Livingston Falcons Flag Football needs volunteer coaches. Be like Bruce.
September 6, 2023 | Park County Dugout
By Jeff Schlapp
If I had my choice of coaches to choose, for one championship game in Babe Ruth or Little League baseball, I would choose Bruce Lay. He has a gift, a way of connecting with youngsters. The gift of humor mixed in with coaching, tends to make everyone around him relaxed and able to play better. And he uses his gift to give back to the Livingston community by volunteering to coach the youngsters, as he’s doing with the Livingston Atlanta Falcons Flag Football League.
“I love it,” Lay told me. “You have your hobbies that you love to do, this is mine – coaching. It’s fun but I don’t want to give the idea that its not organized. I’ve been coaching for 20-plus years. In the past I’ve been an assistant football coach at Park High. If practices are not organized the kids will feel that out and not have fun and in turn not learn the fundamentals of the game.”
Through the Livingston Recreation Department, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has sponsored a flag football league here in Livingston for free, for the kids to be able to participate in flag football as a way to grow the sport and give an opportunity to the kids to play and learn the game of football. It also helps them discover football at a young age. Kids in 3rd-6th grade can join and player evaluations (everyone make a team) are on Wednesday, September 6th. Practice begins September 13th-October 18th, and games will be played on Saturdays at McLeod Field, beginning September 16th-October 21st.
But Maggie Tarr says the league need at least three more coaches.
“We can use more people like Bruce (Lay),” Tarr said. “When people talk about the Rangers and how the program needs to grow in numbers to get better, that’s probably true in some sense, but we started out with 75 kids in flag football and have grown our participation every year. Its thanks to people like Bruce and other coaches and volunteers like him who help. We need new coaches who can step up and help us out.”
So tonight is your opportunity. Be like Bruce. Volunteer. Give back. Help the youth of today be the future of the Rangers.
If you can coach or volunteer to keep stats or set up the fields contact Maggie at: (406) 223-2233 or visit: https://www.livingstonmontana.org/rec/page/volunteer-interest-form.
Story by Jeff Schlapp | Park County Dugout