Caledonia Youth Football

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Caledonia Youth Football

Flag Football Overview

Flag football is a non-contact version of football that is perfect to learn the fundamentals of the game, compete as a team, and have a lot of fun. CYFA participates in NFL Flag, which is the official flag football program of the NFL. NFL FLAG serves more than 600,000 players in 1,600 leagues across the country. Being a part of NFL FLAG provides CYFA and our athletes with structure, an opportunity to play in regional tournaments, and incredible uniforms.

CYFA offers flag football in the fall and spring to boys and girls ages 5 through 12. Our fall league runs from mid August to mid October and our spring league runs from mid March to early June. Both seasons start with practice or camp followed by a 6 week regular season. After the regular season, teams compete in the playoffs to determine 1st-3rd place in each division. We will also select all-star teams for each division to practice and compete in a more competitive environment. This includes additional training, participating in NFL FLAG/USA Football tournaments, and competing against all-star teams from local leagues.

Basics of Flag Football

If you watched the Pro Bowl, you know that flag football is similar to tackle but there are some important differences:

5 vs 5: each team plans with 5 players on the field at a time
No contact: players are ruled down when their flag is pulled or the ball hits the ground and there is no blocking allowed
Smaller fields: fields are roughly 1/4 the size of a normal football field at 25 yards wide and 50 yards long
Fast paced: games consist of two 24 minute halves with a running clock
Familiar scoring: scoring is similar to tackle football with touchdowns (6 points), extra points (1 point from the 5 yard line or 2 points from the 10 yard line), and safeties (2 points).

Those rules may seem quite different but it is a great way for new players to learn the fundamentals of the game without worrying about contact. It also provides tackle players with the opportunity to develop and play together in the off-season, and is especially valuable to offensive skill and defensive players.

2024 Spring Season

CYFA is excited to offer our inaugural spring flag football season in 2024.

Divisions (birth year):

6u (2017/2018)
8u (2015/2016)
10u (2013/2014)
12u (2011/2012)

Schedule: all practices, games, and activities will happen on Sunday afternoons

6u and 8u earlier in the afternoon between 1 PM and 4 PM
10u and 12ulater in the afternoon between 2 PM and 6 PM

Season: the season will have four parts:

Camp: 3/17, 3/24, 4/7, and 4/14 at MEF Fieldhouse where we will practice as a group
Regular Season: 4/21, 4/28, 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, and 6/2 where we will form teams of 7-10 players to practice separately and play against each other
Playoffs: 6/9 where the top 4 teams in each division will play for 1st through 3rd place trophies
All-stars: 6/10 through [date TBD] where we are inviting local programs to bring their own all-star teams to Cal to play. This is in the works but there will be great opportunities for our all-star teams to improve their skills and compete at a high level.

2024 FALL SEASON

CYFA is offering flag football again in the fall. This fall we are introducing some exciting changes:

Age cutoffs updating based on NFL FLAG changes: The new age cutoff is August 1st, so whatever age your kid is on that date will be their age for fall 2024, spring 2025, and summer 2025. 6u (08/01/2017-07/31/2019 birthdate), 8u (08/01/2015-07/31/2017 birthdate), 10u (08/01/2013-07/31/2015 birthdate), and 12u (08/01/2011-07/31/2013 birthdate).
All games will be played on Sundays just like the spring. Unlike the spring practices will be based on the coach and team's preference. That may mean Sundays before games or throughout the week. Sunday games will be in the afternoon, but if we get very unlucky with weather cancellations we may have to play in the morning. Games are planned for 8/25, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, and 10/6.
Sending our all-star teams to NFL FLAG Regional tournaments. Assuming the team is ready, we plan to send an 8u, 10u, and 12u team to regionals. This will be the first time Cal sends a team to regionals, and will be a great opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the midwest and have a really cool experience for the kids. We will not send a team if they are clearly not ready because that could be a bad first experience for the kids, but our goal is to get the teams ready to have some fun.
Post season training opportunities for all-star teams. Just like spring all-stars getting training in the summer covered by the league, we plan to do the same in the winter for the fall flag all-star teams. The goal is to reward and challenge our best players with opportunity to receive speed, agility, and skill training from incredible coaches.