We have had our athlete play flag football for many years. When he got to the age to try out for school sports in middle school, we found he wasn't fully prepared for the next level of competition. All the years/seasons he has been playing in different flag football leagues (and we have tried them all), there weren't many rules that would prepare him for the next level of competition (7 on 7, tackle, school sports). We decided to add the rules we could, while still staying on the safer side of being flag football.
We also knew we weren't getting the best experience. Parents want the best for their kids. The same vetting should go into the league you are putting your child in. Does your current league have the best rules (ask your athlete's coach). Do they go the extra mile for your athletes like providing shade for them on game day or giving them a place to sit on the sideline? Or do they not care? These are some of the things we saw missing and decided to change.
You can skip below to see a quick summary of our rules or read on to find out even more about our league rules.
QB football release time: Standard in youth leagues is 7 seconds. It doesn't matter if you are 5 years old or 14 years old. It doesn't change. However, once in school sports and professional sports, the average time a QB must release the ball is around 3 seconds. Going from a slower paced 7 seconds, to all of a sudden a huge drop to 3 seconds, wasn't preparing athletes for what was to come. We took action to change this so we could help our son and other athletes like him who love playing football! We slowly remove one second at a time based on their grade division. Our rules state the QB has the following amount of time to pass the ball to another teammate: 1st-4th Grade: 7 seconds, 5th-6th Grade: 6 seconds, and 7th-8th Grade: 5 seconds. This can help prepare our CAMO SPORTZ athletes better for a faster paced game that is inevitable should they choose to play in 7 on 7 or tackle football.
QB can run when getting rushed: This is not standard in most leagues even though quarterbacks can run in high school tackle football and beyond. Our rule to help prepare our CAMO SPORTZ athletes is to allow the QB to run with the ball when a rusher crosses the line of scrimmage. This applies even in the no-run zone.
Option to punt on 4th down: This is not common in most leagues. We have added this rule to our league in order to help our CAMO SPORTZ players get used to a standard rule they will face in high school football. The offensive team may elect to punt on 4th down. Our 3rd -8th Grade divisions all can elect to punt on 4th down. Our 1st-2nd Grade division will have their football placed on the receiving team’s 5-yard touchback if a punt is elected.