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Flag Football is back in Winchester for the fifth straight year. Youngsters in grades K-8 participate in these fun-filled games every Sunday afternoon at the McCall Middle School.
The 2025 season is scheduled to start on Sept. 14. The league is sponsored by the Winchester Parks & Recreation Department in conjunction with Carl McFadden’s Sunday Night Lights out of Reading. This relatively new thriving youth sports league got its start in 2021.
“(McFadden’s) organization is based out of Reading, and it serves a myriad of surrounding communities throughout the North Shore,” said Winchester Parks & Recreation staffer Christopher Ellison.
There’s no shortage of players to fill up the teams.
“Sunday Night Lights flag football has served up to 1,500 youngsters in town since 2021, including current numbers during this registration period,” said Ellison.
The league is currently broken down by these age groups. In the boys division, there’s K-first grade, followed by the second and third grade team, fourth and fifth grade club and the sixth through eighth grade squad. There are three clubs in the girls division that include K through second grade, third through fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade.
“Our K through fifth grade numbers is usually the strongest, but we have also seen growth in all of our girls teams, which is awesome,” said Ellison.
The coaching staffs are made up of parent-volunteers. Every year, the organizers hold a meeting/orientation get-together to cover everything from fair play to child protection for all the coaches.
“There are playoffs in this league, but at the end of the day we care more about everyone having a fun, positive experience,” said Ellison. “This league thrives off parent-coach feedback, and so while they might not have had a say in the start of the program, their thoughts are now taken into consideration to mold this program into something that serves everybody well.”
There is Pop Warner tackle football in Winchester, but it’s a co-op with Woburn. Some flag football players also suit up to play Pop Warner. All of this exposure to the sport only helps coach Wally Dembowski’s high school team down the road.
Once again, the season begins on Sunday, Sept. 14. Each week, players will warmup before their games to hopefully help avoid potential injury. They will then play their games, and then hang around to cheer on the players in the other games.
Playoffs will follow in October. During championship weekend, there is an ice cream truck on hand for the football families to enjoy, while teams from each grade level battle for championships.
There’s still no rest for the weary, when the season comes to an end, because the folks at Parks & Rec and Sunday Night Lights will then meet up to talk about next year.
The league, however, is still encouraging more youngsters to sign up for this fall.
