British Senior Flag League AGM Details

27th January 2002

The BSFL held their AGM two weeks ago, and there were a number of changes implemented, notably a new 5-on-5 league which will be played on an informal basis.

If you wish to request a team pack then main seniorflag@hotmail.com with your name and address and one will be sent to you.

Here are some of the main points:

2002 League Season

The 2002 league season will run from June through to September. The BSFL finals day will be played on Sunday 8th September 2002 at Coldham's Common in Cambridge. As in 2001, the semi-finals and final will be played on the BSFL finals day.

The format of flag football that the BSFL encourage is 9-man contact flag football. We hope all teams will be able to field a 9 man side, but recognise that some teams will have difficulty in consistently fielding 9 men, therefore a provision has been made to enable teams with fewer players to play 8 or 7 man football.

The competition to decide BSFL champions in 2002 will be a series of regional 3-team tournaments with each club hosting one tournament. The current aim is to have an 8 game regular season, with each team playing 4 tournaments. Each team will host one tournament.

There will be two conferences (North and South) as was in 2001, and there may be an opportunity for inter-conference games.

The final format and fixture list will be sent out in the first week in April, and then confirmation for the fixtures will need to be received by the end of April.

Ages of players

All players must be over 16 years of age to play and be insured for BSFL matches.

Flags, balls

The league recommends the "popper" type of flags, but if you have ready access to other types of flags (e.g. velcro), then this is not a barrier to joining the league.

The BSFL have investigated the best and cheapest source of flags, and are offering all teams the opportunity to order direct from the league as long as your order is received by the 31st March 2002. By doing so we will hopefully be able to negotiate volume discounts by bulk buying. We will be ordering our flags from Forelle BV, as they have offered us the cheapest quote: £5.66 per set of popper flags before discounts and P&P. A form to order flags from the league is included with this team pack.

Registration procedures and costs

The BSFL are offering new teams the chance to join the league for a nominal £10 registration fee. If your team played in 2001, then the registration cost is £20. Registration fees MUST be received by March 31st to participate in the BSFL season in 2002.

The player/officials registration fee is £3.00 per person in the 2002 season. Although the price has gone up it is still a very cheap sport to play and the annual cost is incredibly low compared to other sports. It was clarified that if a player was also an official then he should pay just the one fee.

5-on-5 tournaments

There is considerable interest in the 5 on 5 non-contact game, and to back this up the BSFL will be introducing a 5 on 5 league in 2002. The BSFL 5 on 5 league will be played on an informal basis.

All clubs will be asked to host one tournament (it is not a mandatory condition though) and all local clubs in their area (affiliated or not to the league) as well as all the other BSFL teams will be invited to attend. It is not mandatory for any BSFL teams to attend any of these tournaments, although the more the merrier.

The first tournament will be played in March in Birmingham, and the BSFL 2002 league season will finish with the Beach Bowl in Bournemouth in December. The North Devon Dogs will also be asked to host a tournament in the summer in Barnstable.

The final table will be deciphered by totalling up all the results from the various 5 on 5 tournaments played throughout the year. To be eligible for the championship, a team must have played in at least two tournaments.