LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — It was a busy Sunday at Lima Central Catholic as the school hosted its youth flag football league.

The three-week program featured kids from first through third grade and fourth through sixth grade, who took part in a series of games Sunday afternoon.

Nearly 75 kids participated in the league, giving young athletes a chance to learn the game while building excitement around the program.

And according to LCC's football head coach Colin Stolly, this is an opportunity to give back to the community and foster the next generation of T-Bird football players.

"Yeah, it's, it's about the community 100%," Stolly said. "I mean, we got a bunch of parents here every weekend watching. Kids invested, our players who are coaching teams invested, our high school coaches, you know, reffing and spotting the ball. So it brings everyone together and it's just an easy way to get a lot of people at the same place centered around LCC football."

Stolly said he has been impressed by the competitiveness the young players have shown throughout the league.

"It's really impressive how competitive a lot of these kids are and how much they want to come out and compete and win," Stolly said. "And we run through drills on Thursday afternoon and practice for an hour, and then we come out on Sundays and play games, and they get to split up each week on different teams with different coaches and play."

He believes the league can help strengthen the program for years to come.

"I think it just helps build the program from the bottom up, trying to get a bunch of kids involved and having fun so that they enjoy football, want to come out in the fall and then come to the games on Friday nights, and then, you know, down the road they're playing football here at LCC," said Stolly.

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