Waving in a new sport Flag football slowly gaining momentum in Rankin Inlet

By Darrell Greer Northern News Services

The husband and wife coaching tandem of Robert Kabvitok and Holly Mercer began their third year of developing flag football in the community of Rankin Inlet this past week.

The program began slowly with flag football being a new sport in Rankin, but really began picking-up in terms of players coming out as the second year drew to a close.

Kabvitok said he and Mercer are hoping the kids who came out to finish year two will continue on with the program this year.

He said, currently, the program is open to boys only, as the sport does tend to be a bit physical at times, although they do let a few girls take part when they’re just having fun and not being competitive.

“Holly and I also have two boys (Kayden Mercer, 18, and Sulurayok Mercer, 13) who we’ve never really had the chance to coach in anything, so we thought why not do something with our boys and flag football came up,” said Kabvitok.

“We’re going with kids 12 to 15 in the program this year and we invite kids who are active in sports.

“We’d like to have it open, but having limited time and equipment makes that too difficult right now.”

Kabvitok said anytime they don’t have a big enough turnout to try a game, they hold a practice and run a number of drills one of their friends sent them.

He said the kids really love doing it, especially when they get to devel- op their own moves to dodge others trying to grab their flag.

“Holly and I didn’t know much about flag football or its rules when we started this, but some people reached out who played it down south, or when they were in school, and that’s really helped us.

“Kayden also checked the Internet the first year, which can be so helpful these days, and got some drills from there which the kids really seem to enjoy.

“The kids who came out last year did talk some football from time to time, but it was mostly the NFL, not the CFL.

“It was really good, actually, to hear the kids starting to talk about football and some different plays they want to try. We’re always open to their suggestions.”

Kabvitok said there are some older kids interested, so he and Holly let them play for about 45 minutes when the younger kids are done. He said the older kids are unbelievable in how hard they compete when playing each other.

“Youth in Rankin are really competitive when it comes to sports and they were the same way when we’d let them play some mini games.

“It would always be close scores and they’d really give it their all to win. That’s always good to see.

“I’m pretty sure flag football can take off in Rankin. We get lots of support here from the recreation department and, as the kids taking part keep telling their friends how much fun it is, I’m sure it will really pick up.

“If we can get someone from down south to come up and do some drills and stuff with the youth, that might also help generate more interest in playing flag football and grow the sport here.”