Saturday, Oct 15 will be an exciting sports day for Taos County youth and families: The Questa Independent School District and Village of Questa have partnered with SMART Sports NFL Flag to host an NFL Flag Football clinic for area youth ages 5 to 16. Several retired NFL players will be flying in that weekend to help with the event.
The flag-football clinic is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Questa High School and football field. All those wishing to attend must register before 8:30 am and the clinic will go until noon. SMART SPORTS NFL Flag clinic combines football drills and fundamentals with guest speakers, life-skills sessions, and loads of fun. The clinic is FREE if you register by Monday, Oct. 7. Free transportation for Taos-area players is in the planning stages.
The clinic is also a new market launch for the SMART Sports Questa NFL Flag League, which will serve Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado in late Spring 2023. This month’s clinic is a great opportunity for families to gather information and register their children to play in the league, which will be in Questa. This new co-ed league will be a 6-week league that supports youth ages 5 to 16.
“NFL FLAG is dedicated to creating more opportunities for female athletes to participate in flag football,” the NFL Flag website noted. “We know that the game will only get stronger with the more girls who play. In addition to implementing girls-only leagues and tournaments, we’ve also teamed up with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and RCX Sports to make women’s flag football a sanctioned college sport for the first time in history.”
“We are excited to bring the NFL Flag to the Questa. I salute the leaders in the community for their extraordinary commitment to youth education, health and wellness. It’s an honor to work collaboratively with everyone to not only grow the game of football but to create lasting memories for northern New Mexico area youth,” said Kelly Mehrtens, Founder of Smart Sports located in Maryland.
The NFL FLAG stamp of approval is the ultimate sign of quality. It is the official flag football league of the NFL. With 1,600 teams and over 500,000 youth athletes, NFL FLAG is the largest, most recognized flag football organization in the U.S. – and the only one where players wear official NFL gear.
“One of my goals as Mayor is to have more opportunities for our youth in Questa,” said Mayor John Ortega. “This is a great start to achieving that goal. I am really happy that Smart Sports decided to bring the NFL flag league to Questa. I look forward to a long-term partnership with Kelly and Smart Sports. Youth from Questa and all surrounding areas deserve this. Sports and Leadership go together.”
So all families can experience the positive benefits of playing sports, SMART SPORTS have partnered with NFL FLAG, Every Kid Sport and Kit Carson Electric so that athletes from income-restricted families who qualify will receive $140 toward their registration cost! So it will only cost $10 to play in the SMART Sports NFL FLAG league in the Spring.
“This is so exciting for our area youth and adult sports fans!” said Red River Mayor Linda Calhoun. “Smaller towns are often overlooked in national partnerships. We are so proud of our good neighbor Questa in earning this NFL flag site. Thank you to Kit Carson because this is good for business. Red River is working promptly now to help with transporting youth for the clinic.”
To register or more information call Questa Schools: Julie at (575) 586-0421.
