worked out, all the kinks and everything. (5:21) So they have very specific yardage, and they have specific rules and things like that. (5:27) Whereas before, we were just kind of shooting from the hip and saying, this sounds like a (5:31) good rule for flag football.

(5:34) With NFL flag, they have a complete rule book, so everybody’s on the same page. (5:39) They have a thought out process that’s worked across the country, and that it’s worked really (5:44) well for our league last year. (5:47) Another thing that we are going to add this year, so last year we just had the coaches (5:52) kind of be the refs as well, and there were some exchanges between coaches about interpretation (5:59) of the rules.

(6:01) And one of the downfalls of a fall league, yeah, looking at you, Duke. (6:05) Yeah, yeah. (6:06) The Raiders got a Raider, man.

(6:07) The Raiders, exactly. (6:10) So one of the downfalls of the fall league is that we would normally get high schoolers (6:15) to come and ref, but where they’re all in football during that time, we weren’t able (6:19) to get refs. (6:20) And so this summer league, a great addition is going to be, we’re going to get some of (6:24) those high school football players to come in, and we’ll give them some training, and (6:28) then we’ll have them ref those older games, which I think will be a good thing for them.

(6:34) They can earn a little extra money, but it will also be a good thing for the league as (6:38) well. (6:39) Alan, when you look at this program five years down the road, what would you like to see (6:44) happen between now and then? (6:46) Yeah, I would love steady growth. (6:49) Steady growth, whether it be participants or just the level of play.

(6:54) One great thing about flag football is that it’s a complete non-contact sport. (6:59) So having been an undersized individual most of my life, football wasn’t always, for me, (7:08) on the contact side. (7:10) I went more of the golf route, but I still love the skill positions of football, right? (7:15) The throwing, the catching, the running.

(7:17) And that’s one thing that NFL flag football offers, is that it’s a non-contact sport. (7:23) You can come out and you can play those. (7:25) But the biggest thing I want to see from this sport is just that it continues to grow and (7:30) give the youth of Afton the opportunity to come out and have some fun and to play some (7:36) football.

(7:37) So you mentioned registration open. (7:38) Now remind us, how does a parent get their child registered, and what kind of fees are (7:43) they looking at? (7:44) Yeah. (7:44) So if you go to our website, it’s aftonwyoming.sportssite.com, the registration’s fairly easy.

(7:53) It’ll take you through a series of things. (7:56) The fee is $50, and that includes your shirt and your flags. (8:01) And then if you have flags and shirts from last year, then you can play for half the (8:06) cost for $25.

(8:07) So the registration deadline, again, is June 12th. (8:11) And yeah, we could get the fields on Saturdays. (8:15) So I know that Saturdays are precious, but it’ll be in the morning, so you’ll still (8:19) have the bulk of your Saturday.

(8:21) And it’s a time that you can come out and watch some football, and you won’t have (8:25) to be bundled under 25 blankets, and your kids won’t get frostbite. (8:30) And the thing is, we’re hoping to transition more into the summer league. (8:35) And so we aren’t guaranteeing a fall league this year.

(8:39) We’ll see where our numbers are. (8:40) But if you really want your kid to play flag football, we encourage you to sign up for (8:44) the summer league. (8:45) So still could have a fall league, but just not sure yet.

(8:48) Yep, exactly. (8:49) All right. (8:50) Allen Simpson in studio this morning, NFL flag football through the town of Afton.

(8:53) Registration open right now for a few more days. (8:55) Allen, anything we missed about this program you want to mention? (8:58) One last thing is that it was kind of a big process to set this up, and now that it’s (9:04) set up in the Valley, it’s quite the service. (9:06) So even Bear Lake, if you want to come down and play, we’ll take you.

(9:11) Last year we had kids from Cokeville all the way to Alpine that came down and played. (9:16) There’s a specific insurance that we have to buy, but luckily it’s covered for a year. (9:23) And so we’re able to use that same insurance, which will help us get some of the extra equipment (9:28) and things that we need.

(9:30) Also, NFL flag is really awesome about sending us football. (9:34) So for every five kids that register, they send us a football. (9:37) And so we’re hoping with this league, as we accrued some extra footballs, that we can (9:41) do some drawings and things and get some of those footballs into kids’ homes and get (9:46) them out to the kids in the community.

(9:48) So lots of cool things that will happen with this program, and we just encourage you to (9:52) get on and register. (9:53) All right. (9:54) AftonWyoming.SportsSites.com? (9:56) Yeah.

(9:56) Is that right? (9:57) Perfect. (9:58) All right. (9:58) It’s NFL flag football registration open right now happening this summer.

(10:01) It’s 1st Bank of Wyoming Sports Friday on the SVI Radio Network.