League Overview:
FLAG Flag Football is a recreational football club. We play on Saturday mornings in the fall and spring. All skill levels are encouraged to participate. We play with flags and try to minimize contact. Our league now has 16 teams, nearly 300 participants, a loyal and growing group of spectators and supporters and we reach hundreds more people through our educational and outreach activities. Through flag football, we foster an environment where LGBTQ persons (a) learn about and participate in a team sport, many for the first time in their lives, (b) build relationships and break down stereotypes between LGBTQ and allied teammates (which are a key to combating stereotypes, homophobia and xenophobia within and outside of the LGBTQ community), (c) share our values with all who see us play, hear us speak, read about us in the newspaper or meet us in the community and (d) create opportunities for exercise for our participants, helping us improve and maintain our health and combat obesity.

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Mission Statement:
The Corporation shall be organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, including:

(a) To promote and educate the public about the sport of flag football in the greater Boston area especially to persons or groups who are traditionally under-represented including members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community (the “LGBTQ community”);

(b) to foster and augment the self-respect of members of the LGBTQ community through the positive enjoyment of flag football and other community activities;

(c) through education and the promotion of sport, to refute traditional stereotypes against members of the LGBTQ community, increase diversity and tolerance within athletics, and engender respect and understanding within the larger community; and

(d) to engage in any lawful activity permitted to be conducted by a corporation organized under Chapter 180 of the General Laws of Massachusetts and exempt from tax under section 501(c)of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Our Current Activities:

• The Fall League: We play our games on Friday nights and Saturdays at the M Street Field in Boston between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Participation is open to the public over the age of 18. Participants are required to abide by pre-established playing rules and a code of conduct. There is a registration. This amount goes towards administration and maintenance of the league including defraying the expenses of the games themselves. We intentionally keep the fee low to ensure that all members of the public are able to participate in the flag football portion of our activities. Low-income people can also apply for a fee waiver. We have limited capacity for participants due to a fixed amount of field space and so we accept participants on a first- come, first-served basis. Anyone who is interested in our league but is not able to participate due to limited capacity may still join us for our other outreach activities. A number of our spectators and non-player supporters are active in the league and regularly participate in numerous league activities. Participants are also required to sign a release of liability. Teams are chosen each year by captains with Board oversight to ensure that all teams are equally weighted with returning and new players and to ensure, as much as possible, that teams are evenly matched. Special events during the Fall League include:

• Clinic Day: A day for new and returning players to participate in skill trainings. We offer intensive clinics on the following topics:

1. Rules of our league
2. Offense
3. Defense
4. Specific clinics for each position (defensive safety/corner, defensive rusher, offensive blocker, offensive receiver and quarterback).

The clinics are taught on a volunteer basis by our captains and Board members.

• Friends and Family Day: While friends, family and the general public are invited to join us as spectators for all of our games, we hold a special event each season to which we specifically invite as many people as possible. The event furthers our charitable purposes by allowing us to educate new spectators about flag football and to promote our purposes of tolerance and diversity to a large group of people.

• The Spring League: We play our games on Saturdays in April and May at the M Street Field in Boston. Participation is open to the public over the age of 18. Participants are required to abide by pre-established playing rules and a code of conduct and sign a release of liability. There is no registration fee but participants are encouraged to donate $10 to the Boston Living Center.

The Clinic Day offered in Fall is repeated on the first day of Spring season and teaching is a key component throughout the Spring season. We stress that the Spring season is a great way for new players to learn the rules of the league prior to playing in the longer, more structured and space-limited Fall League.

• Beach Bowl: This event is typically held over a weekend in August. Each year the league sponsors "Beach Bowl" in Ogunquit, Maine. Participants travel to Ogunquit to promote our charitable purposes to an entirely different group of people by organizing flag football games on the Ogunquit beach. Each year, we receive encouraging feedback from LGBTQ and straight beachgoers who appreciate that we bring our positive message of elimination of prejudice between LGBTQ and straight people.

• Tournament Teams: We strive to organize and send teams national flag football tournaments. Our teams share our charitable purposes with other teams that they meet at the tournaments and reinforce the idea that leagues like ours have great opportunities to educate the community. Participants learn about educational and outreach programs that similar leagues have organized in other cities and share our success stories for adaptation in other places. The league sponsors the registration fee for these tournament teams but does not pay for travel or lodging.

Our Future:

Our goal is to enhance and expand each of our educational and charitable activities in the future:

• Flag Football Education: For the past few years we have had more interest than capacity in our league, both for regular participation and for our educational flag football clinics. We believe that with additional funding we will be able to accommodate as many as 1000 participants in our Fall league and host our educational "Clinic Day" programs for hundreds more members of the public. Specifically, when we are able to expand our numbers and raise funds to cover the costs, we plan to partner with community groups to introduce youth to the sport of flag football. We will teach them basic and advanced skills they will need to play the game and, at the same time, educate them about homophobia and bullying in athletics and help them to break down stereotypes between the LGBTQ and straight communities.

• Volunteer Activities: We look forward to expanding our partnership with the Boston Living Center and other organizations that share our charitable purposes. Our goal will be to identify opportunities for each team to volunteer at the Boston Living Center and for the league to expand the toy drive and other special projects for the Center. Working with the Boston Living Center allows our participants.

• National Reach: The league is very proud of its successes in working to eliminate prejudice while educating the public about flag football. As we press on with our charitable purposes in the Boston area, we believe that we can help groups accomplish similar goals in other cities. We intend to "adopt" a city that is working to develop a league like ours and help them to set up similar educational programs there. We will lend them our organizational support to set up their league, create partnerships with local organizations that share our purposes and assisting them with programs like our Skills Clinic.

• Beach Bowl: The league intends to work with organizations in Ogunquit, Maine to expand our charitable outreach. We will work with the local LGBTQ community to identify additional speaking and educational opportunities while we are there. Ideally our expanded activities will include a football skills clinic for youth and adults, additional football games including more local participants and service projects that promote diversity and eliminate prejudice.