The Tiger Flag Football league began this year with good intentions, and has doubled expectations. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – Off in the distance, crowds are cheering and players are celebrating. Coaches can be heard barking plays and adjustments, and the smells coming from the concession stand all harness together what is great about a football game day.

It’s a perfect Saturday morning for football, and the junior varsity programs from Warsaw and East Noble, who are playing at Fisher Field, battle it out. But for over 100 kids clad in blue and white in the shadows of Fisher, it isn’t about watching what’s going in inside the stadium. It’s about their game day. Their chance to show what they’ve got.

Tiger Flag Football is currently in its maiden voyage, part of the NFL Flag program in the Play 60 initiative. The Warsaw league, which began three weeks ago as a hope to develop a youth football environment that is safe and inclusive, has had an overwhelming response. Over 100 children in third through sixth grade showed up, and entering week three, that number has stretched to nearly 120.

The league, which is run by the Warsaw Community High School football program, is designed to teach fundamentals at a base level. Blocking and tackling is taught, but not emphasized, yet held to standard under the NFL’s urgency to teach safety as part of the game. Enter the flags, which hopefully steers away direct contact and offers more opportunity to instruct without alienating children who aren’t blessed with “football size.”

“We thought 40 to 50 kids would be what would show up week one, and to double that is pretty awesome,” said Nik Vilamaa, who is one of the lead organizers of the league. “We have had tremendous response, and only imagine that will increase as the kids tell their friends about it.”

NFL Flag has leagues all over Indiana and across the United States. Warsaw’s league features instruction from WCHS football varsity head coach Phil Jensen and his staff, at least those not coaching JV football, which runs concurrently on Saturday mornings. A bonus for the league participants is hand’s on coaching, mentoring and encouraging from varsity players. Win or lose on Friday nights, star players like Michael Jensen, Riley Rhoades and Brock Riley are just as involved, helping instruct beforehand and calling plays during the games.

“The varsity kids have as much fun as the little ones do,” Phil Jensen said. “I think this is all great. We had a great story where a son came in here after being a red striper at his school (cut from football). Playing here, he got to tell his parents that he got to catch a pass. And he got to throw a pass. That’s what makes things like this so great. It gives kids an opportunity.”

Added Vilamaa, “I’ve already heard some of the kids say they want to be like the players when they get to high school. They want to be like a Riley Rhoades, and they tell their friends that ‘I worked on catching passes with Riley’. That’s a big deal to them. And our guys have really embraced that.”

The Warsaw league is split into two, with the fifth and sixth grade players active from 9-10:45 a.m. and the third and fourth graders from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. The league meets at the Warsaw practice fields adjacent to Fisher Field. Registration officially ended, but Vilamaa was taking walk-ups into week three. The league, which costs just $25 to play, also affords the potential of regional and state-level tournaments. Vilamaa mentioned Warsaw may not jump into the tournaments this year, but could down the line.

“These kids will eventually feed our high school program,” Jensen said. “There is no way to tell what a nine-year-old or a 12-year-old will play that young, but you can teach him the basics. This is a chance to do that in a fun, safe environment. To have over 100 kids out here speaks volumes to the popularity of football and the need to do what we are doing.”