Do you have the next Tom Brady in your household or is your child interested in trying out a new sport? Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in this country and FishHawk area residents have a great option for young players in their backyard.
The Under the Lights league is the exclusive youth flag football partner of Under Armor, Inc. and offers boys and girls of all skill levels the opportunity to play in a competitive, confidence-building, noncontact league with weekly games.
According to Josh Celerin, league commissioner for the FishHawk and Valrico areas, Under the Lights started in Valrico in 2018 and expanded to FishHawk in the spring of 2021.
“We are a league that prides ourselves in teaching children how to compete,” said Celerin.
Players are broken up into teams by grade level, and students in pre-K to 10th grade are welcome to sign up.
Sign-ups are currently underway for the winter season, which starts on Friday, January 7, 2022 in FishHawk and Friday, January 14, 2022 in Valrico. Games take place on Friday nights for eight weeks, with teams playing anywhere from seven to 10 games, depending on the number of teams in each age group.
The last week of the season is the playoffs, where teams often play multiple games in order for one per age group to be named divisional champion.
“Divisional champions in our league have the opportunity to register for our national and state tournaments,” said Celerin, who added that past venues for the national and state tournaments have included USF, IMG, UCLA, One Buc Place and Championship SportsPlex of Tampa Bay.
FishHawk resident Greg Monk has coached teams in the Under the Lights program for years.
“It is very organized, and we like the level of competition the league offers,” said Monk. “The league also fosters a great sense of community as many FishHawk families return play season after season and really enjoy the comradery and team building that comes with maintaining a team.”
For more information or to sign your player up, visit uaflag.com and search for the FishHawk or the Valrico location. Winter season games will be played at the FishHawk Sports Complex, located at 16000 FishHawk Blvd. in Lithia.
