My son played and I coached flag football in the Farm League for five seasons, and if I could give zero stars, that would be a more appropriate rating. Over the course of those five seasons, we saw the Farm League deteriorate into the absolute worst youth sports organization imaginable. The Farm League is literally the worst youth sports organization and environment that I have EVER seen.
I will start by saying the facilities are nice and well maintained. And our first couple of seasons in the league were ok. Then it got progressively worse up to the point were our last season was a complete nightmare for our son and my family on the sideline who were always caught in the middle of all the chaos and ignorant and ugly behavior.
Starting at the top, there is a complete and obvious unwillingness to address any problems, a complete disregard for player safety, and a lot of attitude and disrespect and even threatening language in publications when addressing coaches and parents. I have personally received phone calls and numerous emails that are loaded with threats and just general craziness. It is very clear to me now, that all they care about is their bottom line.
There is also blatant corruption and cheating going on between the refs and the top. If a coach coaches multiple teams, or coaches multiple sports, they are a preferred coach and are going to receive favorable calls from refs that are backed by the league. The refs in this league often don't seem to even know their own rule book and some are also incredibly disrespectful to the coaches and even the players. It has gotten so bad, that depending on who you play, there is no more fairness in competition and the outcomes of some match-ups are completely predictable.
There is a general racist undertone that exists in this league and it is very prevalent on the sidelines among some of the parents and families. I have seen and experienced parents and coaches making racial slurs and generalized stereotypical comments to other parents and players, in front of the kids, and the near physical confrontations that have almost ensued. I have never seen such poor behavior from coaches and parents at a youth sports league in my entire life, and hopefully never will. It is like something straight out of a movie. There is also a fair amount of alcohol consumption that goes on during games, which I think contributes to a lot of the hate and bad behavior. Some of the coaches that are coaching main stays in the Farm League flag football program are the absolute worst that I have ever seen. There are people coaching in this league who are completely obnoxious and out of control, and who are in it for the wrong reasons. I have seen and experienced coaches trash talking other coaches and players, yelling at each other and cussing in front of the kids and coaches and parents almost fighting. I know there have been numerous complaints, yet the league will not address the issue. You would not want your son playing on a team with close to half of these coaches.
My review mostly speaks in generalities, but I could write literally pages of text if I were to copy and paste emails and tell my personal stories of the absolute craziness that I experienced as both a parent and a coach of this league. All of the chaos really created a stressful environment for our son, and his last season was not at all fun for him. By the end of the season, he was no longer looking forward to his games and didn't even want to play anymore, because the environment there is so bad. When the season ended, my wife and I decided it was time to take a step back and re-access our affiliation with the Farm League, because we dont feel like we are getting out of this whole thing what we hope to, anymore. And for us, him having fun and continuing to improve as a player is our only objective. As parents, isn't that what we are all hoping for in a youth sports program; our child having fun, learning the game and being able to do it all in a positive environment?
There are other flag football leagues in the north Houston area - find one. We did, and we will never go back to the Farm League. Trust me, you do NOT want to be involved with this league. read more