SportsKlub to adopt FLAG rules

A new era of fast-paced, non-contact football coming to Orillia in Spring 2026

Braeden Price scrambles during a flag football game in 2019 at the West Orillia Sports Complex.

SportsKlub Football announced today that it will officially transition from its long-running two-hand touch format to NFL FLAG rules and game structure beginning with the Spring 2026 season, marking the most significant evolution in league history.

The move aligns SportsKlub with the fastest-growing version of football in North America, a format built around speed, skill, and safety, while preserving the strategy, competition, and excitement that have defined the league since its earliest days.

Under NFL FLAG rules, football remains fast and physical without contact. There is no tackling, blocking, diving, or screening. Instead, every player wears a belt with two flags, and a ball-carrier is “tackled” when a defender cleanly pulls a flag from their waist. The ball is ruled dead the moment a flag is pulled, the ball-carrier steps out of bounds, the ball touches the ground, or any part of the player’s body other than their hands or feet touches the turf.

Games will be played in a 5-on-5 format, creating wide-open, high-scoring football where every player is eligible to catch a pass. The field will measure 30 yards wide by 65 yards long, with 10-yard end zones on each side and a midfield line that creates a new set of downs.

Each team will start possessions on its own five-yard line and will have four downs to cross midfield. Once across midfield, offenses will have three downs to score a touchdown. If a team fails to reach midfield, they can either go for it or “punt,” handing possession to the opposing team at its own five-yard line.

A quarterback has seven seconds to release the ball after the snap. Once the ball is handed off, pitched, or lateraled backward behind the line of scrimmage, that time limit disappears and any player can throw a forward pass. Quarterbacks may not run across the line of scrimmage with the ball, but they can hand it off and then become eligible receivers.

On defense, a maximum of two designated rushers may pressure the quarterback from a seven-yard rush line, and all rushers must identify themselves before the snap. Once the ball is handed off or lateraled, any defender may rush.

Scoring follows traditional football structure: touchdowns are worth six points, safeties two, with conversions from the five-yard line (one point) or 10-yard line (two points). Interceptions can be returned for touchdowns, including on conversion attempts, and backward passes intercepted behind the line of scrimmage can also be advanced for scores.

Penalties are enforced with a simple standard: all offensive penalties result in a loss of down and yardage, while all defensive penalties result in an automatic first down, ensuring the game remains fast and fluid.

Players will wear flags and belts, shorts, cleats, and optional gloves. The format has rapidly become one of the most popular forms of football in North America, especially among youth and female athletes. Girls’ flag football is now sanctioned at the high school level in many regions, and in 2021 the NAIA, NFL, and Reigning Champs launched the first college-sanctioned women’s flag football league, a sign of how quickly the sport is expanding.

By adopting NFL FLAG rules, SportsKlub Football is positioning itself for the future, keeping the game fast, competitive, and safe, while opening new pathways for player development, and community growth.