Pasco County Youth Flag Football League Doubles Enrollment, Adds Starkey Ranch District Park
✨ Coach, Parents & Player Tips
Coach’s Clipboard: Loop mini-bands around your players’ ankles for warm-up side shuffles—that extra resistance locks in hip and glute power for sharper cuts, and you’ll snag some laughs watching them wobble before they blast downfield.
Postgame Parents: When you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil, challenge your athlete to stand on a folded towel and juggle a tennis ball three times—it’s a sneaky wobble-and-catch drill that builds balance and hand-eye coordination, plus you’ll both crack up watching them wobble like a newborn deer.
Players Snap: Run a simple rub: have your buddy cross shallow to tie up their defender, then explode inside—using your brain beats just using your speed, so start outsmarting, not just outrunning.
🔎 Feature Story
🏅 Pasco flag football league doubles in size, locations
Under The Lights Flag Football in Pasco County witnessed enrollment soar from 250 to over 500 players this season, adding a second venue at Starkey Ranch District Park to accommodate rising demand for Friday night games. The league’s rapid growth, driven by youth participation—especially girls—and the national flag football boom, has organizers planning a third site in Wesley Chapel.
“Flag football, in this area just keeps growing.”
🌍 Regional Roundup
Durham, North Carolina: Next Level Sports is teaming up with Duke football to launch a competitive rec–style flag football league for local students in grades 1–6, with Duke student-athletes serving as coaches and mentors starting January 2026.
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Missouri (St. Louis): Missouri Baptist University’s Board of Trustees has approved women’s flag football as an official sport, with recruitment and a head coach hire planned this academic year ahead of spring 2027 competition.
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Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Browns hosted a Flag In-Schools professional development day for 50 Columbus City Schools PE teachers, providing toolkits and training to integrate flag football into grades 2–8 curricula.
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Arizona: The Arizona Cardinals are set to broadcast their third season of the Girls High School Flag Football “Game of the Week,” showcasing the growing AIA-sanctioned sport with weekly matchups across the state.
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⭐ Player Spotlight
Ariana Akey – Senior Quarterback, Mountain Vista. Akey propelled the Golden Eagles to their second consecutive perfect season, rushing in four touchdowns to secure a 48-26 state championship victory.
“It’s just huge. Just to be able to end it like this is amazing. We had a lot of concentration in practice, and then when it came to games, we had a lot of confidence. And I think that carried through.” – Ariana Akey
📈 Flag Growth Focus
🔥 Under The Lights Growth in Pasco County
Alex Smith’s Under The Lights Flag Football league doubled from 250 to over 500 youth players across Land O’ Lakes and Odessa this year, marking rapid local expansion. The league’s rising female participation and a planned third site in Wesley Chapel underscore growing demand and inclusivity.
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🏈 Duke Partners with Next Level Sports
Duke football is launching its first Next Level Flag Football season in Durham for grades 1–6 starting January 2026, with coaching and mentorship provided by Blue Devil staff and student-athletes. The program extends Next Level Sports’ footprint into North Carolina, offering a community-driven youth league with direct ties to an NCAA program.
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🔥 MBU Adds Women’s Flag Football
Missouri Baptist University’s Board approved women’s flag football as an official varsity sport beginning competition in spring 2027, expanding athletic opportunities for female student-athletes. Recruitment starts this year alongside hires for coaching staff, aligning with MBU’s mission to foster leadership and service through new sports programs.
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⚡ FlagSnap Daily Blitz
UW-Whitewater’s intramural flag football teams FettyBoyz, Ctrl-Alt-Elite, and Main Characters battled under the lights at Perkins Stadium for championship T-shirts.
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Montgomery Academy’s first- and second-grade Cardinals capped an undefeated four-game playoff run with a 21-7 victory over Pike Road’s Pack Attack to secure the City League championship.
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China, Australia, Japan, and American Samoa clinched the final men’s and women’s spots for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Germany through the Asia-Oceania qualifiers.
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The 49ers preserved their perfect NFL Flag Football record with a 7-6 win over the Broncos after a last-second Hail Mary fell short.
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The Arizona Cardinals’ “High School Flag Football Game of the Week” returns Monday at 6 p.m. MST on AZFS and online with Corona del Sol facing Desert Vista.
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The Cleveland Browns hosted a Flag In-Schools professional development day for 50 Columbus City Schools PE teachers, supplying flag belts, balls, digital curricula, and hands-on drills for grades 2–8.
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High School on SI is accepting votes through Nov. 2 for Maryland’s Girls Flag Football Player of the Week, featuring nominees Clarksburg’s Aysia Jones-Robinson and Frederick’s Da’Myra Wallace.
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The Arizona Republic’s Top 20 high school flag football player poll for Week 6 remains open until Oct. 30, spotlighting Phoenix O’Connor’s Alivia Escalera and Chandler Hamilton’s Marlie Phillips.
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The Sac-Joaquin Section girls flag football playoffs kick off with teams like Vacaville (No. 5), Vanden (No. 8), and Vacaville Christian (No. 7) facing must-win first-round games.
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🏁 Final Whistle
“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” — Bobby Unser
