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Sign ups open for seven-on-seven flag football tournament

By Howard B. Owens

Seven-on-seven flag football returns to Batavia on Aug. 27 for a cash-prize tournament for teams of seven to 13 players.

The tournament is being organized by Ray Williams, Thomas Ognibene, and Noah Talone.

Team sign-ups are being accepted up until the week of the tournament, and the cost is $650 per team.

The total cash prize for the winning team will be announced once organizers know how many teams are participating.  In the past, the first-place prize has been $2,500.

Participants receive a team shirt.

For more information, call Ray at 585-356-5956, Thomas at 585-297-9409, or Noah at 585-813-8733.

Youth flag football program in Batavia prepares to start season

By Howard B. Owens
youth flag football

Youngsters from throughout the community are fast learning the game of football in preparation for their first game on Sunday in the Davello Youth Flag Football League.

The team, coached by Ray Williams, was at Lions Park yesterday (Sunday) preparing for that big game.

Williams said he started the program in Batavia because his friend Jay Rob in Medina was looking for some help with the leag.

"I was already planning something for Batavia already, so decided to have teams in Medina and Batavia and surrounding areas to play each other," Williams said.

The program is about teaching kids the basics of football, Williams said.

"It’s a skill development program as well as flag football," Williams said. "There aren’t too many skill development programs for our youth for football, so we figured we would start them young learning and understanding the game."

Besides Batavia and Medina, there are programs in Albion and Lockport. The Batavia program includes kids from Oakfield, Pembroke, and Alexander.

The age group is 5 to 16 for both boys and girls.

Teams are broken down by age groups: 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-16 

Games will be played each Sunday through Aug. 29.

Assistant coaches are Otis Thomas, Harry Roscoe, Tim King, Tre Woods, Ray Tooley, Patrick Tyler, and Erica Williams.

Photos by Howard Owens

youth flag football
youth flag football
youth flag football
youth flag football
youth flag football
Ray Williams.
Photo by Howard Owens

Batavia falls to Canisteo in attempt to win first-ever Section Flag Football title

By Howard B. Owens
batavia girls flag football

Batavia lost its bid on Saturday to become the first Flag Football champions in Section V history at Monroe Community College with a 20-0 loss to Canisteo-Greenwood.

Batavia entered the game undefeated at 8-0 and as the #1 seed.  Canisteo was 7-1 at the start of the game.

It would be tempting to blame the loss on turnover -- there were a couple but were mostly inconsequential -- and penalties -- there were a few.

But more, Canisteo-Greenwood outplayed the Blue Devils.

After stopping Batavia on its first possession, Canisteo scored on its first drive. And on its second.

Batavia advanced the ball to the opposing goal line at least three times, but Canisteo-Greenwood keep the Blue Devils out of the end zone each time. 

There are no stats available for the game.

Photos by Howard Owens.  For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football
batavia girls flag football

Batavia dominates first half in Flag Football for Class B sectional semifinal win

By Howard B. Owens
Batavia's Jaimin Macdonald gets another incerception, Photo Steve Ognibene
Batavia's Jaimin Macdonald catches another interception to power Batavia's strong defense

Eastridge got on the board first, but it was all Batavia after that, as the Blue Devils went on to win a smoke-delayed, and then rain-delayed, Flag Football sectional semifinal playoff game on Friday at Van Detta Stadium.

The final: 27-6. 

The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was canceled because of poor air quality due to wildfires in Canada.

On Friday, Batavia scored 27 unanswered points in the first half on scores by Julia Clark (twice), and Isabella Walsh and a TD keyed off an interception by Jaimin McDonald. Then the rain came, causing another delay.

There was no scoring in the second half.

Batavia plays in the first-ever Section V Flag Football final at 11 a.m. today (Saturday) at Monroe County Community College.  Batavia, the #1 seed, will take on #2 seed Canisteo-Greenwood (7-1) for the Class B title.

"We found ways to win," Coach Ben Buchholz told he team. "We found ways to make big plays, and that’s exactly what good teams do.   We finally started to click; big players made big plays.  

Of the defense, he told them, "We had girls in some spots that did not play there all year. You stepped up, made plays for us, and that’s exactly what we needed, and I’m super proud of you.  We have a lot of unfinished business. Tomorrow let’s go win a block, let’s win this.  Let’s come in with the best version of us that we have had all year and let’s win this thing."

Game Highlights:

  • Isabella Walsh - four receptions, 87 yards, a TD and a two-point conversion.
  • Anna Varland -18 carries, 112 yards
  • Julia Preston - two receptions, 39 yards
  • Julia Clark - 127 yards passing. one passing TD, two rushing TDs.
  • Jaimin Mcdonald - four Interceptions and nine flag pulls
  • Alyssa Talone - six Flag Pulls
  • Hannah Carney – Interception

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Anna Varland on the move
Anna Varland on the move
Quarterback Julia Clark making a pass to her teammate
Quarterback Julia Clark making a pass to her teammate
Batavia's defense held strong through Eastridge's passing attempts
Batavia's defense held strong through Eastridge's passing attempts
Batavia defenders disturbing the Eastridge offensive pass.
Batavia defenders disturbing the Eastridge offensive pass.
Senior Alyssa Tallone gets an Eastrige flag pull behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of yards
Senior Alyssa Tallone gets an Eastrige flag to pull behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of yards
Senior Cesia Isamay catches a Eastridge flag pull to stop yard advancement on the play
Senior Cesia Isamay catches anremains Eastridge flag pull to stop yard advancement on the play
Batavia celebrates semi-final win but reamin focused to get it's first block in the inaugural flag-football season
Batavia celebrates semi-final win but remain focused to get itsEastridge first block in the inaugural flag-football season

Is Girls Flag Football on the horizon for spring? Sign-up for interest to be available

By Joanne Beck

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Endorsed by the Buffalo Bills, Nike and the state Public High School Athletic Association earlier this year, Girls Flag Football has emerged as an up-and-coming spring sport that just might land on the city school district’s playing field.

Batavia’s Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics Mike Bromley, presented the idea during Monday’s school board meeting. A while ago, he began to receive emails from prospective female players about the possibility of adding flag football to the city school district, he said. Ten girls from grades nine to 12 sent those notes asking if the sport would be offered in the spring.

A line of female students stood next to him as proof of that initial interest.

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“Here are six future flag football players,” Bromley said. “There are 14 male sports, one unified sport of bowling for both boys and girls, and 13 female offerings. This would bring us into balance if that’s what we decided to do.”

In early 2022, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association sanctioned the sport, and eight teams in Section V were piloted this year, with 22 other regional districts indicating that they may form a team, Bromley said. Rules dictate a minimum of seven girls to a team, and Bromley believes 12 to 15 players would be a good starting number.

Games would cover a football field, and play would consist of two 24-minute halves plus a five-minute half-time. Equipment would include certified flag belts and youth-sized football.

The difference between regular football and one using flags is the lack of physical contact. While tackling is a huge part of the American game, flag football does not allow it. Players can kick, carry, and throw the ball to move it up the field. A defender may knock down a pass that’s in the air. If the player with the ball has his -- or, in this case, her -- flag pulled or if she goes out of bounds, she is called “down,” and the ball is dead.

Anticipated costs include a head and assistant coach, uniforms, officials’ services, two chaperones and a clock/video board operator, and transportation for four away games. The estimated total adds up to $9,391, which Bromley said could be offset with unexpended funds.

Board member Alice Benedict asked how many young women are interested in dual sports, and all six students raised their hands. They said that track is the other sport and that is first on their list, prompting Bromley to add, "so we have some challenges."

How can it work here? Bromley suggested that dual sport participation is possible and doable, with late practices, Saturday contests and two to three practices per week. He’s also cognizant of spring coaches’ concerns that adding a spring sport may be a conflict for girls already in one of the other two offerings, he said.

With the season to begin in March 2023, there’s not much time to waste, Board President John Marucci said.

“Get your sign-up list going and see if there’s an interest,” he said.

The matter will return for a board vote in January.

Top 2020 File Photo of an impromptu flag football tournament at Williams Park in Batavia, by Howard Owens. Photo of Mike Bromley from the city school district website.

AFL Batavia announces April Flag Football Tournament

By Howard B. Owens

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AFL Batavia has announced its April flag football tournament to be held at a location in Batavia yet to be determined starting at 10 p.m., April 16.

There will be an awards ceremony following the championship game at Ri-Dans with food, music, and open bar for an hour.

The league says all teams from the last tournament are returning, including the defending champions, the Dream Killers.  Organizers would like to had three to five more teams. If there are 10 teams the prize pool will grow.

The entry fee is $500 per team. All teams but be local teams but out-of-town players can be on the rosters of local teams.

There is a $2,500 cash prize for the champion.

All players receive a jersey and a team photo.

Fees must be paid by March 31.

The league is also looking for sponsorships from local businesses.

For more information, email Darazian Williams at darazianw@gmail.com.

Photo: Submitted photo.

Bills rep shows up at flag football practice with gifts for players

By Howard B. Owens

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The players participating in the first season of youth flag football in Batavia got a special visit after their practice yesterday at Williams Park, Batavia, from Preston Teague, director of community relations for the Buffalo Bills.

Otis Thomas, one of the parents who organized the new league in Batavia, sponsored by the NFL, said Teague has been instrumental in promoting flag football youth leagues in Western New York, and has been helpful and supportive in getting the program in Batavia started. Teague said there are now 6,000 children participating in NFL-sponsored leagues in WNY.

Teague came with swag, handing out a few prizes to players who provided correct answers to trivia questions about the Bills, including a game football, an autographed hat, and an autographed cleat. All of the players also got other items including rubber footballs, yearbooks, towels, stickers and magnets.

Previously: Pair of football dads bring new NFL flag football league to Batavia

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Carson Caton, 10, from Le Roy, won the game football, from the first game of the season, for knowing that Josh Allen is the highest drafted QB in Bills history.

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Pair of football dads bring new NFL flag football league to Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

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When 8-year-old Gunnar came to his father and said he didn't want to play tackle football anymore, Otis Thomas listened. He also remembered a commercial for a youth flag football program sponsored by the NFL that he had seen during the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.

Thomas talked with Kevin Rogers and they agreed to apply to the NFL to set up a league in Batavia.

It was a very easy process, they said. The NFL provides a step-by-step guide and the staff is helpful and friendly, they said.

So, Batavia will have an NFL-sponsored flag football program for children ages 5 to 14 this fall; "no contact, 6 on 6."

Thomas said it's not his goal to take anything away from the Batavia Bulldawgs, the local tackle football program, but he believes there are a lot of parents in the community who want to give their children a fun activity and see them learn the sport but don't want to strap a heavy helmet on their heads.

"I don’t want to pull away from anything the Bulldawgs organization has done around Batavia," Thomas said. "I coached for two years. It was good for me. It was good for my son but it’s also good to see other opportunities for other kids that aren’t ready to play contact football."

Both Thomas and Rogers are aware, of course, about the growing concern parents have about football, concussions, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. 

"I just wanted my son to play all the sports that I never had a chance to," said Rogers, who didn't come from a football family and didn't play the sport as a child. "Now, as a parent, you sort of see where my parents were coming from growing up, where it’s a little bit more violent of a sport than we’re used to, especially for young kids, ages 5 to 14. Their bodies are still developing. We wanted to start something to give the kids options who want to learn the sport."

The field dimensions are smaller, 30 yards by 70 yards, which will allow the new league to play as many as five games at one time on the varsity football field at Notre Dame High School off of Union Avenue.

The games consist of two 15-minute halves between teams of six players each. They will be played on Sunday mornings so parents can get home in time to watch the Bills. There will be one practice a week -- one hour on Wednesday nights. Each child who signs up, for $65, will get a replica NFL jersey and a pair of flags with their team's logo on it.

There are no helmets.

"I don’t really agree with putting a 5- or a six-year-old or a 7- or 8-year-old in a helmet," said Thomas, who played in Batavia Youth Football as a kid, played in high school, and played semi-pro ball.

"We teach them, 'don’t use your head' but you put that helmet on, it’s a weight. You can see it. Go to any little Pop Warner game and you see a kid running by himself for a touchdown he’s leaning to the left but his body is really wanting to go to the right."

Rogers said he and Thomas have talked to 30 or 40 parents and gotten a lot of positive feedback on the idea, so they're expecting plenty of children to sign up.

They think even though there is no contact, young players will learn key fundamentals of the game that will help them if they decide to play high school football, including the vocabulary of the game, the rules and how plays are run.

The safety aspect of flag football is why Thomas thinks the sport will catch on in the community, though he said it is an individual decision for each parent on whether to sign their kids up for contact football or flag football.

"I love the game but I love the safety and I value my kid's life a little bit more," Thomas said.

The co-ed league is open to boys and girls age 5 to 13 from throughout the area, with divisions for ages 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, 10 and 11, and 12 and 14.

Please contact Otis Thomas at (585) 993-0244 or Kevin Rogers at (716) 860-4551 with any questions.

(Thomas and Rogers said they are not aware of any other NFL flag football leagues in WNY. They think the next closest one is in Ohio. They hope other parents will start leagues in neighboring counties.)

There will be registration sessions at:

  • Dick's Sporting Goods on Veterans Memorial Drive -- this Saturday, July 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Tuesday, July 24, 4 to 7 p.m.;
  • Batavia City Centre --  tomorrow, Thursday, July 19, and Thursday, July 26, 4 to 7:30 p.m. both days;
  • T.F. Brown's restaurant -- this Saturday, July 21 and the folllowing Saturday, July 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days.

Kids' flag football league forming for summer Sunday afternoons, deadline to register is May 27

By Billie Owens

Want to join a flag football league this summer? Join Batavia Varsity Football Head Coach Brennan Briggs in the "Rising Stars" Flag Football League on Sunday afternoons at 4:30 beginning June 5th.

The league is for current fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade student-athletes from any district.

If you're interested contact Coach Briggs at 585-409-5557. Deadline for registration is Friday, May 27th so don't wait!

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