Taking into account a shared goal of growing relationships within the community, Santiago Canyon College and former NFL quarterback Vince Ferragamo have partnered to establish a flag football league for youngsters, with the games being played at Santiago Canyon College.
The Ferragamo Flag Football League, a noncontact football league for boys and girls of all skill levels in grades 1 through 8, kicks off a four-week summer season starting July 19. An eight-week fall season will follow beginning Sept. 6.
The mission of the new league is to bring communities together through football in a way where children are taught the mental and physical approach to the game while having fun.
“The coaching that the kids are going to receive through this program is going to be top-notch,” said Jose Vargas, vice president of communications at Santiago Canyon College. “Every kid is going to have to play. Every kid is going to benefit from it.”
The collaboration stems, in part, from Rancho Santiago Community College District’s commitment to establish more partnerships with community groups, as announced in January by Rancho Santiago Community College District Chancellor Marvin Martinez.
The idea for a flag football league came about when SCC President Jeannie Kim, after learning that the NCAA was sanctioned for women’s flag football, reached out to Ferragamo about forming a flag football program at the college.
More than a dozen NAIA colleges have women’s flag football, and the sport will debut in the Olympics at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
Girls flag football is also an official sport at high schools throughout the state.
Since retiring from professional football, former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo, a longtime resident of Orange County and an SCC Foundation board member, has served the community through the Vince Ferragamo Foundation, a nonprofit that has raised funds for the Special Olympics and other youth sports programs.
“They came to me and wanted to know about the idea about having a flag football league in conjunction with the college, and I said yeah, that sounds like a great plan,” Ferragamo said. “So, we’ve developed what we think is going to be one of the premier flag football leagues.”
Santiago Canyon College’s two lower soccer fields will be divided into four flag football fields where games will be played.
“It’s a great venue,” Ferragamo said. “It’s right at the college, so they have the field, they have the lights, they have all the amenities and the facilities.”
The league is expected to consist of 24 teams, divided by age group, with a roster of eight to nine players per team.
Former NFL players will serve as league administrators and coaches, Ferragamo said.
“I think through their experience and the knowledge that we can impart, not only to the kids but to the parents to watch their kids grow and mature … we want that learning experience to be fun,” the Super Bowl quarterback said.
The cost of the four-week summer session is expected to be $100 per player and the eight-week fall season could cost $175 to $200 per player.
“We want to keep it as low as possible because we want to make it as accessible to as many kids as possible,” Vargas said.
Through decades of philanthropic work with nonprofits, including the past 30 with the Special Olympics, Ferragamo is confident that the league will secure sponsorships.
The league also gives SCC a great opportunity to showcase the campus to the community, Vargas said.
There might be many community members who are aware of Santiago Canyon College’s presence, but have never been on the campus, he said.
They don’t know what we do,” Vargas said. “They don’t know all the services that are available to them, and we really want the community to think of Santiago Canyon College as their community college, that it belongs to them.”
A long-term plan is to provide training for game officials, who would then have the opportunity to earn money officiating games, Vargas said.
“I’m personally very excited to have been tapped on the shoulder to work with Vince on coordinating this because it’s big,” he said. “I think a lot of kids are going to benefit from it.”