WALDORF, Md. — Some of the world's best youth flag football players are competing for a championship this weekend, including a team from Waldorf.
"What makes it so special is you take a homegrown kid, somebody who didn't see this going past their county, and now they get to go out and represent for their local football team as a flag football player," Jordan Reynolds said.
Reynolds, general manager of Southern Maryland Youth Flag Football League, says it's been rewarding to see youth flag football grow over the years, but what's really taken him by surprise is how many young girls are embracing the sport. Over 800 kids participate in his league, with roughly 200 of them being young girls.
Maryland flag football players will shine at the NFL Flag Championships
Maryland youth flag football team heads to NFL flag championships
"We saw girls in our area. They were just standing around on the sideline, you know, they were throwing the football, and they were like, 'well, we don't want to play with the boys.' So, you know, Reggie had a great idea. He said, 'you know what, I'm gonna take that leap of faith. I'm gonna step out. And I'm going to make an all-girls division,'" Reynolds said.
"For me, I'm more of the visionary," Reggie Barksdale said.
It is that type of forward thinking that has helped Commissioner Barksdale's league become what it is today.
"My organization, SMYFFL was chosen and selected as NFL Flag League of the Year, out of 2,800 leagues, 48 states and Canada. We're the number one league for large market, as they call it," Barksdale said.
This weekend, a few of his players will be participating in the NFL flag championships, hoping to bring a championship home for their county.
"They put on a very fun event and just to play a game at Canton, Ohio, they opened the doors for everybody there, man. The kids get to visit the NFL Hall of Fame. You get to play the game on hollow grounds up there. You meet kids that are YouTube sensations. I think what makes it more exciting, man, you could turn on ESPN and ESPN 2 and you can see your friends that you get on the bus with playing a flag football game," Barksdale said.
Sunday's semi-final and championships will be aired on WMAR.
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