New flag football league makes debut
Parents have a myriad of options when it comes to their kids playing tackle football around the county. The same cannot be said for flag football. Thanks to Darryl Gordon, this summer Forsyth County youth will have an opportunity to play in his Lighthouse Flag Football League of the Triad.
According to Gordon the purpose of the league is to teach kids the correct way to play football in the spirit of competition. The league, which is for kids ages 5-17 and is co-ed, is scheduled to open up on Saturday, June 23, and run through Saturday, July 28 and is co-sponsored by NFL Play 60.
Gordon, who is the founder of D Unity X nonprofit, says the idea for the league came about two years ago. He says God gave him a vision of doing something outside to give the youth another outlet for exercise.
“To make a long story short, I went to see the movie ‘Concussion’ with Will Smith and that really disturbed me because I had a concussion when I played,” Gordon said. “Also, I saw how people talk about Pop Warner football in the city and how people gamble on the games and I just wondered what skill set are they teaching the kids.
“I just questioned where the fundamentals, passion and drive was to teach the kids the right way,” he continued. “I look at some of the coaches and they aren’t qualified and I went to a game and I was disgusted with the atmosphere.”
For Gordon, his aim is to make sure young boys and girls learn the game correctly. He decided to take the necessary courses to get certified to enhance his skills as a teacher of the game.
He says the idea for the name came about through a conversation with his wife. The term lighthouse comes from the book of Luke in the Bible.
Thus far, Gordon has garnered a lot of interest about his league from parents and kids from the community. His hopes are to start out small by having four teams in the league for his initial year. They will play the games on the field at Main Street Academy.
“I want this to be big, bigger than Pop Warner football, hopefully,” he said about how he wants the league to progress. “I want to be to the point where we go from four teams to 20 teams and we compete against other teams from all over North Carolina.
“I want to really reach out to those kids who want to play football and learn it the right way,” he went on to say.
Gordon says he loves football. He feels for a young person with a developing brain. He said they need to play flag football first to learn the fundamentals first before putting on a helmet.
The price for the league is $50, which will go toward the cones, flags and the insurance policy. Players will be responsible for jerseys and cleats. For more information on the league, email Darryl Gordon at dunitx@gmail.com or dgordon558@gmail.com
