More than 550 kids will take the field at Welsh Valley Middle School on Saturday, Sept. 19, when the Narberth Athletic Association's co-ed NFL Flag Football league kicks off its 22nd season.

The league, open to boys and girls in grades 1 through 8, has grown from 60 players in its first year to one of the largest youth sports programs in the Lower Merion area. Players compete across eight fields from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday, wearing official NFL team jerseys in 20-minute halves officiated by local high school students with adult supervisors.

Ken Lehrer, a Penn State alumnus and self-described "big football fan," founded the league in 2005 after his son Jeff showed no interest in soccer and there was no football option for him. Lehrer approached then-Narberth Mayor Tom Grady, who helped spread the word, secured fields and opened his garage to store the league's equipment in those early years.

"When I started the league 22 years ago, I never imagined that it would be here all these years later," Lehrer told Mainline Media News.

It stuck. The league hit 120 players by 2006, 180 by 2007, and now boasts a roughly nine-fold increase over 21 years. Former NAA president Kathleen McNulty helped solve early field-scheduling challenges by working out alternating use of Narberth Field and Welsh Valley Middle School. The league now plays at Welsh Valley.

The high school referee pipeline has become a structured part of the program. The NAA website lists a dedicated referee job page for the fall 2026 season, and adult supervisors assist the student officials on game days.

Flag football's profile is rising nationally. The sport will debut as an official Olympic event at the 2028 Los Angeles Games after International Olympic Committee approval in October 2023.

NAA president Melissa O'Connor leads the organization, which was established in 1968. Commissioner Mary Brown, who also authored the Mainline Media News article profiling the league, and commissioner Jim Brown oversee the flag football program. Families can reach the association at [email protected] for registration details.