The NFL Youth Flag Football League has officially rolled out this week, with the teams in Richmond Hill getting their season start on Sunday afternoon.

The day served as an official ‘Meet and Greet’ for teams, as well as the first official practice of the new season. 

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to meet new faces this season, as well as welcome back some I already know,” middle school head coach Gerald Gibbons said. “I love seeing everyone be involved in the sport.”

“I look forward to helping them strive to be the best versions of themselves. I’m a very proud father and coach and very thankful for the opportunity to help young kids and teach them this game.”

The flag football league in Richmond Hill is just one of nine total leagues in the state of Georgia, and the only league that is based in south Georgia. 

Teams are composed of 10-12 participants per team, with multiple teams in each division that they play in. 

With 28 total teams in Bryan County alone, it’s safe to say that there are a lot of athletes that are interested in flag football in the area. 

“There are way more teams than we had last year,” middle school flag coach Darrell Thomas said. “We only had four teams in the middle school division last season. They doubled that number this year and there are 8 total teams now.”

The middle school division is known as the ‘Madden’ division, and it is the division Thomas won the championship in last season. There are also four teams in the Madden division for 4th/5th grade athletes.

The grade levels begin in Pre-K and extend out to 8th grade. There are six teams in the Pre-K through 1st grade division, known as the ‘Lombardi’ division and two teams in the ‘Shula’ division, which is 2nd/3rd grade. 

League games will run for the next eight Sundays in a row, with games beginning at 12 p.m, and wrapping up the last games of the day at 5 p.m.