Rams Host Flag Football Clinic to Grow the Game
Schools across the CIF Los Angeles City Section and CIF Southern Section are quickly embracing flag football, a sport that continues to gain momentum throughout Southern California. In the Santa Clarita Valley and beyond, communities are adding programs to meet the excitement around the game.
By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
Schools across the CIF Los Angeles City Section and CIF Southern Section are quickly embracing flag football, a sport that continues to gain momentum throughout Southern California. In the Santa Clarita Valley and beyond, communities are adding programs to meet the excitement around the game.
Flag football has exploded in popularity nationwide, with more than 750,000 participants playing under NFL FLAG. The sport serves as a pathway for female athletes to compete in college, while also offering tackle players a competitive offseason option. At its core, though, NFL FLAG continues to provide opportunities for every boy and girl to play football in a fun, fast, and increasingly technical format.
Rams Lead the Way with Annual Clinic
The Los Angeles Rams recently hosted their annual Flag Football Clinic at SoFi Stadium, bringing together roughly 300 coaches, administrators, and officials inside the Rams’ locker room. The session focused on new rule updates, offensive and defensive strategies, and safety measures designed to keep the sport growing in the right direction.
“We want to put everyone on the same page,” said Noel Grigsby Jr., Rams Social Justice and Football Development representative. “Everyone will know which direction we are going.”
Teaching the Fundamentals
Coaches and officials walked through new rules and strategies, with an emphasis on the unique aspects of girls’ flag football. For many, the clinic offered a fresh perspective.
“Although I’ve been a lifetime football fan, flag football is a different game than boys’ varsity,” said Richard Ziegelmann, English teacher and assistant coach for the Legacy High girls’ flag football team. “The clinic did a good job of emphasizing the differences in rules in the girls’ game as well as fundamentals that any coach could use. This information has already been useful for improving our understanding as a program, and we’ve been able to put it directly into practice.”
Ziegelmann added that the clinic stressed simplicity and fundamentals over flashy play-calling: “Sometimes coaches think their role is to come up with unique plays, but the clinic helped me understand how to break the game down so we can teach it to our young women. As our team grows, we can then implement strategies based on our players’ strengths.”
Key Rule Changes
Among the updates this season: games will no longer feature two 22-minute halves but will instead be played in four 12-minute quarters. The clock will stop during penalties, and games will now be played on a 40-by-100-yard field.
“These rule changes will have major impacts,” Ziegelmann said. “The officials gave us information on how they’ll call the game, which gives us a chance to teach our girls the right way. The result, hopefully, will be a purer form of the game with fewer penalties and stoppages.”
A Growing Tradition
For coaches across the city, the Rams’ clinic has become a vital part of building their programs.
“The clinic the Rams put on is always a great opportunity to get new information and ask questions about the rules and different schemes,” said Chad Finch, flag football coach at Bernstein High in Los Angeles. “Noel Grigsby and the Rams organization have been great ambassadors for CIF LA and LAUSD Athletics in this push, now entering its third year of girls’ flag football.”
With energy building across Los Angeles and new athletes joining the game every season, the Rams’ investment in flag football is helping solidify the sport as a permanent part of the city’s athletic landscape.
