Iron Eagles
NYO Flag Football 2026
Coaches: Brad Stevens & Jim Hlavenka
Team Moms: Cindy Stevens & Malinda Hlavenka
Sassy Practice Siblings: Harper & Ella
Team Moms: Cindy Stevens & Malinda Hlavenka
Sassy Practice Siblings: Harper & Ella
💬 Group Text: Click your name to send a group text to the others
Launch GameChanger 
See schedule below and when Brad/Jim will be available/traveling.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jun 28, 2026 Sunday 8:00 PM |
K/1 Flag Coaches Meeting + Zoom Call
K/1 Flag Coaches
General overview of the coaching process, key dates, and Q&A for first-time coaches. Brief ~15 min Zoom call to lay out what to expect.
|
| Aug 2, 2026 Sunday 3:00 - 5:00 PM (Flag) 4:30 - 6:30 PM (Tackle) |
Coaches Clinics
Tackle Coaches
Flag Coaches
Instructional sessions for coaches only. Separate sessions for tackle and flag leagues.
|
| Aug 3, 2026 Monday ~4 hours |
Mandatory K/1 Flag Coaches Meeting + Player Training Camp
K/1 Flag
Flag training camp for K/1 players (1.5 hrs) followed by mandatory in-person coaches meeting. Budget approximately 4 hours total for the day.
|
| Aug 4-6, 2026 Tuesday - Thursday 5:00 - 7:00 PM |
Training Camp
Tackle Only
Player safety instruction, proper techniques, light conditioning, and heat acclimation before tryouts. Flag players do not attend.
|
| Aug 8, 2026 Saturday Morning / Early Afternoon |
Tryouts / Player Evaluations
All Players
Full equipment. Players weighed, timed, and participate in contact drills. Divided by grade into morning or early afternoon sessions. Specific arrival times emailed to parents beforehand.
|
| Aug 11, 2026 Tuesday 5:00 PM |
Make-Up Tryouts
All Players
For players unable to attend Aug 8. Attendance at one of the two tryout dates is mandatory for draft eligibility and season participation.
❌ Jim out of town
|
| Aug 16, 2026 Sunday TBD |
Parent Meeting
Parents
Time and location to be determined.
|
| Aug 16-17, 2026 Sunday - Monday |
Player Draft
Coaches Only
Starting with 1st grade, players assigned to teams via draft. Only coaches attend. Parents notified by drafting coach with practice plans. Practices expected to begin immediately after draft.
|
| TBD — |
Team Leadership Meeting
Team Moms & Dads
Meeting for Team Moms and Team Dads. Date to be announced.
|
| Aug 28-29, 2026 Friday - Saturday |
Games Begin - Flag
Game Day
K/1st Grade Flag
First games of the season for kindergarten and 1st grade flag divisions. New for 2026: season starts the week before Labor Day.
|
| Aug 31, 2026 Monday |
Games Begin - Tackle & Upper Flag
Game Day
2nd - 6th Grade
Regular season games begin for 2nd through 6th grade divisions. No games scheduled on Labor Day weekend.
❌ Jim out of town (Aug 30 - Sep 5)
|
| Nov 16, 2026 Monday |
Championship Games
Playoffs
Playoffs conclude with championship games across all leagues.
|
| Nov 19, 2026 Thursday |
Peach Bowl (All-Star Games)
All-Stars
All-star competition for 3rd grade and above participants.
|
| Date | Event / Notes | Brad | Jim |
|---|
Useful Links
- NYO Football 2026 Season Info →Official NYO website with full season details
- 2025 Tryout Details →Reference from last year's tryout process
- 2025 Tryout Drills →Video of tryout drills from last year (Facebook)
Practice Location
Sutton Middle - 6th Grade Campus
4360 Powers Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30327
🍦 Post-Game Ice Cream
Chastain Creamery
164 W Wieuca Rd NE #3, Atlanta, GA 30342
K1 Flag Football League Rules
NYO Flag Football • Commissioner: Ernie Wetzler • Updated June 28, 2026
What is K1? The K1 league is for Kindergartners (the "K") and 1st Graders (the "1"). First graders go through a tryout and draft process. Kindergartners are randomly assigned to teams (coaches can also recruit kindergartners directly).
1. Sideline Behavior & Conduct
- Coaches set the tone. If coaches stay calm, assistant coaches fall in line, then parents follow.
- If you see a parent acting up on your sideline, tell them to cut it out.
- Avoid the cascade: assistant coach barks, then parents bark, then it's chaos.
- Mission statement: Create a good experience for the boys and parents so everybody comes back next year.
"It's K1 football where we don't even keep score."
2. Dealing with Referees
- Standing rule: "The ref is always right, even when they're wrong."
- K1 refs are often new/training refs. Have grace ... they'll make mistakes and call things inconsistently.
- DO NOT yell at the ref during the game. Talk to Commissioner Ernie afterwards.
- Chain of command: Coach → Ernie (Commissioner) → Russell → Rodney
- Refs only make $50/game. Yelling at them usually doesn't end well for the coach.
- Commissioner Ernie is an ex-GHSA football referee himself, so he takes the officiating standards seriously.
- Pre-season meeting planned with refs to review rules. Email Ernie with any issues from last season to add to the agenda.
3. Scoring Rules
- K1 does NOT keep score during regular season.
- End-of-season coaches poll ranks teams for playoffs. Commissioner averages all coaches' rankings plus his own observations.
- Playoff bracket seeded from this poll. Last year, 24 teams with almost no upsets through the first two rounds ... coaches' evaluations were spot on.
- Every touchdown counts as 1 point only, regardless of extra point conversion.
- USE extra points to get bench players, late-round draft picks, and kindergartners their moment. They don't know the difference between an extra point and a touchdown.
"When they score, make a big deal. Ice cream. They'll remember it forever."
- A rising 8th grader still talks about a TD Ernie got him from the half-yard line in 5th grade. That's what kept him coming back year after year.
- For many of these kids, this may be the only touchdown they ever score. Make it count.
4. Tryouts, Draft & Team Assignment
- 1st graders go through tryouts and a coach draft process. Tryouts are the main opportunity to evaluate players before the draft.
- Kindergartners are randomly assigned to teams. Coaches can also recruit kindergartners directly.
- Before training camp, coaches had no chance to evaluate kindergartners at all and could only see 1st graders at tryouts (or remember them from last year).
- Training camp (new this year) gives coaches their first real look at the kids before tryouts.
- Player Evaluations/Tryouts: August 8
- Make-Up Tryouts: August 11 (5:00 PM)
- Draft Day 1: August 16
- Draft Day 2: August 17
5. Coach Certification
- If flag certified last year, you're good to go. No need to recertify.
- If only tackle certified, you must take the flag certification.
- New coaches must complete certification via link in Commissioner's first email.
- Certification applies to head coach AND all assistant coaches on field/at practice.
- Covers: CPR, heat exhaustion, flag-specific rules.
- Deadline: Mid-July.
6. Safety & Equipment
- Headgear is REQUIRED ... either soft helmet or padded headband.
- The clumsy/uncoordinated kids need it most. They're the ones who can't stop and cause collisions, not the athletic kids.
- Commissioner's son preferred the headband because the helmet got too hot.
7. Practice Rules & Scheduling
- K1: 1 practice/week + 1 game. No exceptions.
- 2nd grade: 2 practices/week + 1 game.
- Schedule ALL practices on GameChanger so everything is transparent and accountable.
- Commissioner is working to get GameChanger access to monitor practice counts.
"It's a small community and it gets back to us very quickly."
- Use ONLY allocated NYO practice fields. Don't find private practice space ... creates ill will.
- Double-duty coaches (K1 + 2nd grade) get scheduling priority. Can stack practices back-to-back or spread across different days.
8. Game Schedule & Season Structure
- K1 games: Fridays and Saturdays
- 2nd grade games: Monday through Thursday
- NEW for 2026: Season starts the week before Labor Day
- First K1 games: August 28-29
- First 2nd grade games: August 31 - September 3
- No games on Labor Day weekend
- 5th/6th grade starts the traditional week of Labor Day
- This gives 9 weeks for an 8-game regular season ... buffer for rainouts and fall break.
- 2 weeks of preparation before first game.
- Goal: every team plays all 8 regular season games.
9. Fall Break & Makeup Games
- Proposed open makeup slot: 4:15-5:15 PM on Fanning around fall break week.
- For K1 missed games: not a big deal since no score. Better to have a 4v4 or 5v5 friendly scrimmage than stress over rescheduling.
- If you don't have a full squad, don't count that game toward the coaches poll.
10. Halloween Policy
- Halloween falls on Saturday this year.
- No games on Halloween.
"If we do, we'll have bigger issues."
- If it's the only makeup slot two coaches agree on, 9 AM is OK ... but anything late morning or afternoon is trouble.
11. Training Camp (August 2) — NEW
- New this year. Sunday August 2 at ~1:30 PM (coaches meeting at 3:30 PM).
- Location: Fanning field, split half for 2nd grade, half for K1.
- Purpose: First chance for coaches to lay eyes on kids before tryouts. Previously coaches had zero visibility on kindergartners and only saw 1st graders at tryouts.
5 Stations:
- Station 1: Running/Speed ... Heats of 5-6 kids. Winner of each heat sits out, remaining kids re-heat. Winners race each other at the end. Also work in a Simon Says snap drill: coach snaps the ball and kids can only go when they hear "hike." Half the battle of flag is going when the ball moves and stopping at the whistle.
- Station 2: Flag Pull Cone Drill ... 2 kids at a time, start facing each other, run around a cone 3.5 yards away, then through a small tunnel of cones where one pulls the flag. For K1, run two groups simultaneously to minimize standing around. Max 7 yards apart (matches game defense distance). Keep kindergartners safe from collisions.
- Station 3: Zigzag Cone Drill + Catch ... Zigzag through cones, catch a pass from the coach, throw it back. This is exactly what they'll do at tryouts ... pre-exposure here speeds up the actual tryout day significantly.
- Station 4: Blocking/Agility (King of the Hill) ... Cone 3 yards behind the offensive player. Blocker shuffles feet to keep defender off the cone. Hands inside or behind back. Can run multiple groups at once if you have enough coaches. Same drill used in 3rd grade tackle tryouts.
- Station 5: Throwing/Receiving ... Everyone throws once to a coach. Then everyone runs a 7-yard button hook and catches it (make sure they run the ball back to keep the line moving). Last 5 min: pull a few standout kids from each group to throw to kids running the button hooks.
- Head coaches run the stations. Assistant coaches roam and take notes.
- Pair similar skill levels together. Don't match the athletic kid with the one who has trouble walking.
- SignUpGenius coming for station assignments.
- Staffing: 3-4 head coaches per station. Groups of ~40 for K1 (10 kids per station with 4 coaches), ~25 for 2nd grade.
- T-shirts for every kid at training camp.
12. Far Sideline Proposal (Under Discussion)
- Proposed: Both teams' coaches on far sideline, like basketball.
- Coaches box: 5-10 yards from end zone to 5 yards from midfield, both sides.
- One coach on field at all times (doing majority of coaching). Four subs.
- Physical barriers (trash cans) to enforce boundaries.
- Benefits: Away from parent distractions, can focus purely on coaching.
- Risk: Need cooperation so coaches don't chirp at each other across field.
- NOT an official rule yet. Under discussion for 2026.
13. League Overview & Growth
456 Kids
38 Teams
180 → 456 since 2021
- More flag players than tackle players league-wide.
- ~70-75 kids couldn't be accommodated this year due to field and coach limitations.
- 4 more K1 coaches still needed. Referral fee: Commissioner buys you a beer.
- Additional field space being secured (Windsor Parkway location in discussions). More space than last year. Hilltop status TBD. Josh handling field logistics.