As a freshman at Richard Stockton College, I’m new to everything it has to offer. Finding friends is a little tough when you’re the new guy on campus. Upon arrival I knew I wanted to stay active, just like I did in high school. Besides wanting to stay active, I needed to, due to my new college eating habits. Miraculously one day I ran across an old friend whom I played baseball with many years ago. He invited me to play flag football on his team for the fall sports season. I was in!
Our team was called the Dirty Birds. It consisted of four friends from my hometown and five new kids I was introduced to. They all took me in like I’ve known them forever, since I was the only freshman on the team. I didn’t know what to expect when attending our first game. I played football in high school, so I thought this would be a less competitive, just for fun kind of league. Boy was I wrong! This was one of the most competitive experiences I’ve had in my life. Since Stockton doesn’t have an actual football team, I guess all the kids who played football in high school joined this flag football league. Every game was intense. Some almost wound up in fistfights, but someone was always there to calm the situation down.
The referees are also very official. I thought the league wouldn’t have referees and the teams would call the shots. But the men in black and white stripes were on their game. They knew the rules inside and out. One game there was even instant replay footage for a boundary line call. They also have yellow flags just like any football referee, which I had the lucky experience of being struck by one. They are surprisingly heavy.
Our season ended very abruptly. We lost our first playoff game to a team we previously beat. Before this game we were the only undefeated team, out of a league of 30. All in all it was a great season, I met new friends, and I sure am looking forward to next year!