The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Youth Flag Football League (BYFFL) season got underway this past weekend on the fields opposite the original Thomas A Robinson national stadium.

The season openers got off to an exciting start as the youth of the 6-9, 10-13 and 14-17 divisions battled on the field to get the new season going.

Competition was stiff throughout the various age groups with kids working through the week one jitters and preparing to build momentum from the league’s opening day.

Jayson Clarke, programme director of the BYFFL, was elated with the play he saw across the different divisions and is looking forward to the rest of the season.

“The level of competition on day one was pretty good, if you look at our 6-9 age group every game ended with a tie.

“I was very impressed with the talent, particularly the new talent in the 6-9 category because a lot of them are playing for the first time and by far this is our biggest season in registration and number of kids we are involved this time around,” Clarke said.

The youngest division in the youth league saw all games end in a tie for the 6-9 category. Team Inne versus Team Sheldeen ended with an 8-8 draw. Team Sheldeen then took on Team Dawkins and each squad earned six apiece.

Additionally, Team Dawkins and Team Inne closed out the game with 12-12 on the scoreboard.

The programme director was also very pleased by the play of the young ones because of the importance of the foundational level to their development in youth flag football.

“This is definitely a good foundation for them, if you look at our kids that are in our 10-13, 14-17 age groups, a lot of them have been playing flag football since we started in 2014-15 so they are exceptionally good this time,” he said.

Now with flag football added to the sporting disciplines to be included in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he is very optimistic about the future of the little ones in The Bahamas.

“I am happy that we have kids in our season starting from as low as age five. It is very important for them because it could translate to a very bright future for them, having learned the game of flag and playing at such a young age,” he said.

Division 10-13 saw some competitive action between the young teams. Team Kevin collected wins against Team Allen 26-13 and Team Moss 4-2.

Team Dawkins earned a relatively comfortable 31-6 win over Team Munroe and Team Moss also defeated the latter 2-0.

The oldest division in the youth flag league turned in some good games on Saturday. Team D’Angelo edged out Team Allen 30-22 but fell to Team Munroe 32-12. In the remaining game, Team Allen secured their first victory of the division against Team Chavar 8-6.

The programme director is looking forward to a successful season aimed towards helping the youth and further developing flag football in the island nation. “I am expecting it to be an extremely successful season.

“I think things are going to get even more competitive as the season moves on,” he said.

Week two games will continue next weekend at the same venue.