My 5 year old son, Kalob, is playing flag football for the first time and I am coaching his team. The league we play in contains kids from K-2 grade. I played football in high school and would be very comfortable coaching kids at that level, however, I was a little concerned about the first practice and what to actually do with the kids. Because they are young kids, you obviously cannot do the same type of drills that you would do with high school age kids. So I had roughly an hour to fill up durring the first practice. I decided to do the following schedule which went pretty well:

6:00 p.m. Jog – Stretch
6:10 p.m. 20 yard dash
6:15 p.m. Three breakout stations

• Passing
• Receiving
• Running Sweeps (our primary play)

6:35 p.m. Chase (Defender starts behind a ball carrier and tries to catch them)
6:45 p.m. Defend (Defender tries to keep ball carrier from scoring)
6:55 p.m. Wrap Up

Overall, I thought it went pretty well. I am learning how to coach kids that are so young. The most enjoyable part to me is the time I get to spend with my son. While I really loved playing the game, I find it even more enjoyable to teach my son and the other kids the game.

If you have any advice on coaching youth flag football, please let me know.