New Huron-Perth Flag Football League readies for first seasons
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
When Huron Perth Flag Football (HPFF) launched its inaugural season in the fall of 2024, the new league became an instant hit with local families. Last year, almost 100 young people came out to the community soccer fields in Exeter to participate in this modern twist on a classic sport, and the outpouring of public interest has been so strong that HPFF is expanding its 2025 offerings to include an adult league, which will soon be playing on Friday nights. HPFF co-founder David Levinson is excited about the prospect. “Lots of people were asking us if we’re going to start an adult league, and we think we have enough interest to go ahead and do that,” he said.
Last year, when David and his wife Melanie founded HPFF, they were hoping to provide a different sort of sporting experience for their four children. They quickly found that there were young players all over Huron and Perth Counties interested in joining the upstart league. “We don’t have one area that actually dominates our league,” David explained. “We have a really, really, good mix of kids from all of the towns… We just thought that Exeter was the perfect middle ground for Huron and Perth. It’s equidistant to Stratford, Clinton, Goderich, Listowel… kind of like a good middle section so we could incorporate as many of those small towns, and it’s not too far for everybody.”
During that first season, David felt that there was some tremendous growth in the performance of the teams from week to week. “It was really impressive to see,” he said. “For a lot of people, this is the first time ever playing flag football.”
As the collective zeal for full-contact football has faded over the years, flag football has risen in popularity. David, as both a father and a football fan, can see why. “The major difference is that there’s no contact,” he explained. “So it eliminates the issues that parents have with injuries from contact; concussions and all that. You grab the flags, and the player is ‘dead’. There’s very little chance of severe injury. Not ‘no chance of injury’, but it’s drastically reduced.”
Every youth activity comes with its own degree of danger, but David is sure that, when it comes to flag football, the benefits you gain outweigh the risk. “The opportunity to learn teamwork is great for kids of any age. The biggest things that we focus on are teamwork and sportsmanship and community. It’s really important to us that we have a good, competitive league with healthy competition, but it’s more important that it’s a super positive environment,” he said. “We talk about this all the time - being positive and encouraging and helping the kids learn teamwork amongst the teams, but sportsmanship with opposing players as well. That really showed in our first season. We got a lot of comments about the positivity, and the growth of the kids, week after week. And that is what we're looking for….There are some sports out there that are very cutthroat. And competition is good! But sportsmanship and teamwork and giving back to the community - we think that is just as important.”
HPFF has also found a corporate sponsor in NFL Flag. “I just went out to do due diligence on looking for a proper partner, so we can supply good equipment. NFL jerseys, licensed gear with NFL teams, flags - all of that type of stuff. And just securing a proper location that has good fields.”
Community partners are also an integral part of the league’s success, “They’re awesome,” David exclaimed. “They help sponsor the league, so we can keep our fees low for families. That’s a big thing that we're aiming for - keeping entry fees low so all families can participate. We know life is costly - the cost of everything has gone up quite a bit. and for local families to be able to afford that, we want to do what we have to keep fees low. So we have a bunch of local business sponsors, which is great. We’re always encouraging more sponsors!” Current sponsors of the HPFF include Listowel Technology Inc, Blyth Printing, and Ward and Uptigrove Chartered Professional Accountants.
HPFF also hopes to be a thoroughly modern sports league by understanding that families these days can lead pretty hectic lives. They seek to simplify schedules by holding both games and practices on Saturday mornings. “Families are busy,” David pointed out. “To have something that's two days a week with games on the weekend, when you start getting to three days a week, and then have multiple kids, it becomes very, very difficult. That’s why we opted for one day a week, practice and game. It makes it more feasible for people.”
The new flag football league has been running $20 monthly sessions all winter - the next one will be held on Feb. 21 at Between the Lines Sports Campus in Listowel, and all newcomers are welcome. The roster for the upcoming spring season is filling up fast. “What we’re hoping for is, of course, a full roster of kids that is evenly spread among age groups. But anyone from the community who wants to participate can, whether as volunteer coaches or referees.”
For more information, visit huronperthflagfootball.com.