McAlister and assistants proud of Roadrunners’ 6U Flag team
By Steve Williams
When you’re coaching 4-year olds through 6-year olds in flag football, you need plenty of assistance.
It’s no wonder Coach Anthony McAlister said: “First I want to thank my coaches Cory Anderson, Brandon Winton, and James Ward. They put a lot of time in to help make this season a success.”
The Roadrunners went 8-0 during the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs for an overall 11-0 record en route to the Youth Athletic Conference 6U Flag Football championship.
“We played one of the other Roadrunner teams and won 26-20 after a touchdown run by Kam Anderson as time expired!” said McAlister, who added that Tre Ward also helped lead the way in the finals.
“Keeping them focused and engaged with their attention spans was a challenge as well as finding ways to keep it fun while teaching them the game,” added McAlister, who was a TSSAA Mr. Football (Class 3A) honoree in 2005, following his playing days as a linebacker at Austin-East High.
McAlister said he was most proud of his team for “never backing down from a challenge and fighting through adversity. We were down at halftime three times this year and fought our way back. Other games we were missing key players and others stepped up!”
‘7U RR #ElmStreetBoyz’ take title
The 7U champion tackle team in YAC this season was a scary opponent and Coach Charlie McCaleb referred to his squad as the “7U RR #ElmStreetBoyz” after the movies “Friday the 13th” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
McCaleb’s Roadrunners went 10-0 and defeated the Fulton Falcons 18-6 in the championship game. Tomekian Pennington Jr. led the way and had two of their three touchdowns.
McCaleb said his team had a target on its back and had to “grind all year to be 10-0. Our kids put in to be 10-0. We pushed our guys all year and they responded – it’s what I’m most proud of!”
When asked what was the most “challenging part” about coaching the 7U age group, Charlie replied, laughing out loud: “To keep them focused during practice.”
