COED FLAG FOOTBALL A WAY TO PLAY THE FIELD

JoAnn Milivojevic

Sep 10, 2006

QUALITIES OF LIFE: THE GUY

Consider it another kind of fantasy football, where you grab at the waistline of the opposite sex.

And Monday is the last day to land on a roster in the Chicago Sport and Social Club’s football leagues before the club kicks off the ever popular coed flag and touch football season for fall.

Teams can register en masse, or players can sign up solo and be connected to a team still looking for players.

Levels of play range from recreational to competitive, with both flag and touch options. Some 600 teams take to the fields weekly in Lincoln Park and other locales for a little fun, friendship and perhaps a little romance too.

Though the club doesn’t promote itself as a dating organization, it does cater to professionals ages 22 through 35, so what do you expect?

“We’re always getting e-mails saying I met a great guy or girl,” said club president Jason Erkes.

About eight years ago Dave Schueler, now 36, met the woman he would marry, Michelle, through flag football. They played on opposing teams but would see each other in a bar after games.

“The next season we became teammates in a softball league,” Schueler said. Chicago Sport and Social “just made a big city seem so much smaller, everyone was a friend of a friend. It always seemed like you could find something in common no matter who you talked to.”

Another flag football fan, 30-ish Kathy Schwanke, signed up when she moved to Chicago from Indianapolis. She has made some lasting friendships and has been playing on the same coed team for three years.

“There’s some element of fear when a 180-pound guy comes running at you, but the guys are really nice,” she added, “so I would say to the girls, ‘Don’t be shy, and start recreational.'”

While there is no mistaking whether you’ve pulled off a flag, it’s not as easy as it appears. Schwanke said you really have to yank.

Prices range from $85 to $125 per person depending on format, such as number of players on a team, and whether games will have a paid ref.

For more info and to sign up, go to chicagosportandsocialclub.com.