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Registration is now open for the 2020 Houma/Thibodaux Flag Football season.
“It’s the safest place to understand the game of football, especially on the offense, without a contact sport and without fear of injury for your child,” said Louisiana State Representative Bryan Fontenot, who runs the league.
In the Houma-Thibodaux area for over ten years now, Fontenot said the sport’s popularity has grown since the league was established, recalling when they first started playing at Nicholls State University the games took place on three fields and the organization had 150 participants. Now, the league gets between 500-600 players every season and uses 12 fields, he said.
“I think that families and parents see the value in understanding the game, especially from an offensive standpoint,” he continued, “that’s a non-contact sport, and it’s extremely competitive.”
The 5-on-5 league has teams consisting of boys and girls grouped by ages: 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12.
Sanctioned by the NFL, the league has teams that go once every year to compete at the New Orleans Saints training camp for a regional tournament, Fontenot said, and the winners of that tournament — players and coaches — get a free trip to a national tournament during the week of the Super Bowl.
“We’ve had several teams over the years that have won regional tournaments and have went on to participate in a national tournament,” he continued.
This upcoming season, there will be new safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fontenot explained, such as teams being responsible for bringing their own seating for the sidelines, as opposed to group benching; not having community water coolers; having smaller teams, less games and sanitizers available; among other protocols.
“We’re just trying to accommodate to be able to have children have these extracurricular activities while still being able to follow some [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines,” he said.
The season is scheduled to start the second week of September and planned on being finished by the first weekend of November, Fontenot said. Games are played on Saturdays at Nicholls.
The registration includes an NFL jersey of whichever team the player represents and is $80 per child. The deadline to sign up is August 7, Fontenot said.
More information can be found at http://thibodauxflagfootball.com/.
“[Flag football] teaches the game of football from an offensive standpoint,” Fontenot added. “It obviously teaches the camaraderie and teamwork and building that children develop at a young age — and at a much lower risk than participating in contact football.”
