Available Programs

2023 Spring NFL Flag Football Season

PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION IN FULL BEFORE PROCEEDING EVEN IF YOU HAVE BEEN WITH US BEFORE AS WE HAVE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE 2023 SPRING SEASON (para la versión en español haga clic aquí)

About Us

We are a 501c3 family-oriented league and are dedicated to bringing families together, strengthening relationships, and building new ones, all-the-while teaching players football fundamentals and opening up a safe and competitive environment to play non-contact football.

Our mission is that anyone who wants to play ball, will indeed play whether they can afford it or not. We have never turned a child away due to financial hardships and our goal is to never do so.

We are open to the public, so anyone from anywhere can register. However, we organize by school as much as possible so kids from the same schools and in the same grades are on the same teams unless there is a special request.

Our Pre-k to 4th grade divisions are co-ed. Our 5th grade and higher divisions are separated by gender. Our All-Girls Divisions are currently the largest All-Girls Flag Football Divisions in the North/East/West Bay Area. This season, our All-Boys Division will go as high as 8th-Grade, while our All-Girls Divisions will stretch into High School. We do not anticipate having an All-Boys High School Division until further notice.

Coaching

"A coach will impact more people in one year than the average person will in a lifetime," Billy Graham

Our amazing volunteer coaches are the backbone of The Coach Sarna League. We may have 1,000 kids who want to play, but we need the coaches in order to form the teams and play. This season, we are taking all people who are willing to be trained as coaches, either head coach or assistant coach, to a three-day coach conference in Concord, CA from March 3rd-5th, to be trained by NFL and Collegiate coaches. We will also be teaming up with the Coach D Organization in Denver, CO who will virtually meet with all of our coaches 1-on-1 for playbook review, playbook development, and develop an 8-week practice plan for your team(s).

We are going to do everything in our power to have the best training for coaches so that everyone, whether you are a first-time coach who is new to football or have coached football for decades will learn and grow under our program. If you or anyone you know are willing to be trained as a head coach or assistant coach on a team of 8 kids at any level, please call Coach Sarna immediately at 707-316-3029.

Also, coaches who coach all day will receive free food at concessions during gameday for you and your family and will also receive TWO Crab Feed Tickets for our 2024 Crab Feed Fundraiser ($180 value). This includes if you were an all-day assistant coach or head coach or a mix of the two.

NOTE: It is important to remember that we are a volunteer-based league, and we rely on families and friends for coaching. In the event that we have more teams than coaches, some teams will be dissolved in order to maintain the integrity of our league.

SCHOLARSHIPS

There are three ways to receive a scholarship.

Anyone who is willing to become a head coach (HC) can ask for our Head Coach Scholarship that will pay for the registration and optional additional gear (NFL shorts, NFL gloves, NFL sleeves, and NFL socks) for your player(s), a $165 value per child. This includes any of your friends or family that you recommend becoming a head coach on behalf of your child's team. This is because some people may not be able to coach, but know someone who would such as an uncle, auntie, friend etc.

The second way to receive a scholarship is to become an Assistant Coach (AC) for a team and you will receive a half-scholarship. Just as the head coach position, if anyone from your reference becomes an assistant coach for your child's team then you can claim that AC Half-Scholarship.

The third way is to commit to volunteering at one of our professional fundraising days where we operate concessions stands as a team at either LEVI Stadium, UC Berkeley, or the Oakland Arena and you will receive a full scholarship. If you commit to volunteering at two or more professional fundraising days then we will also pay for all of their optional gear, such as NFL socks, shorts, gloves, and sleeves. Events that we volunteer to operate concessions stands as a group include 49ers games, concerts, soccer games, monster truck rallies, and other events held at the three listed institutions.

Of course, we understand that there are special circumstances that may prevent a family from fulfilling one of the three options. In that case, please call Coach Sarna to discuss at 707-316-3029. We maintain our promise that every child who wants to play will indeed play regardless of their financial circumstances.

Volunteering:

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, if your company or school gives paid volunteer time or hours, anything you do for our league can be claimed as volunteer time. We have high school students volunteer in concessions and officiating and it counts towards their mandatory volunteer hours for school. We also have people whose workplace pays them for volunteer hours and their coaching/concessions time is compensated by their workplace.

Our league solely operates off of volunteers, including coaches. There is currently no paid staff. If you are able to help coach, be certain to fill out the coach registration form under the registration tab on our website or during registration. If you know a relative or friend who may be willing to coach, then share our website and direct them to fill out the tab. We will train any and all coaches regardless of experience.

Other ways to volunteer:

Concessions Stand: We need people to help operate the concessions stand every division of every week. This helps us fund the league and keep our costs low so everyone can play. You can volunteer for your child's playing time or another time when they are not playing. You can do one division or all day, it is up to you.

Professional Fundraiser Days: These are events where the adults of our league operate concessions stands together at LEVI’s Stadium, UC Berkeley, and the Oakland Arena. Volunteering at these events with family and friends who are 18+ is the best way to financially support our league outside of donating.

Set-Up or Tear-Down Crew: Setting up the fields and tearing down the fields every week can be a daunting task for one or two people. Therefore, we will be looking for volunteers to arrive early (7:30 am) to set-up the fields and clinics. We will also need some from the later divisions to stay after we are finished (usually around 5pm) to pack everything up in an organized manner.

Donate Food every week for concessions stand or help purchase an equipment item needed. For a list of what items, you can buy and donate every week, please click here.

Team Parent: This includes a mid-season gathering for your team and an end-of-year team party where certificates and treats are passed out (we provide NFL certificates). It is not the duty of any coach to organize such gatherings, it will be on the parents of each team to make these important, fun, and relationship building events together. These gatherings do not include the regular family events we organize such as movie nights at the park or coach's vs player games. How much relationship building the children experience is solely connected on the team parents who work together to invite the team over and plan other events for your team.

$5 Club: Field costs, maintenance, insurance, and gasoline alone cost our league over $20,000 per year as of right now. To date, our league has given approximately $35,000 in scholarships to families who were not in position to pay. We are a high-quality, yet low-cost league and rely on our volunteers, concessions, and donors to make The Coach Sarna League happen. In response, we are asking all of our families to join our $5 Club, which simply means that you will commit to setting up a monthly donation of $5 or more through either your bank, Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal. It may not seem like much, but if enough parents do it, we will be able to cover many expenses.

2023 Spring Season Schedule:

Our 2023 Spring Season will begin on Saturday, April 15th with a Skill Building Clinic at LEVI's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, and end on June 10th with a break for Mother’s Day weekend on May 13th and Memorial Day weekend on May 27th.

The evening of Saturday, April 1st will be our pre-season coach training in Benicia from 2pm-8pm. Coaches will have an online meeting on Friday, April 14th on Zoom from 6pm-8pm, and another gathering/meeting on Friday, May 5th for a mid-season training/review from 5:30-8:30, and again on Friday, June 2nd for a Coach Appreciation Dinner and Award Ceremony in Benicia.

We will have divisions from Pre-K through High School. Pre-K to 4th will be co-ed. All-Girls Divisions will be from 5th grade through High School. All-Boys Divisions will be 5th-8th Grade.

All games will be on Saturdays at the PAL Fields on 301 Wallace Avenue, Vallejo, CA. We will have a clinic at LEVI Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, on April 15th.

All orders come with an NFL Flag Football jersey that will be picked up on Jersey Hand-Out Day on Saturday, April 8th at the Benicia Community Park from 9am-12pm. We will most likely have a large pop-up fundraiser event with vendors and activities. Any optional gear that you ordered during check out will also be distributed on April 8th along with the jersey.

DISCLAIMER: NFL Flag jerseys run small. If you order an incorrect size, whether on accident or not, and need a replacement jersey, you will need to pay a mandatory $25 replacement fee and wait several weeks for the new jersey size to come in, absolutely no exceptions will be given. I recommend ordering one-size up from their current shirt size and staying with it to avoid the mandatory fee and delay.

Equipment:

As noted above, all registrations include a reversible NFL team jersey. We suggest ordering a size higher than what you think your child wears. Jerseys will be sent to us and dispersed on Saturday, April 8th.

Gear that you must purchase on your own (can purchase during check-out which will help fund our league): Mouth guard, athletic shorts, and any-type of football or soccer cleats (no metal spiked baseball cleats). NOTE: We strongly recommend that you purchase the optional NFL gear at the checkout of your registration (shorts, socks, sleeves, gloves, and footballs) as this will not only make your player look way more awesome but will also help fund our league (The NFL Flag shorts run small). Purchasing during registration is also the most affordable as we are able to keep the price down at the registration check-out.

Our Commitment:

The Coach Sarna League is a public 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It is our promise that every child who wants to play ball will play regardless of financial resources. If there is a hardship and you need a scholarship, please contact the league prior to paying for registration.