BY JOHN DECOSTE
[email protected]
NovaNewsNow.com
Steve Melanson sees the Kings County Flag Football Academy, the newest sport development academy offered by New Minas Recreation, as “a win-win for everyone.”
The Academy is set to get underway May 19 and run Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-7 p.m. through June 25, with Melanson as coordinator. The session is open to interested players in Grades 3-9 for a fee of $40 for the six weeks, which includes a T-shirt.
Flag football is played five-on-five, cross-field, which allows for two or three games to be played at the same time. There is no contact; rather, the play is stopped when the defensive team successfully removes a flag from the uniform of the ball carrier.
Otherwise, all the plays and all the fundamentals are the same as tackle football.
Melanson, a former varsity football player at Acadia (1982-1985) and currently an assistant coach with the Axemen, has been involved with Valley Minor Football as a coach for the past five years.
He was among those instrumental in organizing atom tackle football for 8-10 year-olds and serves as head coach of the Valley peewee Bulldogs (age 11-12). He is also the father of four boys, all of whom play (or will play) minor football.
Saw the need for development outlet
Melanson said the Academy was his idea. “Originally, I was going to run it myself out of Canning, but Luke Smith (a phys ed teacher at Evangeline Middle School) suggested I talk to Vince Forrestall, who is always looking for things like this to sponsor.”
Forrestall, the New Minas recreation director, embraced the idea and the Flag Football Academy was well on its way to becoming a reality.
Melanson sees a need for a developmental outlet for football, especially given the rapid growth of the sport in the eastern Valley in recent years, from atom all the way up to high school, which, come this fall, will be played at four local schools.
“I see it as helping my program, and eventually the whole of Valley Minor Football,” he said. “I’ll be using the same drills and fundamentals as tackle football, only without the contact. If I can get even 20 per cent of these youngsters interested in tackle football, it will greatly reduce the learning curve.”
Melanson has no real expectations for the new Academy, but would like to see it catch on and grow. “If I can get 40-50 kids out to begin with, I’ll be happy and we can go from there.
“Even with the success of minor football here in the Valley, there are still people who don’t know we have football here. Hopefully, this will help raise awareness. One thing I would like to do is bridge the gap and get more girls to play.”
Will help ID young talent
The Academy sessions will be held on the dyke fields at Acadia, for which Melanson acknowledges the generosity of Acadia athletic director Brian Heaney and Axemen head coach Jeff Cummins.
As well, the schedule will include a one-day flag football jamboree and skills camp Saturday, June 7 on the turf at Raymond Field.
This will be the second such all-day session; the first camp, for tackle football players, took place Sunday, April 27 at Acadia with close to 40 youngsters taking part. The clinic was also a fundraiser for Valley Minor Football, and raised more than $600.
Among other things, Melanson envisions the Flag Football Academy as a means of identifying young football talent as well as providing what he says will be a fun outlet for exercise and physical activity for youth.
“We have a strong minor football program locally, but with four high school programs, it tends to deplete the talent pool a bit.”
He doesn’t expect everyone who registers for the Academy to want to make the transition from flag to tackle football, but he’s hoping there will be some who will.
Registration for the Kings County Flag Football Academy took place April 12, but there are still openings. Anyone interested can contact New Minas Recreation at 681-6577.
BY JOHN DECOSTE
[email protected]
NovaNewsNow.com
Steve Melanson sees the Kings County Flag Football Academy, the newest sport development academy offered by New Minas Recreation, as “a win-win for everyone.”
The Academy is set to get underway May 19 and run Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-7 p.m. through June 25, with Melanson as coordinator. The session is open to interested players in Grades 3-9 for a fee of $40 for the six weeks, which includes a T-shirt.
Flag football is played five-on-five, cross-field, which allows for two or three games to be played at the same time. There is no contact; rather, the play is stopped when the defensive team successfully removes a flag from the uniform of the ball carrier.
Otherwise, all the plays and all the fundamentals are the same as tackle football.
Melanson, a former varsity football player at Acadia (1982-1985) and currently an assistant coach with the Axemen, has been involved with Valley Minor Football as a coach for the past five years.
He was among those instrumental in organizing atom tackle football for 8-10 year-olds and serves as head coach of the Valley peewee Bulldogs (age 11-12). He is also the father of four boys, all of whom play (or will play) minor football.
Saw the need for development outlet
Melanson said the Academy was his idea. “Originally, I was going to run it myself out of Canning, but Luke Smith (a phys ed teacher at Evangeline Middle School) suggested I talk to Vince Forrestall, who is always looking for things like this to sponsor.”
Forrestall, the New Minas recreation director, embraced the idea and the Flag Football Academy was well on its way to becoming a reality.
Melanson sees a need for a developmental outlet for football, especially given the rapid growth of the sport in the eastern Valley in recent years, from atom all the way up to high school, which, come this fall, will be played at four local schools.
“I see it as helping my program, and eventually the whole of Valley Minor Football,” he said. “I’ll be using the same drills and fundamentals as tackle football, only without the contact. If I can get even 20 per cent of these youngsters interested in tackle football, it will greatly reduce the learning curve.”
Melanson has no real expectations for the new Academy, but would like to see it catch on and grow. “If I can get 40-50 kids out to begin with, I’ll be happy and we can go from there.
“Even with the success of minor football here in the Valley, there are still people who don’t know we have football here. Hopefully, this will help raise awareness. One thing I would like to do is bridge the gap and get more girls to play.”
Will help ID young talent
The Academy sessions will be held on the dyke fields at Acadia, for which Melanson acknowledges the generosity of Acadia athletic director Brian Heaney and Axemen head coach Jeff Cummins.
As well, the schedule will include a one-day flag football jamboree and skills camp Saturday, June 7 on the turf at Raymond Field.
This will be the second such all-day session; the first camp, for tackle football players, took place Sunday, April 27 at Acadia with close to 40 youngsters taking part. The clinic was also a fundraiser for Valley Minor Football, and raised more than $600.
Among other things, Melanson envisions the Flag Football Academy as a means of identifying young football talent as well as providing what he says will be a fun outlet for exercise and physical activity for youth.
“We have a strong minor football program locally, but with four high school programs, it tends to deplete the talent pool a bit.”
He doesn’t expect everyone who registers for the Academy to want to make the transition from flag to tackle football, but he’s hoping there will be some who will.
Registration for the Kings County Flag Football Academy took place April 12, but there are still openings. Anyone interested can contact New Minas Recreation at 681-6577.
