The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Youth Flag Football League (BYFFL) opened the year with a free offensive clinic which is divided into three sessions.

The first session was hosted last week Saturday on the fields opposite the original Thomas A Robin- son Stadium and up to 120 participants showed up for the learning experience.

Alexandra “Muffy” Deal-Coakley, co-founder of the BYFFL, explained the importance of the free offensive clinic to the young athletes.

“The importance of this kind of clinic is that we are trying to make sure when the kids go into the season they have a little extra work on certain positions so when they get into the season, and we are doing drills for offence and defence, they are familiar with it due to the extra skills they will learn at this clinic,” Deal-Coakley said.

Athletes aged six to 17 participate at four different stations which are the quarterback station, running back station, receiver station and a foot- work station. According to the BYFFL co-founder, each week the participants will have the opportunity to learn something different from the various stations.

“We are really trying to focus on getting some of the positions we have in football toned down to fine form.

Each week we will have four different stations so that they are learning something different but, at the same time, it’s still going to be focused on the same three positions of quarterback, running back and receiver,” she said.

The camp is for girls and boys and, although registration wrapped up a week ago, individuals that are interested still have the option of showing up this Saturday at noon.

Hannah Ritchie, who is 16-years old, was in attendance on day one and after working her way back from a concussion, she was happy to be back in action.

“It is pretty good. I think it’s really good to start from the basics because people start worrying more about catching the ball and pulling flags and that is how you trip over your feet. It is really good learning how to use your feet in this sport before you get into more complicated matters. I am definitely looking forward to the next session because I was just injured a little while ago so this is my first day back into the sport and doing work like that, so I am really excited to get back into it,” Ritchie said.

Renee Johnson, who is the same age as Ritchie, found the day one experience very enlightening.

“For the first day it was a good experience. I learned a lot today and put in a lot of work. I learned how the quarterback works and about catching. It was a good experience for my second time around,” Johnson stated.

Jayden Deal-Coakley has thoroughly enjoyed the offensive camp in its early stages.

“It has been alright so far, I like it. I learned the running back drills, the route three and the cuts for when you are playing wide receiver and have to get past the defender. I joined this camp because I love football and that is what I want to do when I grow up,” he said.

Saturday’s second session will begin at noon and wrap up at 2pm. The final session is scheduled for Saturday, February 10.

The flag football clinic will be followed by the 2nd High School Tournament on April 13.

The tourney will be the first official event on the BYFFL calendar.