Week one of Men's Softball

Team has a new name.....Mature Rage. To start off the season we drew first draw on a team, the Wreckers, that was in the Metro tournament last season and few of on the team had played them last season. It started out one particular guy kept hammering it over the fence. Well the only get one HR in this league and the next are outs. I still don't know why this "stacked" team is in the division. Anyway we lost the game 19-10.

Second game was pretty interesting and had a dramatic ending. We went up against a team called Hit-n-Run, they had won their first game blowing out a team and I though we were in for another battle. This game was a battle to the end. The first innings we jumped on them for 9 runs and after three innings it was 9-6. Fourth and Fifth innings both teams managed to get a few runs. Going into the top of the sixth its was 13-11, US. By the time we got up to bat the score was 17-13 and looking very grim, but we were able to pull it off and win 18-17. There pitching became the problem and we were able to get base hits and walks.

Softball season is here

Taking a break from flag football. I think Flag football spring season starts up in April. Now is the time for some Softball, adult style.

I currenlt running two teams, a mens and coed. The coed team is called AccuTech. We had our first game this past sunday and we endedup losing 15-5. A total of 18 errors, unbelievable. Outfield had a hard time judging the wind on the ball since it was very breezy. Anyway, we will rip it off seven straight wins for the remaining season. The coed team looks sharp with the new uniforms.

The mens team, FNIS, is my company's team. This is the 1st year we dropped down into a lower bracket to be more competetive. the upper divisional teams where just wailing on us last year. Hopefully we will come out the gate slammin. So much for that thought, already have a couple of people quit the team due to contraints, but i filled them up with my coed team memebers. Tonight is our first game, 855pm, amn that is a long time to wait to play.

Top 10 Sports Rituals

Per AskMen.com

10. Stomping on an opposing team's midfield logo. Thanks to the "U" for starting the trend back in the 90s.

9. Chicago Bulls opening player introductions.
8. "God Bless America" at Yankees stadium
7. Gatorade bath
6. Playoff beards in the NHL
5. "Take me out to the ball game" at Wrigley field.
4. Hat Trick in the NHL
3. SCRIPT OHIO by "the best damn band in the land"
2. Detriot Redwings octopus thrown onto the ice.

1. All Blacks Haka dance.





Missing the cut:
Lambeau Leap
Sweet Caroline at Fenway

Leagues Playoffs and Signups are Looming

The winter season is winding down with playoffs in several leagues such as.... 4on4 of Jax, Jax Beach Rec League, Creeks Athletic Association and i9 Sports. Over the weekend I will update the playoff picture in these leagues.


Since the Winter leagues are coming to a close that mean signups begin in March for Spring Flag Football. Two significant youth leagues, i9 and the YMCA NFL Youth, will be kicking off the signup around the first week in March. If you are considering coaching youth and have never done it, here are some things to consider to run your team:

1. field markers/or cones
2. play calling wrist bands for 10-15 y/o
3. extra footballs
4. coach's laminated placard
5. first aid kit
6. Coach's whistle

I used the cones to set up my drills and sometimes half the field for scrimmages.

The play calling wrist band, I think is an effective tool for youth. I usually have two wrist bands for the players; 1 for the QB and 1 for the hot WR. My playbook is color coded so that the players understand what patterns they are running and who is in motion. Color codes I use are; Red for #1 WR, Blue for #2 WR, Green for #3 WR, Orange for Center and Purple for QB. If you draw out the routes in color it reduces time in the huddle. I usually have the same placard so that way i can call the plays for them, for instance. I can say "RED 7 or BLUE 1" . That means the QB will run play # 7 and the "Hot" WR will be the color red and he or she should get the ball.

First Aid kit is a biggie. Recently i had one of my players break his wrist during a tournament. So you can get a good first aid kit for about $20-30 at a Target or Wal-mart. Believe me you will need it.

In the next couple of days I will be posting some of my practice drills and plays.

Day #2 Let it Fly

So this was it, I told the kids "win and your in the playoffs, lose and we go home." Our first game was going to be very physical, We had to play the Longhorns, a traveling team that came from Dallas. They were 0-2 and were looking to play lights out. Started out with Tyler at QB and two quick plays they were in the endzone. So they go up 7-0. After a 3-n-out for the longhorns. Tyler got them to score again, up 13-0. Another 3-n-out for the longhorns. So as the Spartans were driving towards a TD. Kevin went up for a pass in the endzone with two defenders and came down onto his wrist breaking it. With this news of Kevin being hurt, the boys lit it up on the Longhorns winning the game 26-6.

In the playoffs we were scheduled to meet the Eagles, a team from Wolfson HS. Apparently they were scared as they didn't show up for the game. Spartans 6 Eagles 0...Forfiet! In the semi-finals the Spartans were facing a team that was called the "Geek Squad". They had the Geek Squad logo and was a team comprised of Orange Park HS kids. The Spartans started out flat and the Geek Squad were throwing quick strikes and soon they were up 23-0 at half time. The Spartans gathered themselves and played defense and the offense kicked in.Before you knew the Spartans were up 25-23 with less than 2 minutes to play. Remember the game either stops at 28 pts or times up. The Geek Squad were driving and all the Spartans had to do was stop the 3rd down play from them getting a first. What happen was they got the first down but flag guarding was called by one ref and the main ref didnt see it and the kid went into the endzone. game over. After arguing with the ref, it didnt matter what the other ref saw. he said he was the main ref and the call was final. In the end first tournament that these kids played in and they ended up in 3rd place.

Day #1 Let it Fly

To start off the bracket had eight teams placed into 4 team pools. Here were the teams in our pool: Team Next, Longhorns and "?". The first team that the Spartans tangled with was the team called "?". This team was comprised of high school kids from the Bishop Kenny. The team was very tall. They had a few kids over 6'3". Anyway, game got underway and ended being a scoreless first half. The second half starts out the other team scores 6pts but fails to score the xtra point. With the game winding down, the Spartans scored a td and score the xtra point. So the score is 7-6 Spartans, less than a minute is on the clock and the other team is running a hurry up offense. I had to argue with the refs on the "?" team offense because they wern't set and were offsides. The other ref called it but didnt have a whistle. So they restarted the play and we were able to hold on in the last few minutes.

The second game was a blow out. The team called Camp Next were comprised of kids from Fleming Island HS. Apparently these kids have been playing together since the age of eight. Alot of the calls didnt go our way and we did lose 28-7. It was the first time the kids lost in over a year, so it was painful for them.

So 1-1 for the day, the next game was a real challenge. I will get to that tomorrow.

Let it Fly Tourney

Well it has been awhile since the last post, work has been killing me plus the fact that I was trying to rearrange the blog into three columns. Now that is complete, the Let it Fly 4on4 tourney rolls into Jax today. I have to attend the pre-event meeting over at Orange Park Mall to pick up the brackets and other stuff. I did have to "iron" out an issue with the Let it Fly personnel on the age requirements for the youth. The website has one requirement age while the local sponsor flyer had a different age. After a few phone calls, my wife straighten them out, so now they are playing in the 16 y/o bracket.

The youth team, Oakleaf Spartans, is gelling pretty good. There are five players on the team; 2 from Orange Park HS, 1 from Middleburg HS, 1 from Bishop Snyder and 1 from Forrest. Basically I have two great QBs and some quick receivers. So far we have had three practices, each practice we had a decent scrimmage with players that were older then they were. The last scrimmage was against men in there late 20s, who are also playing in the tourney, and they held their hold against them. The jerseys for the team look great, so I thank the sponsors for their support. Recently one of the sponsors had her grand opening of her store, PostNET. So I gathered 4 of the 5 memebers of the team and had them at the opening with their jerseys on. It was really nice, the sponsor their had Jaxson DeVille, Jax Jaguars Mascot, out at her opening as well. So the team had some great photo shots with the sponsor, Jaxson DeVille and ate some good grub before taking off.

Lastly, on other leagues. I did gather some notes for the Upward Youth Flag Football league and will be posting this information after the tournament.

USFTL Nationals Tragedy

During the MLK weekend you can bet that the U. S. Flag & Touch league finals are held every year in Orlando. This is the 37th event gets bigger every year, from the midwest to the northeast and even into Canada, teams make their pilgrimage to the Nationals to compete for who is the best. This years event catered to 285 teams in different flag football formats and age divisions.

However lets take a step back and think what is flag football. In my opinion, it's a bunch of people or friends getting together and playing the game for passion. There is no need for tackle because we all did the physical thing in pop warner, high school or college. This is a game where the weekend warriors can come out, throw the pigskin around and relive those days by just pulling flags instead of tackling someone.

This weekend became a tragedy for one of those weekend warriors at the USFTL Nationals. One of the players on the New Orleans Hitmen team had taken a block or some people would consider, a cheap shot. The player laid there motionless, some say that there was CPR taking place to revive the man and some say not. However the severity of the injury there was no medical personnel on site to attend the injured player. It was approximately 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived to transport the injured player to the hospital. As teams would huddle together and say prayers for the injured warrior, the worst was yet to come. The injured player was taken to the local hospital and was rushed into the OR for spinal surgery. After a successful surgery was completed, family and friends came to learn that the injured player was on a ventilator and was suffering paralysis from the neck down.

News of the tragedy went rampant the next day during the tournament. Blame was being set on the event coordinator for not having medical personnel at such a large event and referees were getting the same attention because of not enforcing the rules that are cleary stated in the rule book concerning "contact." The finger pointing still continues today, however a player, father and husband still lays motionless in the hospital bed in Florida. Who will pay for his medical bills? His life style from here on out? Yeah, I know, we all sign the waiver form to play but then again McDonalds still continues to get sued for hot coffee with the warning labels. With such a large event, medical personnel should have been coordinated. There were several other minor injuries at the tournament in which medical personnel could have treated on site as well. One of the emergency room doctors at the local hospital was completely appalled to the fact that no medical personnel was on site. Alot of money was made at this event, 285 teams time a minimum of $250 a team.....you figure the math, a good portion of that money should have been weighed in this event.

Now, could this be the down fall of the USFTL? Some say yes, with a pending lawsuit. This lawsuit could border along the line of criminal negligence. I just know that there is a meltdown on the USFTL message boards discussing flag football issues of "contact." One thing is for sure the the community of flag football players are stepping up with prayers and donations to help out the injured player.

Lastly, the champions:

"A" Flag - DOMINION from Upper Marlboro, MD
"B" Flag - TIME OUT from Cleveland, Oh
"C" Flag - DOGS from Chicago, Ill
9-man Ineligible "A" Flag - HAWKS from Tampa, Fl
8-man Ineligible "B" Flag - ISP BULLS from Long Island, NY
7-man Screen Flag - PALMETTO BUGS from Greenville, SC
8-woman Contact Flag - DAWKSPORTS LADIES from Toronto, Canada
7-woman Screen Flag - VIKINGS from Montreal, Canada
CO-ED Flag - BUZZ KILL/MEAN MACHINE from Nashville, TN
35&Over 8-man Flag - LEGENDS IN ACTION from Cleveland,Oh
5on5 Flag - ROCKY TOP from Jax, Fl
4on4 "A" Flag - GOOSE CREW from Miami, Fl
4on4 "B" Flag - ESS from Miami, Fl
4on4 35&older Flag - GET A GRIP from Jax, Fl
Youth U15 Flag - MO STEEL from Miami, Fl
Youth U13 Flag - LONGHORNS from Houston, Tx

Jacksonville Beach Park&Rec League

I’ve spoken with one of the founding owners on this league in the past few days. Jimmy Wilkins, an East Carolina grad and a long time resident of Jacksonville brought his passion of the game to the Beach. He worked closely with Jax Beach Parks & Rec to form the league over 17 years ago. To this day, it has become one of the sought after leagues for players to be associated with.

The “Jax Beach League” is a winter league that operates in a 7v7 format. The season starts up in late November through mid-February and conducts single elimination playoffs at the end of the season. No matter what your record may be in the standings, every team is invited to the dance. Each team plays at least two games a week making it a 17-game season for league teams. Currently, there are 48 teams in the league with over 500 participants playing at the Beach. The teams are broken up into divisions; A, B, and C divisions. The A division is the most competitive and is comprised of 8 teams that is broken into two sub divisions, the AFC and NFC. The top three teams are Parlaid(9-0), R.J Gators(8-1), and MoonSpiders(7-3). The B division is also comprised of 8 teams that is broken up into two subdivision; ACC and SEC. The top three teams are BackinBlack(9-2), The Evolution(7-4), and Smart Guys(7-4). The C division is where it all begins. Whether you are a couch potato or reliving your high football days, C division can be your cup of tea. The C division is comprised of 32 teams that is broken up into four divisions; PAC10, PACK10, Big10 and Big12. I guess now I can see why the board committee named the B subdivisions, ACC and SEC, better conferences much like in college football. However that is another argument to discuss since I am a die-hard Buckeye. Anyway, the top four teams in C division are; PACK10-Motivation(10-1), Big12-Philly’s Finest(9-1), Big10-Joe’s Crab Shack(9-1), and Pac10-Touchdown Club(9-2). Good luck to all teams in the playoffs.

“There are some great rival games played in this league. You get the occasional trash talk but it’s all friendly in nature. Plus, some teams scout out the other teams for their next game. It’s a great league” said Jimmy Wilkins.

I also asked him if Flag Football is a growing sport in NE Florida. “I think so; Jacksonville has a huge following of players that still want to compete. We even had some “real” football players compete in some games; a notable Jacksonville Jaguar player, a couple of Gator WRs and some quality division 1 college QBs in Florida” said Wilkins.

So if you are looking for some great 7v7 competition, hit the beach league during the Fall/Winter season. Fields are located at Wingate Park off of South Penman rd.

Flag Football….Get Some!

New Sponsor

Well my travel team has a new sponsor, PostNET. The owner is great and she is also excited as well with the flag football team. All the players will meet the sponsor on her grand opening coming up Feb. The team is comprised of several players from different HS in the area; three from OPHS, two from MHS and one from BSHS. Three of the players I have coached during the NFL Youth Flag football season and one surprise player is a QB that played on JV at his local HS that went undefeated during their last season. So it should be very interesting for the upcoming tournament.

The research continues on the area adult/youth leagues. I interviewed one founder of the Jacksonville Beach Parks & Rec Flag Football league yesterday. The next Blog will detail that interview. A few more adult leagues have come onto my radar and they run the 4v4 style; JAXSPORTS and 4on4ofJax.

Sponsorship for Flag Football team

I have been out searching for sponsorships for youth flag football and let me tell you its is hard to compete against the regular sports teams such as football/softball/baseball. So for a sponsorship, I research the local companies in the area and targeted the ones I thought would be a good fit for flag football. So I made up a package of sort to give to the owners or management personnel who I was trying to sell the idea of a sponsorship. In this package I had wrote up a nice proposal explaining the idea of a sponsorship, the tournament that I was entering the team into and the benefits that a sponsor would receive. Also included was an invoice of the cost of jerseys, tournament fees and expenses, which were negotiable.

So I hit up a restaurant in the local area and sat down and sold the idea to the restaurant manager. After about 30 minute sales pitch, he said he was wrapped up into other league organizations that dealt with baseball/softball and couldn't fund "another" team in the local area. He did gave me some creative options to get funding. So I tried another place, a brand new postage/mail store. I think this place had only been opened for a week, but I went in anyway. So at first I asked the owner about sponsoring a youth team and right away she couldn't fund a team. Before turning back around, I explain to hear that it wasn't any major baseball/softball or football team with 15 players, I told hear it was about a traveling flag football team with only six players. That perked her ears and she then listen to the proposal. So after about 30 minutes we were discussing team uniforms and that she had a contact to get a better price. Everything is looking good, she explained to me that the grand opening is in two weeks and will have "Jaxson de Ville" out for her grand opening. I pitched also about having "her" sponsored flag football team at the event as well. Well leaving her work, I felt good about the sponsorship, I will have a definite answer come Tuesday.

Here is the NFL Youth Flag Football video

Area leagues

Over the next few weeks leading up to the Let-it-Fly tournament in Feb, I will scope out the adult/youth flag football leagues in the surrounding Jax area. This includes leagues in Duval, Clay and St Johns counties.

To start off, I will look at the Westside Flag Football league. This league is located on the westside of Jax. After talking with some of the coaches this is the second year of running a flag football league. The first year was growing pains, but I think they are headed in the right direction. I decided not to enroll my step-son into this league due to not enough interest in the U15 age bracket. Besides I think he is interested in the upcoming tourney.