HEATED competition

The league is inclusive, with recreation and competitive divisions.
By JOSH MOUND
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Just before the game, four grade-school-age boys and two dogs walked toward the makeshift field behind West Elementary School in Youngstown.
"What are you playing? Football?" one asked.
Unbeknownst to the boys, they were about to witness an epic battle. The championship match of Youngstown's Quick Six Flag Football League four-on-four tournament was about to commence.
Kickoff
Jason Moore, the league's director, started Quick Six four years ago. He had played football for Cheney and Youngstown State. When his college years ended, Moore still wanted to participate in some form of the sport. Flag football seemed to fit the bill.
"It's a recreational sport," he said. "But it's also very competitive."
Soon, the league began to expand as it increased in popularity.
"It started out as something to stay in shape," Moore's teammate, Elliott Giles, said. "But it grew into something really big."
With Quick Six, Youngstown has become part of a larger flag-football network.
"It's well known nationwide," Giles said, citing Florida as the capital of flag-football.
Today, Quick Six has two divisions: recreational and competitive. Participants range in age from 18 to 35, according to Moore. He estimates that three-quarters of the players previously have played some form of competitive football; however, it is far from exclusive. The league, particularly the recreational division, attracts those who have never played organized football before.
"The nice thing about it is that it's noncontact," Moore said.
With injuries minimized, participants view the league as an opportunity for competition, exercise and fun.
Playbook
The summer tournament held true to the competitive division's name. Throughout the day, tempers flared and the judgments of the referees were debated.
"The young kids are a lot easier," referee John Wolfe said with a smile, referring to the high school games he also officiates. Yet, even Wolfe gets in on the action, exchanging good-natured verbal jabs with the players in between tossing penalty flags and keeping track of the official game time on his watch.
Games are short, composed of two 14-minute halves. Because no blocking is allowed, and because pulling a flag is easier than making a tackle, teamwork and strategy are paramount. With no coach to call the shots from the sidelines, teams huddle before every play, devising outlandish passing routes in an attempt to disorient the other team.
Despite the occasional disputed call, the games are friendly even in the competitive division. Teammates criticize one another like friends engaged in a backyard grudge match and all is forgiven before the next play starts.
Digital hype
The Quick Six Web site (http://eteamz.com/QuickSixSports) emphasizes the fun of the game's fast-paced action. Frequently updated, the front page greets visitors with thumping music and video clips of recent action.
With so much flash, the site belies the scope of a league in which teams are responsible for providing their own uniforms.
Other sections of the site are devoted to team photos, league rules, game schedules and league standings, among others. Giles, the site's designer, strived to make it as entertaining as possible.
"I like to have people look at [the site]," Giles said.
Touchdown
By the end of the hotly contested summer tournament, the team on which both Moore and Giles play, The Penguins, prevailed. The team they defeated in the final game had traveled from Cincinnati to compete.
When the last whistle sounded, the boys who had stumbled upon the action earlier left their dogs on the sidelines, put on some extra flags that were lying in the grass and tried to persuade the Penguins' players, 15 years their senior, to play just one game against their spontaneously formed team.