Author Archives: bajram.bunardziu

By Bajram Bunardziu

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l0QhJ1PJwTiu6YkHuOGeBdo77Fgm_OBSwGyavg3gy74/edit?usp=sharing

Flag Football is a game that is growing in the United States, based off its similarities to football has really become popular throughout the country.
There are many reasons for the growth of flag football over the years, but the one that seems to get kid’s attention the most is the fact you get to do a lot of the same things on the football field as your favorite player in an NFL game without someone trying to knock you out. The same reasoning is also an opinion shared by many parents, and Bleranda Marku a mother of a player in the United Sports Youth League (USYL) said the following in agreeing with the statement, “I like the fact that my son can run around, play a fast and exciting game without him getting hit by giants. He is only 70 pounds in the seventh grade!”

With concussions being such a big topic in the NFL the last several years, parents have taken an approach to encourage their kids to find a new sport to play that is less violent. But just as the NFL is the most popular league in the country currently, kids still want to be like Peyton Manning or Calvin Johnson, and in this sport you can be just like them.
Flag football leagues have also grown a great deal over the last few years. According to Greg Janvier, president of the USYL, more kids are participating in playing flag football now than ever before, “I do not know if it is completely related to the rise in awareness in concussions, but more and more kids are joining. It is great to see the kids still play a competitive game, have a lot of fun doing it, and when it is all said and done, they can look back and say, I remember playing flag football when I was younger, almost in the same way I personally can say I remember playing football when I was their age.”

According to Mr. Janvier he believes another reason why the game is growing is the fact the game encourages more quick and athletic kids to play. A kid who plays basketball during the winter and summer time, can now use a lot of those similar skill sets to play flag football during their offseason without anywhere close to as much of an injury risk as regular football is. Arman Qoku, 8, a player for USYL also plays soccer on Staten Island for another league says, “The game is a lot of fun because just like in soccer, you have to run a lot, and I like to run. Plus it is easier to score touchdowns, and that’s a lot of fun!”

Another reason Mr. Janvier says the game is great because you do not need coaches who have had football experience in their past to make the game enjoyable for kids. Most of the coaches in his league only needed to pass a level one flag football test on usafootball.com to become a registered coach. This allows the coaches to learn the basic fundamentals of the game, while also learning how to properly call plays in the huddle with their teams. Coaches then for the most part put their own little wrinkle on the game. “You could really have a lot of fun calling plays with your team because nothing you do is really traditional to what you see on TV every Saturday or Sunday,” Albion Markos, coach of the 11-13 year old division in USYL said, “You could play two teams who love to run the football and go about it completely different ways, or a team who loves throwing it every play. It makes each week interesting and a lot of fun because you never know who you will see that game, which leads to some interesting matchups.”

Flag football for the most part is being play in the elementary school to junior high school level, but there has been such a huge surge in popularity of the game that now the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) has a flag football league for the girls to play during the spring semester of the school year. The league started flag football in 2011, and has grown to where nearly all of the public schools in NYC currently have a flag football team. “It is a fun game for the girls to play especially when you have a bunch of real good athletes who are just as competitive as the boys and feel they can kick the boys’ butts if given the chance.” Bashkim Pelinkovic, head coach of Susan E. Wagner’s flag football team said, “It is the closest opportunity they have to play a game that is a lot of fun, because girls also like the game too, so why not have a chance to play it. Some of their brothers play on the football team, so they like to brag when they score a touchdown in a game and their brother hasn’t.”

It is a growing game with the potential to have longevity due to its constant developing popularity. It is a game that has the potential to progress into one of the most popular recreational games in the entire country.

Mike Scotti, the ultimate community man, is now the president of the Staten Island Boys Football League. His dedication to the league for 22 years makes him the ideal person to be the new president of the league.