2027 Calgary Jr. Cardinals Flag Football League
NINETEEN GAMES. TWO CONFERENCES. ALL LEVELS.
JR. CARDINALS
FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE · CALGARY, AB · NORTH AND SOUTH
19 GAMES · 10 GAMEDAYS · 7 DIVISIONS · 2 CONFERENCES · 1 NFL CLUB
Who you’re signing up with
flag league in Canada
on your side of the city
We built this in Calgary in 2026. Year two is bigger, and closer to home.
Contents
CHAPTER 01
01 THE LEAGUE
Nineteen games. Two every gameday.
In 2026 we partnered with the Arizona Cardinals to launch the first youth flag football league in Canada with direct investment from an NFL club. Over six hundred kids played that first season.
For 2027 the league splits into two conferences so families are not driving across the city every weekend. North plays Saturdays at a site in the northwest. South plays Sundays at a site in the southeast. You pick your side at checkout.
Your athlete is evaluated on Draft Day in March, placed on a balanced team, then plays a full season with standings, stats, playoffs, and a Championship Day that brings both conferences together.
TWO GAMES EVERY GAMEDAY, AND YOU ARE DONE IN TWO HOURS
Your athlete warms up with their team, plays two games back to back, and you are home. Nineteen games across the season.
BEGINNERS TO ADVANCED, ON BALANCED TEAMS
A first-time player and a kid who has played for years both belong here, and that works because of how teams get built. Every athlete is evaluated on Draft Day, and we build the rosters off those ratings so the teams come out even.
There will still be a first place team and a last place team. We either win or we learn. Our coaches are there to help players handle both.
A COMPETITIVE LEAGUE
Stats and standings kept across the season and published to your team. Regular season finish sets your seed, and every team still plays on both playoff weekends, so nobody’s season ends early. Regular season playing time is split roughly evenly across every athlete on the roster. In the playoffs our rule of thumb is that no player plays more than 70% of a game, and no player plays less than 30%.
THE CARDINALS PARTNERSHIP
The Arizona Cardinals invest directly in this league, and they make at least one appearance on the field during the season.
CHAPTER 02
02 THE SEASON
Draft Day to Championship Day.
You’ll know your gameday and your window before you register, and your conference stays the same all season.
SATURDAY MARCH 20
Draft Day
- Indoors, both conferences together
- Our coaches run your athlete through drills and live reps
- Rated by our coaching staff on the day
- Teams built off those ratings, so they come out even
- Jersey, belt and flags handed out
- Rosters within 48 hours
MAY 1 TO JUNE 20
Regular Season
- 8 gamedays
- Week one is a coached practice and a game
- Two games every gameday after that
- 5-on-5, official NFL FLAG rules
- Stats and standings kept all season
JUNE 26 TO JULY 10
Postseason
- Conference playoffs at your own site, Jun 26 and 27
- Every team still plays, whatever their seed
- Championship Day, Sat Jul 10, both conferences on one site
- A champion in every division, and consolation games alongside the finals
- Awards, and their season stats to keep
The season, weekend by weekend
| North, Saturdays in the NW | South, Sundays in the SE | |
|---|---|---|
| Draft Day | Sat Mar 20, both conferences, indoors | Sat Mar 20 |
| Game 1 | May 1 | May 2 |
| Games 2 to 8 | May 8, 15, 22, 29, Jun 5, 12, 19 | May 9, 16, 23, 30, Jun 6, 13, 20 |
| Conference playoffs | Jun 26 | Jun 27 |
| Championship Day | Sat Jul 10, both conferences on one site in the NW | |
Your window
North runs 9:00 to 6:00 on Saturdays. South runs 8:00 to 4:00 on Sundays. Your athlete is on the field for a two-hour block inside that window, and we confirm your block after Draft Day, once we know how each division has filled.
CHAPTER 03
03 WHAT'S DIFFERENT
Year two is a different league.
We ran the first Jr. Cardinals season in Calgary in 2026 with over 600 kids. Here is what we changed for 2027, and why.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you play | One site. Everybody came to the same park | Two conferences. North plays Saturdays in the northwest, South plays Sundays in the southeast, so you stay on your side of the city |
| Games | 7 games, one a gameday | 19 games, two a gameday. Week one is a coached practice and a game |
| Your gameday | A practice on grass, then one game on turf | Two hours on site: a 20-minute warm-up with your team, then two games back to back |
| The season | Draft Day Mar 28, games Apr 18 to Jun 6 | Draft Day Mar 20, games May 1 to Championship Day, Sat Jul 10 |
| Divisions | U6 to U16, co-ed | Same, plus a girls U18 division, running in both conferences |
| Age groups | Calendar birth years | NFL FLAG August-to-August windows, the same ones used at the national championships. Check the table in Chapter 07, your athlete’s division may have moved |
| Mouthguards | We supplied them | Families bring their own. We sell spares at the front desk, and nobody plays without one |
| Wednesdays | Team practice. Half skill work, half installing your team’s plays for Saturday | Separation Wednesdays. A separate, optional program. Every minute is skill development, and no team scheme at all. Ten evenings at two sites |
What it costs, per game
The season costs more than it did last year. It is also more than twice the football.
| Season price | Games | Per game | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $399 + GST | 7 | $57.00 |
| 2027 | $599 + GST | 19 | $31.53 |
| 2027, U6 | $449 + GST | 10 | $44.90 |
A game costs about 45% less than it did in 2026. U6 plays one game a gameday, so U6 is priced separately at $449.
CHAPTER 04
04 THE COACHES
Interviewed, paid, trained, background-checked.
EVERY TEAM HAS A PAID HEAD COACH
Your athlete’s coach is someone we interviewed, paid, trained and background-checked before the season started. They know football, and they are there every single gameday. A parent volunteer works alongside them all season, so there is always a familiar adult on that sideline.
HIRED, NOT VOLUNTEERED
Every head coach completes Making Head Way and NCCP Safe Sport, does RAW coach training, and holds a Vulnerable Sector Check before they stand in front of your kid. They commit to the same day and the same block, every gameday, all season. That consistency is the thing we hire hardest for.
IF A COACH IS AWAY
One of our swing coaches steps in, trained and screened like any head coach. We do not hand a team to whoever is standing nearby, and the parent volunteer on each team stays the same all season.
CHAPTER 05
05 THE CARDINALS
Your athlete plays the season in Cardinals colours.
An NFL club, in Calgary.
- First of its kind in Canada. The Arizona Cardinals are the first NFL club to launch a junior flag football league north of the border. Calgary is where it started, and for 2027 it runs in Edmonton as well.
- Direct investment from the Arizona Cardinals. This is not a licensing deal or a logo rented for a season. That investment goes into the quality of the league your athlete plays in.
- They show up. The Arizona Cardinals come to at least one gameday in the season: Big Red, the cheer team and more, on the field with your athlete. Not a logo on a jersey. The club, in person.
- A route to nationals. Kids out of this league have played the NFL FLAG Championships in Ottawa in Jr. Cardinals colours, and our U10 team made nationals in 2026. There is also an all-star team to try out for, with a road through the regionals, which runs as a separate program.
- Official Cardinals colours. A reversible NFL FLAG jersey in Arizona Cardinals colours, plus belt and flags. Theirs to keep at the end of it, not a loaner you hand back.
CHAPTER 06
06 WHAT YOU GET
What your registration includes.
- A paid head coach. Someone we hired, paid and trained, there every gameday, plus a parent volunteer on every team.
- Nineteen games. Two every gameday, inside a single two-hour block.
- Draft Day and even teams. Every athlete rated on the day, and rosters built off those ratings.
- Stats, standings and a real playoff. Published to your team all season, and every team still plays on both playoff weekends.
- Championship Day. Both conferences, one site, a champion in every division, and awards.
- A Cardinals gameday experience. Two paid referees on every game, live stat keeping, announcers, athletic therapists on site and more.
- The Cardinals at a gameday. Big Red, the cheer team and more, on the field with your athlete.
- A city champion in every division. Players can also try out for our all-star team and its route to NFL FLAG regionals and nationals, which runs as a separate program.
- Jersey, belt and flags. Official reversible NFL FLAG jersey in Arizona Cardinals colours. Theirs to keep.
-
2027 Calgary Jr. Cardinals Flag Football League
Price range: $449.00 through $999.00-
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
CHAPTER 07
07 DIVISIONS
Seven divisions, two conferences.
We use the NFL FLAG age windows, which run August to August rather than by calendar year. Two birth years in each division.
The Divisions
Seven divisions, two birth years in each.
Your gameday
Two hours on site. A 20-minute warm-up with your team, then two games back to back. U6 plays one game and is always in the first block of the day.
U6 plays one game a gameday, always in the first block of the day. Everyone else plays two.
Girls U18 is girls only, and runs in both conferences.
There are 600 spots in the league for 2027. That is what our confirmed field bookings carry. If we secure additional booking times we will open more, but 600 is what we can promise today. Each division has its own share of those spots and closes when it fills.
CHAPTER 08
08 SEPARATION WEDNESDAYS
Ten Wednesdays of position work and live reps.
Gamedays stand on their own, so a family can sign up for the season and nothing else. Separation Wednesdays is a separate, optional program for the athlete who wants every tool to maximize their development.
Every session is built around skill development
Each session is designed to maximize your athlete’s skill development, working in a position group inside their age band.
What every session covers
This is the same way we run RAW camps in seventeen cities, built down to a two-hour weeknight.
- Position specific development. Every player works an offensive and a defensive position with a position specific coach, building the tools that position actually needs.
- Movement skills. Speed and running mechanics, agility and body control, so your athlete moves better in every position they play.
- Flag football skills. Every player works the skills the whole game runs on, including pulling flags, juking and catching.
- Team play. Players learn scheme and build a real understanding of how to succeed in a team environment.
- Competition. Players go against each other in one-on-ones, five-on-five and other competitive drills built to teach them how to win when something is on the line.
It goes back with them
What they work on Wednesday shows up on the weekend, and it stays with them after the season ends and they go back to their own school or club team. Flag football is on the program for the 2028 Olympics, and it is being added as a U Sports sport. The athletes who maximize their development now are the ones in position for those opportunities.
| When | 10 Wednesday evenings, 2 hours each, early May to mid-July |
| Where | Two sites, one in the northwest and one in the southeast. You go to the one nearest you, not across the city on a school night |
| Who | Jr. Cardinals league players, U8 to U16 plus girls U18 |
| Bands | U8 and U10 · U12 · U14, U16 and girls U18 |
| On site | Hired, trained and background-checked coaches, and an athletic therapist every session |
| Price | $400 plus GST, added to your registration at checkout |
You can add Separation Wednesdays at checkout. If you have already registered for gamedays and want to add it, email flag@rawsports.ca and we will send you the link.
The Jr. Cardinals
What this league is, in about a minute
This is the league your athlete is signing up for. Same jerseys, same Cardinals partnership, now split into two conferences. Calgary season two starts May 1.
* This video was made before the 2026 season, so some of the details in it are specific to that year.
CHAPTER 09
09 QUESTIONS
What parents ask us.
What kind of football do they actually play?
5-on-5 under official NFL FLAG rules, the same rules used at the national championships. A play ends when someone pulls a flag off a belt, so there is no tackling and no blocking. Every player on the field is an eligible receiver, so your kid has an opportunity to catch the ball no matter what position they play. U6 and U8 play a version built down for those ages.
Does my kid need to have played before?
No. Beginners through advanced are all welcome and they all play in the same division. Our coaches make sure first-timers are brought up to speed without losing their confidence, and they help experienced players keep growing. Teams are built off the Draft Day evaluation so they come out evenly matched, which is what keeps the games close.
Which conference are we in?
You choose at checkout. North plays Saturdays at a site in the northwest. South plays Sundays at a site in the southeast. We confirm the exact site once the City confirms our bookings. Most families pick the side of the city they live on, and your conference stays the same all season.
How long is our gameday?
Two hours. Your athlete warms up with their team, then plays two games back to back, and you are done. North runs between 9:00 and 6:00 on Saturdays, South between 8:00 and 4:00 on Sundays, and we confirm your two-hour block after Draft Day once we know how each division has filled.
What happens on Draft Day?
Saturday March 20, indoors, both conferences. Our coaches run every athlete through drills and live reps and rate what they see. We build the teams off those ratings so they come out evenly matched. Your athlete gets their jersey, belt and flags on the day, and you have their roster within 48 hours.
What if we miss Draft Day?
Tell us. We will send you a short form about your athlete’s experience so their coach has something to work with, and they are placed on a team like everyone else. They do not lose their spot.
What happens in week one?
Week one is a little different. Your athlete gets a coached practice first, then plays one game, so they get real time with their team and their coach before the games start counting. Every gameday after that is two games back to back.
Can my athlete play with a friend?
You can name one friend when you register, and we will put them together where we can do it without unbalancing the teams. We cannot promise it, and it is one friend, not a group.
Will my kid actually get to play?
Through the regular season every athlete gets roughly even playing time, and our coaches are directed to attempt to get the ball into every player’s hands in every game. Playoffs are different. Our rule of thumb is that no player plays more than 70% of the game, and no player plays less than 30%.
What if their coach can't make it one week?
We carry swing coaches at every site for exactly this, and they are trained and screened like any head coach. The parent volunteer on each team stays the same all season, so there is always someone on that sideline who knows the kids.
What happens if the weather is bad?
We play in rain and cold. Play stops for lightning or smoke, and we also have to follow facility closures and guidelines, which are the venue’s call and binding on us. Every other decision to delay, shorten or cancel a gameday is made by RAW Sports leadership, never on the field. We message every affected family as soon as the call is made, and we only message the conference affected, so a Saturday closure in the North does not change the South’s Sunday. How a lost gameday is handled is set out in our league policies.
What if my kid gets hurt?
We have an athletic therapist at your site every gameday. They decide when an injured player returns, and nobody else does. Suspected concussions follow the Canadian Guideline on Concussion in Sport: the athlete comes off, does not return that day, and needs a Medical Clearance Letter from a doctor or nurse practitioner before playing again.
Does my kid need a mouthguard?
Yes, and families supply it. Every player wears a mouthguard, every game. We sell spares at the front desk, so nobody is turned away, and nobody plays without one.
What do we bring?
Cleats or runners, a water bottle, a mouthguard, and shorts or joggers with no pockets. Pockets are a safety hazard when someone reaches in to pull a flag, and they can catch fingers too, so NFL FLAG rules do not allow them. Your athlete gets their jersey, belt and flags on Draft Day and keeps all of it. After that, bringing it every gameday is on them.
How do I pick their jersey size?
You pick the size when you register. Every jersey is ordered in one bulk order, so once it goes in we cannot exchange or resize. There is a sizing chart on the registration page. Check it before you pick. If you need to change a size after registering, email flag@rawsports.ca before February 1, 2027. After that date the order is locked.
What does the $599 cover?
Everything on the gameday. A paid head coach, ten gamedays, nineteen games, Draft Day, your jersey, belt and flags to keep, referees, stats, standings, playoffs, awards and Championship Day, and an athletic therapist at your site every week. The league is sanctioned by Football Alberta. U6 is $449. The first 75 players save $75 with code CALGARY75. If cost is a barrier, KidSport helps Alberta families with registration fees. Worth a look before you rule us out.
What if we have to withdraw?
On or before March 6: full refund less a $75 administration fee, or take 100% in RAW Sports credit and we waive the fee. March 7 to March 19: 50% cash, or 100% credit. From Draft Day until the second gameday: RAW credit for the gamedays remaining, less the fee. After the second gameday: no refund. Injury with a doctor’s note is handled separately. Full details are in our league policies.
What about photos and video?
We have a photo and video crew at both sites on gamedays. You will be asked about photo and video permission when you register. If you would rather your athlete not appear, say so there and they will wear a wristband each week so our crew knows to leave them out.
When does registration close?
There are 600 spots in the league for 2027, which is what our confirmed field bookings carry. If we secure additional booking times we will open more. Registration closes two weeks before the first game, and each division closes when it fills.
Who do I email?
flag@rawsports.ca. A real person on our staff will get back to you.