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Flag football games<br>meant more for some

After taking a 24-22 win over Seligman on a chilly and windy afternoon this past Saturday, Grand Canyon Middle School's flag football team felt pretty good about themselves.

The Phantoms had beaten Ash Fork, 42-26, earlier in the day. In fact, Grand Canyon downed the Spartans playing the final three quarters with only seven players.

For a game story, see the following page. You'll find coverage of both wins along with photos and statistics.

I felt the sport deserved good space in the newspaper this week because of Grand Canyon's successful debut with two wins, the close competitiveness of the games against Ash Fork and Seligman, and the excitement it generated for those who were there.

Most of those in attendance were involved somehow with the games as players, coaches, officials or the chain gang. There were of course some parents of the athletes, but also a few volleyball players and a school-board member watching the action unfold.

But there's more to the story than a couple of flag football games. The issue of whether or not to even field a flag football team was hotly debated at a school board meeting last month.

There were those who believed football would lead to injuries. Although Jesse Hunter strained a muscle in the first game vs. Ash Fork, it was not serious and he wanted to come back for the second game against Seligman.

The coach held him out of the second game. Those types of minor muscle injuries can become more serious, especially in cold weather.

An ambulance was called to the school Saturday for a sports injury. But it wasn't football, it was inside the gym where a volleyball player went down with an injury.

There were other opinions at that school board meeting, ranging from football taking away from family time to the sport inflicting psychological damage on students because of football's competitiveness nature.

Since flag football was approved, two other school clubs were given the stamp of approval by the school board, so the family time argument was obviously not much of a factor.

As for being a possible negative experience for students, I witnessed nothing of the kind on Saturday. Sure, the Phantoms won both games but these kids would have handled defeat. Their coaches have experience on the sidelines and the kids themselves exhibit good character.

I believe it's better to give young kids the chance to show such qualities in a possibly adverse situation than not creating those opportunities at all.

There are a couple of other positive experiences to the new sport that you will not find in the story or stats on page 5. Take Justin Henley, the team's center.

Justin is legally blind and it's difficult for sports to be a part of his life. When the chance to play flag football came up, Justin got really excited. He's able to compete as a lineman because of flag football's restrictions on blocking, so there's minimal danger. His parents and coaches must be really proud.

Then there's the student who was failing many of his classes. I won't name him here because the newspaper is no place to report a student's shortcomings.

But when the chance to play flag football became a reality, this particular student started to hit the books. He loves to play the sport and the very fact that he could now suit up for his school motivated him to bring up his grades.

He put in extra work outside of class to bring up his marks and became eligible to play.

I've seen many stories like this around sports over the years. I wouldn't be surprised if there were similiar stories at Ash Fork and Seligman.

Thanks to the school board for giving these students, even it only involves a dozen or so kids, the chance to have some fun on a football field.

Soccer and basketball may be the dominant sports, and that's just fine, but there's nothing wrong with a little competitive football. Grand Canyon Middle School's athletes proved that on Saturday.

(Brad Fuqua is editor of the Grand Canyon News).


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