Your First Flag Football Practice: The No-Panic Plan

By First Whistle Staff | 2026-06-08

Somebody at the league barbecue said "you should coach" and now you have twelve kids, a bag of flags, and one hour on a Tuesday. Here is exactly what to do with it.

This plan assumes you have never coached before. It works for 6U through 12U. Adjust the talking down and the reps up as kids get older.

Before practice: three things, ten minutes

1. Print a roster and read the first names twice. Kids respond to a coach who knows their name by minute five.
2. Pick your six plays. Not twenty. Six. Two runs, three short passes, one deep shot.
3. Pack it: flags, two footballs (one is always wet or lost), cones, and the play sheet on a clipboard.

Minute 0 to 10: names and flags

Circle up. Say your name, point at the field, and explain the only rule that matters today: when your flag gets pulled, you are down, and that is fine.

Then play flag tag. Everyone wears flags, everyone chases everyone. Last kid with a flag wins. You just taught flag pulling, the hardest defensive skill in the sport, and they think it was recess.

Minute 10 to 25: catching, the right way

Lines of three, ten yards apart, soft throws. Coach one thing only: eyes and hands. Watch the ball into your hands, make a diamond with your fingers for high balls, scoop with pinkies together for low ones.

Every kid should touch the ball at least fifteen times in this window. The kid who drops everything today will catch one in week three and you will both remember it forever.

Minute 25 to 40: routes against air

Teach three routes with cones: the flat (run toward the sideline), the slant (one step up, cut inside), and the go (run straight, fast). No defense, no QB pressure, just run the shape and catch a throw.

Older groups (10U+) can add the curl. Younger groups should master two routes and that is a victory.

Minute 40 to 55: run your six plays

Huddle them up like it is a game. Show the play on your printed sheet, give each kid one job in one sentence, and ask the primary receiver to repeat his job back. Then run it at half speed, then again at full speed.

You will get through maybe four of your six plays. That is fine. The huddle routine is the skill you are actually installing today.

Minute 55 to 60: scrimmage-ish and the speech

Let them play something resembling football for five minutes. Chaos is fine. End with every kid scoring or celebrating someone who did.

Then the only speech that matters: "You were better at the end of practice than the start. Same time Thursday."

Three things to skip entirely

• Conditioning. They are children. The drills are the conditioning.
• Defense schemes. Flag tag plus "stay with your kid" covers 8U defense.
• Yelling across the field. Walk over. Say it to one kid. It lands.

Want the plays handled for you?

Our 5v5 playbook gives you 25 plays with a setup, a diagram, and the single coaching point for each, all age-tagged so you know what your group can handle. Pair it with the wristband cards and your play calling is done for the season.