Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department
LOWELL — Lowell Police Youth Services, with the support of multiple community partners, is offering a monthlong youth flag football neighborhood challenge to city youth in grades 5 to 8.
Starting on Monday, Sept. 28, both boys and girls will be able to participate in a flag football league organized by Lowell Police Youth Services in collaboration with the Afro-American Community Collaborative, Merrimack Valley Flag Football and Lowell Recreation.
Players will be teamed up based on the neighborhood where they live, and will practice twice a week on weekday evenings, leading up to a one-day championship tournament on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Lowell Police officers and command staff will join community partners in serving as coaches and mentors to prepare teams for competition.
The program provides a healthy, confidence-building experience that also enables youth to experience positive interactions with police and community members, while also having fun.
To register a child for the league, click here.
The neighborhood challenge is one of several initiatives organized by Lowell Police Youth Services. Youth Services programs utilize funding from the Massachusetts Office of Grants and Research’s Shannon Community Safety Initiative, and seek to prevent youth crime by providing youth with healthy opportunities.
Coinciding with the past decade of youth outreach programs involving Lowell Police and other community partners, annual juvenile arrests have declined in Lowell by approximately 70 percent.
