Lady Vipers flag football is coming up this spring, so here’s what you need to know. Tryouts happened on the 21st of February and went through the 23rd of February. There was a good turnout at tryouts, 30 girls participated and 25 made the team. In order to participate you needed to bring your own cleats, shorts with no pockets, and mouthguards. There are also a few things that you could not wear and that is jewelry and artificial nails.

The Viper Times got a chance to talk to the Athletic Director of Verrado High School, Garret Maier. We asked Coach Maier why these restrictions were in place and he stated, “These restrictions are put in place to minimize the amount of injuries caused on the field.”

There are four coaches for the team which include Head Coach Louie Faison, Assistant Coach Terry Barnes, Assistant Coach Sabrina Booth, and Assistant Coach Whitney Lee. These people will produce the game plan that the players will execute to win games and hopefully win a championship.

Some people are playing this for pure enjoyment and excitement for the game, but others are playing this to get ready for their other sports. Getting an injury can ruin their chances to perform well in their other passions, so meeting these requirements is a must.

The season starts on March 2nd and the first home game is on March 7th. The season will be seven games long, and each game will be four quarters with each quarter being 12 minutes long. This season of flag football will be a trial one for the season in the fall. This season is to test the waters and will help us figure out what works and what doesn’t.

To start a game off, each team will provide a captain to do a coin toss at midfield, and the winner of the coin toss will choose to either kick or receive the ball. The receiving team can place players anywhere ten yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The kicking team cannot cross the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked. Kick-offs will only happen during the start of the new half.

On offense, you have four attempts to move the ball into a new zone of gain, end zone, or kick a field goal before it is a turnover on downs. If the offense scores, then they have the opportunity to kick an extra point. This is when you kick the ball through the uprights of the field goal. After the offense scores, there will be no kickoff and the other team will get the ball at their own 30-yard line.

On defense, your goal is to grab the flag off of the player with the ball, but also stop the offense from scoring. Before the ball is snapped, you must start one yard behind the line of scrimmage. When the ball has been snapped, any number of defenders can rush the quarterback, but they have to get around the offense’s block before they can sack them. If the quarterback does throw the ball, defenders can intercept the ball and attempt to run it back for a touchdown.

Vipers, let’s support the flag football team and show up to their first home game on March 7th against Millennium. This game can be a great way for you to connect with others and even tap into your competitive side by cheering on the Lady Vipers against all the rival schools.