Officials with a fast-growing youth sport in New Canaan say they’re preparing to launch the fall season next month under a number of rules related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
New Canaan Flag Football will require masks of its players and reduce the size of both rosters and on-field teams, so the sport will be 5-on-5 this year rather than 7-on-7, according to town resident Craig Hunt, a senior official in the Recreation Department-sponsored program.
“Let’s get kids out there on the field—safety first,” Hunt told NewCanaanite.com.
“I am excited to get it going,” he said. “I am also a little nervous because New Canaan becomes a very transient community as far as vacation-goers go. If you went to North Carolina, did you quarantine your son or daughter before we start this league? Those are the concerns and I think it’s very important. But if we can get through end of October, I’ll be happy. We just want to give kids the opportunity to have a good time.”
Hunt said he expects New Canaan Flag Football to have 400 participants, and that about half of those are already signed up (registration runs through Sept. 8). Players range from third to twelfth grade, and the league starts Sept. 19.
Additional COVID-related protocols include a recommendation that all players wear gloves (optional for quarterbacks’ throwing hands), no mouth guards (so players are not touching their mouths with hands), six-foot social distancing on sidelines and disinfected game balls.
Hunt said those who helped develop the protocols include New Canaan Recreation Director Steve Benko, Program Manager Steve Dayton and Nick Williams, who long has been involved in the Flag Football program.
A plan to launch a new high school-specific program this year is on hold as varsity league officials have not yet set guidance for the fall season.
News of the Flag Football season’s launch comes as local families wait for the CIAC to determine what will happen with variety sports, including football, this fall. On Friday, the CIAC said it’s working with state health officials to see whether a “modified sports plan” is possible.
Additional new rules for New Canaan Flag Football include no handshaking, hugs, high fives, spitting, parents on the field or sharing of water bottles, officials said.
“We are just trying to establish protocol,” Hunt said.