Flag football underway after delay
By Sam Waller
The Albany NFL Flag Football League got off to a belated start Tuesday with more than 100 elementary students participating on 12 teams in three age divisions.
League organizer Anthony Ceder said the goal of the program is to provide a positive, Christian experience for participants and instill a sense of community unity.
“Football is such a big destination point sports-wise in Albany,” Ceder said. “We want to get them participating and doing what they will eventually do as they progress through sports.”
The league has a six-week season with games on Saturdays at the Albany High School baseball field.
Action was supposed to have begun last Saturday, but was postponed because of wet conditions. Tuesdays will be makeup dates if games cannot be played as scheduled.
The regular season will end Nov. 5 with a Super Bowl Weekend scheduled for Nov. 12.
Ceder said the program has enjoyed good retention over the years, and the league’s viability is because of the number of volunteers who help coach.
“I’m just really pleased with the men and women who have stepped up to lead,” he said. “They’re all people who have demonstrated great compassion and care for young people.”
Teams and coaches for the kindergarten and first grade division are Rams (Mackenzie Viertel), Titans (Sam Balliew), Seahawks (Gus Granados), and Packers (Zach Maberry).
Teams and coaches for the second and third grade division are TCU (Jacey Shack), Texas A&M (Dan Key), Texas Tech (Joe Tidwell), and Texas Longhorns (Steven Sutton).
Teams and coaches for the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade division are Chiefs (Matt Bellah), Buccaneers (Dan Key), Cowboys (Joe Tidwell), and Cardinals (Morgan Smith).
