Are you ready for some football?
If you’re looking to get off your couch for exercise — except on Sundays, of course — L.A. Flag Football’s weekly pickup games are running for a few more weeks.
The pickup games, held from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays at Fairfax High School, continue through the end of October. Players of all age are welcome, regardless of skill level. Taking part in pickup games is a good way for prospective league players to get a feel for the game.
The group’s spring league, which allows players to form their own teams of seven or to be placed as “free agents,” hasn’t been firmly scheduled yet but will probably kick off after the Super Bowl.
Like other area sports leagues, the flag football organization formed as an LGBT-welcoming group.
For Chase Kinser, the league brought his two worlds together. Before he joined the league, he had gay friends and he had sports friends — but the two groups didn’t overlap. The league gave him an opportunity to meet like-minded LGBT people who share his interest in sports.
Kinser and L.A. resident Ralph Sansano, another L.A. Flag Football organizer, stress that the group isn’t just about athletics but also community. The most important thing, Sansano said, is creating a bond among players, who often go out for a drink together after a match.
“We’re friends after the game is over,” Kinser said.