Cedric Peerman, a former nine-year NFL veteran, Pro Bowler and a current assistant football coach at Northwood, is bringing a flag football league to the area.
Flag Football Elite, a league organized by Peerman and backed by NFL Flag, will offer kids aged 4-17 the opportunity to play five on five games in the Chatham County, Chapel Hill and Durham areas. The Chatham seasons will have one-hour practices and games played at Northwood High School with the first early spring season kicking off on Feb. 22 and ending on March 29.
Registration for the early spring season in Chatham County will close on Feb. 12. Both practices and games will be held on Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Those who are interested can go to Peerman Flag Football Elite > Home and register for a fee of $165. The league also has scholarships available.
“Our hope is to just grow the game of football through the game of flag football here in Chatham County and throughout the surrounding community,” Peerman said. “We see a need for another outlet for the youth in our community.”
The league will have six age groups for ages 4-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17. Each age group will have four to six teams.
Peerman is also encouraging girls to sign up, especially with the growing popularity of girls’ flag football around the country. The league will be co-ed for now, but Peerman envisions having an all-girls league someday.
“Girls’ flag football is a huge opportunity in this area because there’s nothing for girls here yet regarding football at all,” Peerman said. “I’m really hoping that parents see that as an opportunity, and I hope the girls in our county see that as an opportunity to come out and try it out for a season. If it’s not for you that’s fine. Flag football won’t be for everyone, but I have no doubt you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll have fun doing it.”
Peerman wants the league to help kids develop and learn the basic fundamentals of football, but he wants to mostly emphasize the “fun” and interpersonal aspects of the game.
“We’re going to try to make it as fun as an atmosphere as possible,” Peerman said. “We want it to be all about fun, but we also want the kids to learn how to compete, and we want them to learn to have good sportsmanship while you compete.”
Chatham will have four more seasons after the early spring season ends in March. There will be a late spring season from April 26 to May 31 (registration open until April 16), a summer season from July 12 to Aug. 16 (registration open from March 15 to July 2), a fall season from Sept. 13 to Oct. 18 (registration open from June 1 to Sept. 3) and a winter season from Nov. 8 to Dec. 13 (registration open from Oct. 1 to Oct. 29). The Durham seasons will start with the late spring season in April and will run on the same playing and registration timeline as Chatham for its summer, fall and winter seasons. Durham practices and games will be held at Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill.
“This league is for everyone, and we want to make it available for everyone,” Peerman said.