Layla Munroe was having some fun prior to a flag football session on Sunday at the indoors sports complex in Stellarton, where an older sibling was taking part.
Pictou County is one of the few areas in Nova Scotia with no football program in place – at any age level.
Lord, who is passionate about the sport, wants to change that.
“I played football from the age of 13 until I was 30,” says Lord, who played minor football and later, high school ball, in Saint John, N.B. before playing as a senior in the Maritime Football League, where he was a lineman for the now-defunct Saint John Longhorns.
On Sunday, a flag football session took place at the Sobeys Indoor Sports complex in Stellarton, involving 10 kids ages six to 14 – both boys and girls – who learned some of the rudimentary rules of the game and took part in drills that had them catching the ball and getting them used to handling the pigskin.
Lord was one of the assistant instructors as Football Nova Scotia’s Mike Campbell put the kids through skill development with an eye on keeping it fun.
Long-term, they hope the kids will stay with flag football and eventually, perhaps have minor football started in Pictou County.
The free sessions will continue on Sundays, from 3-4 p.m. at the indoor complex.
Even though there is no contact in flag football, Campbell said, the youngsters are still learning the basics of the sport, which can be easily applied to tackle football as they get older.
“One of the beauties of flag football is you only need five to 10 players to make a team,” Campbell said, noting that U9 and U11 flag football programs are growing in popularity in other parts of the province.
Getting kids interested in playing football at the grassroots level is vital.
“We’ve just got to get the interest up first,” Lord said, admitting that it might take a few years to get football happening in the county.
“The more interest we get, the more we can do.”
