January 20, 2006

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Palo Alto Online

Raising the flag for a throwback sport

by Alexandria Rocha

Jerry Sorensen remembers playing flag football as an elementary-school student in Palo Alto during the late 1960s. Now -- 30 years after graduating from Gunn High School -- Sorensen and another parent are trying to bring the co-ed sport back to the local primary schools.

Last year, Sorensen and Vince Giacomini successfully implemented a flag-football league in the Los Altos Elementary School District. About 230 fourth- through eighth-graders played on 14 teams for an eight-game season. The two dads want to expand into Palo Alto this year.

So far, Giacomini and Sorensen have met with PTA members and hope to talk with the 13 elementary school principals at a meeting next month. Ideally, they would like to have teams in place for a fall season. But they realize there will be hurdles, including competing against fall's most popular sport -- soccer -- for field space and student availability.

However, Sorensen and Giacomini say the benefits of such a program are far and wide. Co-ed sports are rare, but important for developing healthy interactions between girls and boys. The sport would also be recreational, which means students participate at their own comfort level without penalties for missing practices or games. And in today's age of childhood obesity, the two parents assert that anything to get kids outside and moving is worthwhile.

"Some kids don't have the skill level to play baseball; some aren't the fleetest of foot to play soccer. We were able to find some kids who didn't play other sports," Giacomini said.

He added that those who do play other sports can also enjoy flag football because the time commitment is light. There is usually one practice and one game a week, and on those days they wrap up by 4:45 p.m. The Los Altos league's season ran from September through October with a tournament held in early November.

Palo Alto's middle schools run after-school flag football teams, but Sorensen said the elementary program met its demise sometime in the '70s.

The focus of a new program, Sorensen said, would be on fun while remaining educational. Players would learn the fundamentals of the game and be given ample attention to hone their skills.

"We had a lot of kids who started out the season who didn't know what a first down was, but by the end of the season they had really progressed," Sorensen said, referring to the Los Altos pilot program.

Melissa Baton Caswell, president of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs, said reintroducing flag football to the elementary schools is a good idea, but cited some barriers. For one, the sites do not have enough field space for the sports they already host.

However, she said parents with children looking for a different kind of athletic niche could be interested. "CYSA (the California Youth Soccer Association) is very competitive. AYSO (the American Youth Soccer Organization) was not suppose to be competitive, but it has gotten more competitive over time. Pop Warner is certainly competitive," she said. "There are some parents who would like to see something different, who would like to see their kids out and moving around."

Giacomini's and Sorensen's flag-football crusade started two years ago when Giacomini's twin sons wanted to play football and Pop Warner's hefty time commitment wasn't for them. Giacomini called some friends and attracted enough interest among their children to start a small flag-football team. He also put a small posting in the San Jose Mercury News for players.

"I got hundreds of calls (from) throughout the entire South Bay, saying, 'My kid wants to play flag football.' I was getting calls from Fremont, San Jose. I had to turn people away," he said.

That year, Giacomini's impromptu team played eight games against some of the area's Catholic schools, which seem to be the only educational institutions that still host elementary-level flag-football teams. Giacomini's players also competed against kids in Menlo Park, where a few teams are anomalies in today's public elementary schools.

Realizing the vast interest in co-ed flag football, Giacomini and Sorensen -- who have coached baseball together -- decided to approach the Los Altos school district. They quickly got the superintendent's approval and the principals' support and sent out registration forms in May 2004. About 60 students signed up in the first week.

Then summer came, and the interest died down. When school returned in the fall, however, the kids got excited again when they saw the already-registered students strutting around in their flag football T-shirts.

Giving the children an opportunity to play for their elementary school is also one of the major benefits that Giacomini and Sorensen tout about flag football. Oftentimes, students do not play a sport for their school until high school.

Teams for soccer or other leagues draw students from all over.

"I've coached in the AYSO, and ... these kids by chance may know each other, but for the most part they come from different schools," Giacomini said. "Ultimately, kids want to play with their classmates."

The partners said they want to help implement a program in Palo Alto, which would help launch a larger league on the Peninsula. Like the one in Los Altos, the program would be modeled after AYSO and Little League, in which a group of three to five parents volunteer to coach each team.

There are also opportunities for high-school or college students to volunteer in exchange for small stipends and earn community-service credit, Giacomini said.

For more information or to get involved, visit www.pausd.org for a list of school contacts. Staff writer Alexandria Rocha can be e-mailed at arocha@paweekly.com.

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