By Dana Klosner-Wehner
Okay, the fans were parents, and the players were between third- and eighth-graders; still excitement was in the air. The players had no equipment. There was no tackling. This was a game of flag football where one player simply has to pull the flag off an opponent to get the ball.
The Franklin Square/Elmont/New Hyde Park Police Athletic League – PAL -flag football league is in its second season. The number of players has doubled from about 65 the first season to 150 this season and it will probably grow to 200 next season, said league founder Mike Scavelli. The league currently has 10 teams of 15 kids each.
“We wanted another option other than tackle football,” said Scavelli, who started the team with the help of Kevin Worth, the police officer in charge of the PAL, and fellow coach Bo Myrakovic.
“In flag football the kids get to play more and you don’t have to worry about them getting hurt,” Scavelli said.
“The only football we had in Franklin Square and Elmont was tackle,” said Myrakovic. “A lot of parents are scared of tackle. I ran the Franklin Square Warriors for three years… In flag football every kid plays a lot. We want to see all the kids playing at least half the game.”
The game is more about running and passing than tackle football, Scavelli said.
“There’s a no-run zone to prevent one powerful team [from having the ball all the time],” Scavelli said. “You have to pass the ball instead of running.”
“Typically contact programs require a lot more time,” Scavelli said. “Practice is once a week for an hour.” And the games are 50 minutes.
For the kids it’s all about the fun.
“It’s a fast pace and there’s lots of action and trick plays,” said Gregory Scavelli, Mike Scavelli’s son, a sixth-grader at Polk Street School. Gregory also plays hockey, baseball, basketball and lacrosse.
“I knew I wouldn’t like contact football because I don’t like being hit,” Gregory Scavelli said.
“My brother is six years old and he likes to play too,” Gregory Scavelli continued. “Younger kids don’t like being hit and younger kids like to run.”
For Sal Oliver, 12, a seventh-grader at H. Frank Carey High School it’s about sportsmanship.
“This teaches kids to be less aggressive in an aggressive sport,” he said.
For Mike Salter, 12, another seventh-grader at H. Frank Carey High School, it’s about safety and socializing.
“It’s definitely safer [than tackle],” he said. “More of my friends play [flag football].”
Parents are more comfortable with flag football.
“I like everything about flag football,” said Lisa Oliver, whose two sons, Christopher, 8, a third-grader at Polk Street School, and Salvator, 12, a seventh-grader at H. Frank Carey High School, both play on the league. “The coaches are more mellow. They are not screaming at them. It gets them out running around and playing football.”
For Rich Cusick, whose grandson Dante, 10, a fifth-grader at John Street School, safety isn’t the question.
“I don’t think [flag football] is any safer [than tackle football.],” Cusick said.
But the difference for Dante is he’s got more friends on flag football than on tackle and they all want to play together, Cusick said. Tom Graham, whose son Declan, a fourth-grader at John Street School, likes the league’s coaches.
“I like the demeanor of the coaches,” Graham said. “They have a nice approach to the kids. They let the kids be kids.”
One of the differences between tackle and flag football is there are fewer kids on the field at a time. In flag there are six kids on a team on the field. And in flag, every kid is eligible for a pass.
For more information or to register for next season call (516) 248-2442.
