OVERVIEW
Spring Flag Football is designed for any athlete looking for a fun activity in Preschool through 12th Grade! The goal for this program is to improve the athlete's knowledge in the game of football along with providing a recreational activity to stay active during the Spring season.

AGE DIVISIONS
Coed PreK & KG Girls Division
Kindergarten/1st Grade Boys Division
1st-3rd Grade Girls Division
2nd Grade/3rd Grade Boys Division
4th-6th Grade Girls Division
4th/5th Grade Boys Division
6th Grade - 8th Grade Boys Division
7th - 12th Grade Girls Division
9th Grade - 12th Grade Boys Division

EVALUATIONS
Evaluations will be held on Sunday, March 9th. Your athlete should wear comfortable clothing and athletic shoes (no cleats) to evaluations since we will be indoors. Please bring a water bottle labeled with your child's name.

Sunday, March 9, 2025 | Location: Avon Intermediate School West Gymnasium
2:00pm: 6th Grade - 8th Grade Boys Division, 9th Grade - 12th Grade Boys Division, and 7th - 12th Grade Girls Division
3:15pm: Coed PreK & KG Girls Division, Kindergarten/1st Grade Boys Division, and 1st/2nd Grade Girls Division
4:30pm: 2nd/3rd Grade Boys Division and 3rd/4th Grade Girls Division
5:45pm: 4th/5th Grade Boys Division and 5th/6th Grade Girls Division

AYS SPRING FLAG FOOTBALL TIMELINE
March 9, 2025: Evaluations

March 18, 2025: You will receive an email notification that your athlete has been rostered to a team.

Week of April 8, 2025: Practices are tentatively scheduled to begin (after Spring Break)

April 13, 2025: Games begin on or around this date (after Spring Break)

June 1, 2025: Season ends.

COST
Early Bird Pricing - Register 01/06/25 –02/02/25
Coed PreK & KG Girls Division: $99.00*
All Other Divisions: $115.00*

Register 02/03/25 –03/02/25 *Girls 1st - 12th Grade Divisions: deadline extended to March 8th at 5:00pm*
Coed PreK & KG Girls Division: $124.00
All Other Divisions: $144.00

*Early Bird Discount will auto apply at check-out during the dates listed above*

REGISTRATION
Registration for Spring 2025 Flag Football opens on January 6, 2024.
Regular Registration closes at midnight on March 2, 2025.

PRACTICES, GAMES AND TOURNAMENT
Practices will be held (at minimum) once a week beginning at 5:30pm and ending around 8:30pm. Practices will tentatively begin in early April at Cedar Elementary.

Games will be played on Wednesdays and Sundays at Cedar Elementary. Games on Wednesdays will begin at 6:30pm, and the final game of the evening will start around 7:20pm. Sunday games begin at 2:00pm, with the final game of the evening beginning at 5:15pm. Games are 40 minutes in duration.

While the league's primary goal is to ensure our athletes have fun, we also want to encourage proper sportsmanship through learning how to win and lose. Therefore, a single elimination tournament will be played at the end of the season to determine the League Champion for all divisions except for the Coed PreK & KG Girls Division.

COACHING
We are always looking for coaches! If you didn't note in your child's registration that you'd like to coach, you can log back into your account and volunteer to be a Head Coach or Assistant Coach utilizing the Volunteer tab.

GEAR REQUIRED
1. AYS will provide jerseys that the athlete can keep.
2. AYS will have flags and flag belts as part of the equipment located at each field for each athlete's use. These flags and flag belts will stay part of AYS equipment for use in upcoming seasons.
3. Players must wear shoes. Football cleats are encouraged, but NO cleats with exposed metal are allowed.
4. Players may wear gloves, elbow pads, and kneepads (optional).

HOW IS FLAG DIFFERENT FROM TACKLE?

• No lineman or blocking. The center snaps the ball and becomes a receiver. All forms of contact are forbidden. Any attempt to block or shield an opponent is a penalty.
  
  
• Down and Distance. Each team has 4 plays to advance the ball past midfield. Once crossing midfield and being awarded a first down the team has 4 plays to advance the ball over the goal line. Failure to gain a first down or failure to score results in a turnover.

•  No Run Zone. Depending on the set of rules being enforced, a no run zone prevents teams from conducting run plays. While in no-run zones teams cannot run the ball in any fashion beyond the LOS. All plays must be pass plays. According to the USA Football’s rules the no-run zone is a 5-yard imaginary zone before each endzone. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) also includes no-run zones within 5-yards on each side of midfield.

•  Blitzer. Defenders who blitz the quarterback must line up at least 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. All blitzers must be self-identified by raising one hand in the air. It is illegal for any offensive player to impede the path of the blitzer at any time.

WHY THE EXTRA LANGUAGE AROUND BLITZING THE PASSER?
Blitzing is one aspect of Flag Football that is relatively unique compared to Tackle. While the rules of Tackle are fairly well established, blitzing rules in Flag have continued to evolve to minimize player collisions, increase fair play, and improve the officiating around that aspect of the game. Blitzers have always had the right of way to the QB, and by raising the hand and signaling, it notifies (and reminds) both the offense and the officials of that right of way. It should also help reduce collisions between the blitzer and receivers. The additional language also helps ensure that this defensive strategy is not abused by specifying what a blitzer can and cannot do. Furthermore, our blitzing rules are now in direct alignment with USA Football and IFAF rules, and accommodations are still in place for the younger divisions.

WHY THE EXTRA LANGUAGE AROUND FLAG GUARDING?
The "flag" in Flag Football is key to how the game is played compared to Tackle. Pulling a ball carrier's flag is the only legal means of stopping a play. As Flag Football continues to grow, ball carriers are developing enhanced, legal means of evading a flag pull.  Nonetheless, flag guarding has always been and is still strictly enforced. The modified language in the Spring 2025 rules hopefully makes it clearer, for both the ball carriers and the officials, what is legal and what is not.

CAN THE QB RUN THE BALL? IS THE QB SNEAK LEGAL?
The quarterback is the player who directly receives the snap from the center. Therefore, no, the QB sneak is not legal. The rules on this have not changed. Where there has been ambiguity is whether the player who receives a legal handoff from the QB is eligible to run and/or pass the ball. The rules on this have not changed either, but hopefully they are now clearer. Any player who receives a handoff or pass from the QB or ball carrier behind the LOS is eligible to run or pass the ball.

CAN THE QB PASS OR TOSS THE BALL TO A PLAYER BEHIND THE LOS?
Yes, and the updated rules are intentionally more explicit on this point. This has been a gray area and in the past. Reading the USA Football / IFAF rules, there's surprisingly ambiguity there too. In revising our rules, player safety was considered from multiple angles. In the end, the revised language now allows the Flag offense, with some exceptions, to operate the same as a Tackle offense. Handoffs, tosses, pitches, and passes behind the LOS are legal. Blocking and running with the ball carrier is still illegal, and there are still no laterals allowed beyond the LOS. The 7-second passer clock is also still in effect.