Utah Flag League

Upcoming Spring Season

2012-01-30T09:55:00.000-08:00

I can't wait for the upcoming Spring '12 season. We will be starting a new High School Division. It will most likely be 5 on 5. The coed division is growing. I am looking at about 8 teams, maybe more, for the Spring Season. Now is the time to send your suggestions for any changes for the upcoming season. Send them to utahflagleague@xmission.com.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to put together a winter tournament. Spence-Eccles Fieldhouse did not have enough available hours near each other to make it happen. We just started a good relationship with Ben and Levi, who schedule for the fieldhouse, and Utah Flag League is absorbing the league that was run there. We will be running 5 on 5 games there during the Spring Season on Thursday nights. We will be able to add a night when Fall '12 season starts. It will also open opportunities to run winter tournaments there. Unfortunately, because of the price to rent the facility per hour only 5 on 5 games will be run there. But we are able to adjust the field size and fit four 5 on 5 fields there. We are excited for the opportunity.
We are working with Jimmy Bellamy, who used to play in the league, and developing a High School Division. This will allow players to sign up from their respective high schools and compete as they would during their seasons. It gives returning players an opportunity to improve their skills and graduating players an opportunity to further their skills on their way to going to the next level. And there is nothing wrong with adding to or creating more rivalries.
Coed division is growing too. We had six teams last season. I am getting more people asking about playing. I will be placing individuals and couples together and making more teams for this division. If you are interested let me know and I will get you on a team. Also, ask your co workers. Four of our six teams were comprised of coworkers. It is a blast and still competitive.
I will also be bringing back the news letter, which will be emailed and made available on the website. I am thinking about making it either biweekly or monthly during the season. If you are interested in writing about something or submitting an experience or story, contact me and I will get you involved.
We are always willing to hear and possibly implement any ideas. I will email, talk on the phone or meet with people to discuss ways to improve the league or any ideas you may have.

Sorry. Posted the last two entries in the wrong place

2011-11-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

I am sorry. I have a couple accounts and I did the last couple of entries on the other account. Here are the last two entries and the dates they were orginally posted.

http://utahflagleaguefall2011.blogspot.com/2011/10/coed.html

Friday, October 28, 2011

COED

If you don't already know we have had a coed 5 on 5 division. It is something we had been trying to get going for a while. With the help of Ariel Metekingi and the company he works for, Dealer Track, we started last fall over at Joel P. Jensen Middle with 4 teams (3 from Dealer Track). In the Spring we lost one team but gained two teams putting the count to five. And now in our third season we lost the Spring Champions Ninja Cupcakes but gained two more teams putting us to six.
I was finally able to talk my wife in to playing this season. I put together to two new teams this season. My wife and I and some people from my work comprise most of the team I am playing with. The other team is all people I play with on other teams I would have asked to play with me if I didn't have the people from work. We are having a blast and it is competitive. Everyone who has played has had a great time. Including my wife, which surprised he. Now she wants to play on multiple teams and as much as possible.
So if you know any ladies out there that are hesitating on playing, you need to convince them to give it a try. I am sure they will love it. The coed division is a blast and will continue to grow. I will be putting together at least one more team on top of my other two for next season. Both my teams have 9-11 players on each already. If you can't get enough to put a coed team together, contact Dustin a 8015410856, and I will get you on a team. Our league is determined to get any players looking for a team, regardless of the competitive level or format, on a team to play. We place 10-30 players looking for teams every season. So if you and/or a couple buddies or girlfriend or wife need a team or if you have a team but need a guy or a couple guys call/email (utahflagleague@xmission.com) /facebook me and I will help you out.

http://utahflagleaguefall2011.blogspot.com/2011/10/couple-of-issues.html

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Couple of Issues

There has been a couple of issues I have noticed from a players perspective and a referees perspective. First, I am tired of hearing from players while I am refereeing and from the referees (from their games) about complaints about rules when the players are inaccurate. Please actually read the rule book (it is posted on the website) before you yell at the referees for a rule you are wrong about. Yes, the referees can be wrong too. In the rulebook, there is a challenge rule. I am going to post the rule from both rule books (5 on 5 and 8 on 8):

5 on 5:

Rule Clarification/Challenge

At any point during the game a designated Team Captain can request clarification of rule application or challenge a ruling on the field by calling a Timeout. Once the Timeout is granted, it is the responsibility of the designated Team Captain to identify to the Referee his/her discrepancy with the ruling and how it was applied in disfavor of them.

The Referee will then report the matter to the Field Supervisor or League Director for final ruling. If the decision is reversed the challenging Team will not be charged a timeout. In the event a call is upheld, the challenging team will be charged one of its three timeouts.

If the challenging team has no timeouts remaining it will be assessed a delay of game penalty of 7 ½ yards and a loss of 10 seconds if under two minutes of either half. Teams are permitted one (1) challenge per half. Judgment calls are NOT for challenge.

8 on 8:
· Rule Clarification/Challenge
At any point during the game a Team’s Coach and/or designated Team Captain can request clarification of rule application or challenge a ruling on the field by calling a Timeout. Once the Timeout is granted, it is the responsibility of the designated Coach/Team Captain to identify to the Referee his/her discrepancy with the ruling and how it was applied in disfavor of them.

The Referee will then report the matter to the Field Supervisor or League Director for final ruling. If the decision is reversed the challenging Team will not be charged a timeout. In the event a call is upheld, the challenging team will be charged one of its three timeouts.

If the challenging team has no timeouts remaining it will be assessed a delay of game penalty of fifteen (15) yards and a loss of 10 seconds if under two minutes of either half. Teams are permitted one (1) challenge per half. Judgment calls are NOT for challenge.

This is your avenue to challenge the referee if you believe them to be inaccurate with a rule. Not yelling and complaining all game. To avoid that behavior we adopted a rule (about 3 years ago) they use in Texas called Begging the Call. Fortunately, for some teams, most referees don't call this. But don't be surprised to see those who choose to whine instead of play get penalized.

Here is the Begging the Call rule, for those who may not have seen it:

Begging the Call - "The team captain(s) will be the only player(s) who is/are allowed to address the referees and the captain addressing the referees should be done so in a respectful manner and really should just be in the form of a question, rather than complaining.
If any player, including a captain, disrespectfully addresses a referee the
team may be penalized and the player ejected. Referees have the authority
to call a "begging the call" penalty that increases in enforcement.
If a player is disrespectful, or 'begs for a call', or excessively complains,
a "begging the call" penalty may be called progressively (for the team,
not a particular player) starting with a warning on the first infraction,
to 5 yards on the 2^nd infraction (by the team), to 10 yards for the 3^rd infraction (by the team), and then any additional infractions would be 15 yards. These penalties would be dead ball penalties marked off after the end of the play. If a particular player is responsible for repeated infractions of this penalty
they may be asked to sit out for a certain number of player, series, a half,
or even ejected from the game."

To sum that up, know the rules and don't whine.

One more thing this time around. Please, please use the port o potty. Stop urinating on the school buildings. We have tried to move the port o potty closer to the playing area. It is where it is because the fire marshal requires it to be 50 feet from the buildings (since we had the torched port o potty incident). The field superviser for the school district has called me and said the urinating has to stop or we could lose the field. Let's all work together to keep the field. There aren't other options. PLEASE USE THE PORT O POTTY! THANKS, Dustin

Saturday 9/24/11

2011-09-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

I finally made it out to a Saturday. The weather was great. I saw good sportsmanship, for the most part. There were some close games. Some surprisingly close. Hornets beat Blue Blood by 2 at the end of the game. Shield Zone upset Misfits 13-12 at the end of the game. Panthers beat Muddogs in 2 overtimes 27-26. That one isn't an upset, just a close game. All around a pretty good saturday of football.
I do notice too many teams are unable to make it to the games. It really throws a kink in the other teams day if you forfeit. All teams are looking forward to their games, so it is a big disappointment to not be able to play. There is a section on the messageboard to post if you can fill in for teams who are short. So if you think you will be short check there. It is new so I am sure more people will add their name as time goes on. Also, there are a couple guys floating around on saturdays willing to fill in. You can always get your scheduling preference emailed to ufa@mindspring.com by 12pm on sundays. If it comes after that, you may not get the time you want.
If anyone is considering coed, we are changing the format to 4 on 4. 2 girls and 2 guys on the field at one time. Currently, it will be $200 for an 8 game season, plus playoffs. Most games will be on wednesdays. At this point you would have a couple double headers. If you can get three couples together it is only $33 per person or $66 per couple. It is a fun activity to do together. It can be cheaper if you get more than two subs. Let me know if you have questions. Registration is open through saturday October 1st.

Thursday Sept. 8th

2011-09-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

I unexpectedly finished a midterm early yesterday (Thursday Sept. 8th) and I made it to the field in time to see the end of a close 5 on 5 game. Balls Deep beat Pick Six 34-33. Very close.
I ended up refereeing the next game at 7pm. It was Platinum Hornets v. Primetime. Hornets only had 6 of their team show ( I know how that goes) and used one of the referees teenage kids and the other referee Jake (whose place I took). That made eight. Primetime had two subs but were missing a crucial part to their team, Jeff Shaw, their QB.
Hornets, with JD Dawson at QB this season (normal QB James is injured), scored the first two touchdowns. His receivers ran good timing routes and blocked very well down field.The down field blocking gave them two of their 3 TD's. Jake Anderson caught a great diving catch for Hornets 2nd TD. Almost another one before the half. After they were up 12-0. Primetime scored on a 70 yard broken coverage play from fill in QB TJ Winn to Jeff Seitz. Their next defense Alex DeRenzy intercepted a short screen play and took it to the house. Making the score 13-12 Primetime. That is how the half ended.
Second half Hornets got the lead back with more great passes from JD (including one to big man Brandon Preece for a 4th down conversion) and great downfield blocking. They lead 18-13. All Primetime has to do is score. Towards the end on the half Primetime had two different opportunities in the red zone but didn't convert one (on 3rd down a receiver dropped an open ball in the back of the endzone) and the second ended in an interception. Hornets got a first down and then kneeled on it. Final score 18-13. Great game, especially since both teams were missing bodies.

Week 1 (August 27th)

2011-09-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

Week 1 was good. One of the smallest number of teams playing on the first week though. The weather was one of the hottest days I have had playing in Salt Lake.
10 point deficeit was the closest of the 5 on 5 games. Wannabees and Blackshirts went into OT with Wannabees winning 14-12, after going for 2 on first possession and getting it.The other two close games involved BAMF with them losing 7-0 to Primetime then beating Crimson Kings 6-0. I am excited for week two. I will most likely miss the next two saturdays, so this blog will no have a lot of new content but I will try to update it as frequently as possible.

Dustin