Flag football: Marin Heat holding tryouts this weekend at COM

The Marin Heat, a youth flag football club, is holding tryouts for both girls and boys ages 9-14 at College of Marin baseball field from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

The Heat is a competitive travel flag football club put together by C.J. LaBoy, Graham Jenkin, Mike Zlatoper, and Joe Sheeline.

“We’re all girl dads and also had sons playing flag and tackle football at Southern Marin Broncos,” said LaBoy, who is also an NFL agent. “So we all came together and put together Marin Heat. It’s probably been in the works for a little over two years.”

LaBoy initially started his own club so that his young sons Ryker and Ronin could keep playing after their Next Level Flag Football seasons were over. Two Marin-based clubs — Marin Elite and the original Marin Heat — merged earlier this year to form the current club.

Flag football has been growing in popularity in recent years, with several middle schools and high schools around Marin now fielding teams. Novato, San Marin, Terra Linda, San Rafael, and San Domenico are among the Marin high schools with flag football programs.

LaBoy said that more than 200 kids have registered for this weekend’s tryouts so far, with about 70 of them being girls. Registration is set to close on Thursday night or Friday morning. The club is planning a makeup tryout at 4 p.m. on Nov. 1 at a location to be determined. Registration information can be found at marinheat.com.

“Registration is very simple and doesn’t cost anything,” LaBoy said. “Everyone is going to get a fair player evaluation. We’re looking for great kids with good attitudes who are excited about playing flag football.”

Games are five-on-five with each player wearing two flags. The playing field is about one-third the size of a football field – 30 yards wide with the end zones on each sideline. Games are played with two 10-minute halves.

The club aims to play in one tournament a month between February and June or July. Marin Heat teams have competed at recent tournaments in Santa Cruz – where a 12U team placed first and a 10U playing up in 12U finished third – and at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Three of the four Marin Heat teams won their tournaments in Santa Clara, according to LaBoy.

The club is set to compete at a big tournament in Phoenix next month, followed by another one in Dublin in December. The club plans to send a couple of teams to the World Championships in Tampa, Fla. early in 2025.