Flag football just for fun

BY ANN MEAD ASH

Teresa Wiedemer, who coordinates the Challenger Football and Cheerleading program for United Disability Services (UDS), can sum up the goal of the program in one sentence. “It’s a great way for kids with disabilities to meet other kids (with disabilities),” she said. Wiedemer, who took over the program in 2022, recalled the story of a young man who joined the flag football league last year. “In the beginning, the boy didn’t realize how active it was,” said Wiedemer. “He would play a few minutes and then sit down, but by the end of the season, he was playing the whole game.”

UDS Challenger Football and Cheerleading will hold games in the gym at Calvary Church, 1051 Landis Valley Road, Lancaster, on Saturdays from Aug. 5 through Oct. 14 from 9:30 a.m. to noon each session. No game will be held on Sept. 2, just prior to Labor Day.

Non-contact flag football is open to boys and girls ages 8 to 21. “We have volunteer coaches and buddies so each kid who needs one has a helper,” said Wiedemer. “Each kid gets to score, and each gets to kick, and we don’t keep track of the score.”

See UDS pg 5