Friday Night Lights-Desert Sands

Congratulations to our 2023 Spring Playoff Champions and Finalist

First, we want to thank all our Desert Sands Families for you unwavering support and keep the flowing in improvement ideas. The best way you can compliment us is to come back and participate in our upcoming FALL season.We are proud of the value based youth sports league we are developing. It is all about developing the youth of our community through the fun sport of Flag Football.

We are especially grateful for our generous sponsors including: I 10 Toyota for the diaper drive, Palm Springs Porsche & BMW, for the Mother's Day Flower's, CrumbL cookies, La Quinta and Chick-Fil-A Palm Desert for the "Catching Kids doing things right" recognition program" (free cookies and meal rewards) for "on the field" and "off the field" excellence and of course our Title sponsor Eisenhower community health center who's been with us from the onset for almost 9 years!

Call out to our Referee crew. You’re our largest line item, but worth every dollar. It’s not easy for high school/college students to call it as you see it, and at times stand up to adult criticism. We make mistakes, but I can 100% assure you their doing their best and their #1 priority is the safety of our players, fairness of play, and they do not have a stake in the outcome. I invite all of you to offer constructive feedback, attend our Ref training sessions, and our week review meetings (designed to review new issues and drive continuous correction and improvement). Better yet, I invite you to put on the stripes and ref a game. It’s a tough job.

We had some  epic games in our spring 2023 "single elimination" playoffs. These teams' have earned the right to represent DesertSands at our annual Tournament of Champions (TOC entry fee funded by the league).  Good luck and make us proud!

FNL Here's the final results:

1st & 2nd Grade- Champion:

LSU – coach Albert Houge beat Penn St – coach Loui Rodriguez

3rd& 4th Grade Platinum:

USC – coach Anthony Gonzales beat Purdue – coach Phil Tanner

3rd & 4th Grade Gold:

Cal – coach Manny Bustamante beat Notre Dame – coach Jimmy Juarez

5th & 6th Grade Platinum:

Colorado- coach Anthony Aguirrebeat Michigan-coach Rob Tanner

5th & 6th Grade Gold:

Nebraska coach Mawhinney beat Cal-coach Alfred Franco

7th-8th Champion:

BYU- coach Daniel Carter beat Florida- coach Ethan Horne

Do Not Forget to Register Now and Save $ for Fall Season running Aug-Nov.

Co-Ed Regular League- link below:

https://desertsandsfnl.leagueapps.com/leagues/flag-football/3903246-dsfnl-fall-2023-registration

All Girls Division- Link below:

https://desertsandsfnl.leagueapps.com/leagues/flag-football/3909119-dsfnl-fall-2023-registration---all-girls-new

We appreciate all of you and we are committed to building a Family Friendly, value based organization, and the best YOUTH sports league in the Valley!

Stay cool and enjoy your Summer!

Tom Roche and John A. Maldonado

Commissioner Friday Night Lights

www.desertsandsfnl.com

760 636-8266

Spring Regular season winners- Congratulations and Please stop by the FNL booth to pick up your Trophies!

Start the conversation with your Families to see if invited would they like to attend the TOC in Los Alamitos Sat June 3rd 10am-10pm. Playoff Champions and Finalist get the 1st invites and then we go to the regular season 1st and 2nd place finishers.

1st & 2nd:

Red Division – 1st place Colorado Anthony Aguirre

                      2nd place LSU Albert Houge

Blue Division – 1st place Utah Ryan Quigley

                       2nd place TCU Richard Romo

3rd & 4th:

Red Division – 1st place USC Anthony Gonzales

                       2nd place Colorado Anthony Aguirre

Blue Division – 1st Place Purdue Phil Tanner

                        2nd Place USC White Eddie Galvan

Green Division – 1st place Hawaii Brent Rausch

                         2nd place Tennessee Orange Chris Geraud

5th  & 6th :

Yellow division-  1st place Michigan Rob Tanner

             2nd Place Colorado Anthony Aquirre

Red Division-      1st place   BYU John Foster

              2nd place Iowa St Carter Kirchhevel

Blue Division-     1st place Texas Tech David Carde

                          2nd place SDSU Gavin Silva

7th & 8th :

Red division         1st place BYU Daniel Carter

                          2nd place Duke Armen Altounian

Blue Division       1st place Cal Alfred Franco

                           2nd place USC Anthony Munoz

Congrats!

Tom Roche & John A. Maldonado

Commissioner Friday Night Lights

www.desertsandsfnl.com

760 636-8266

Click the QR code or the link below to register for our Fall NFL season!

Call out to all our DesertSands Families thanks for a tremendous Spring season and please help is spread the word that our Fall 2023 season registration is now open!

Background- Desertsands Friday Night Lights is solely focused on being the Best youth sports league in the Valley. We have been doing this for 9 consecutive years and strive to improve your experience  every season. In most of our grade levels, we have multiple divisions; so you can be placed in the appropriate competition level and do not have to replay the same teams.

We are a non profit 501c3 and exist to develop the youth in our community through the fun game of flag football. For instance- This season with the help of our Sponsors Chic-Fil-A and Crumbl cookies LaQuinta we added a "Catch our Kids doing things right recognition program for excellence "on and off" the field.

Tell your Friends and relative Fall 2023 Registration is now OPEN!  Register Before June 30th 2023 and Save $$$ .We will sell out! ! 

Registration fees include: 

• A ton of FUN with a Family Friendly carnival environment, with music, great food, and vending.  
• The top flag football league for 9 consecutive years and focused on continuous growth and improvement
• 8 week season plus a single elimination playoffs tournament 
• Team and individual pictures
• Trophies for all Kinders and the top regular season winners and playoff champions and finalist.
• NFL replica jersey's, Flags, and Team footballs
• Fields, Insurance, and paid Referees 
• One practice and a Friday Night game, weekends are free!
• Community events ie: FIND food bank drive, Halloween candy Trunk or Treat give away 
• Lifetime of memories and friendships'

Registration will close in August or when we sell out, practices start mid Aug and opening night is Sept 15th

If your New to Friday Night Lights PLEASE Make sure you SET UP A NEW ACCOUNT**

We need Coaches so Please volunteer! Low commitment, 1 practice a week you pick the time and a chance to demonstrate leadership plus spend quality time with your Kids.

Coaches meeting TBD early Aug

DETAILS below and check out our website for the most updated information @ www.desertsandsfnl.com for the most current information.

ALL GAMES WILL BE PLAYED AT COL. MITCHELL PAIGE MIDDLE SCHOOL 5pm to 9pm.

We will play a 8 game season and reopen all fields. Stay tuned @ desertsnadnsfnl.com

**BE SURE TO ENTER THE GRADE THAT YOUR CHILD WILL BE IN FOR THE UPCOMING Fall 2023 YEAR 2023

Flag football is a ton of Fun and is one of the fastest growing sports in the USA. This NEW All Girls division will play on the same Friday Nights, and  same fields as the much larger general CoEd league. Girls can play in either league; however, we find that the female participation dramatically increases when we have an "All Girls" division; especially now that  "Girls Flag Football is NOW an official CIF Sport". 

DesertSands Friday Night Lights goal is to become the primary feeder program for the Coachella Valley High Schools. The perfect target athlete is already participating in other girls sports ie: Soccer, track and field, Volleyball, and Basketball. Please let them know about our New All Girls Division.

• Girls’ grades K-8th
• Register NOW and Save $ -Fall season Aug-Nov
• Tons of FUN, non-contact
• Build you Team or sign up and play with friends!
• Teams of 6-8 
• No experience necessary
• For more information go to www.desertsands.com or call with questions

REGISTER Now and Save $$$$

Fall Registration is now open. Register Now you will save $30 dollars and will be guaranteed a spot for our Fall season that kicks off in Sept.

 
Tom Roche and John Maldonado 760-636-8266

DSFNL Commissioners

We are proud to announce DSFNL’s exclusive, NEW....“Catching our KIDS Doing Things Right” weekly recognition program!!!

Background-

Friday Night Lights' Goal has always been to develop the youth in our community through the fun sport of Flag Football.

This season, we want to take it to another level and provide All our volunteer Coaches the tools they need to influence positive behavior both On & Off the field. 

To accomplish this we have partnered with Chick-Fil-A and Crumbl cookies to create two separate recognition programs:

It's been an amazing start to our Spring Friday night season. It has become the place to be and KESQ did a nice job recapping Desert Sands FNL on their news last week. Enclosed is the clip.

https://youtu.be/gcqXTjnpxew

Thanks for all your support in making FNL the best youth sports league in in the Coachella Valley! Let’s keep it rolling and continue to assess what’s working and what’s not and provide us feedback so we can continuously improve and become even better!

Moving forward-

• Check scores and remember MAX score differential is 22pts. We reward defense points allowed not points scored. If game gets lopsided Referees are instructed to have a running clock, no time outs. We suggest twinning team takes the foot off the accelerator and run the ball with your slowest player. No need to humiliate the other team, win with class and teach compassion for others.
• Enjoy Spring Break and your Family time. Remember No games – Friday, April 14th and – practice fields will be closed all week from 4/9-4/15.
• Every Coach has the tools to recognize 2 players every week for either on the field excellence (free Crumbl cookie form LQ location) or off the field excellence in school or the community earns them a Free Chic Fil A meal anywhere. Only catch is you need to bring them to the snack shack and tell us who you are recognizing for doing things RIGHT.  Take advantage of this generous support for our sponsors!

Believe it or not but after this upcoming Friday’s games,  we will be halfway through our spring season! Let’s keep it rolling and remember we operate best when Coaches coach, Players play, Referees Ref, and Parent cheer!  Control your sidelines!

Thank and keep it FUN!!!

John A. Maldonado and Tom Roche

Commissioner's Friday Night Lights

www.desertsandsfnl.com

1) Chick-FIL-A meal award focuses on community service & academic excellence "off the field".

Here is how it works- Our DSFNL Parents and/or players inform their Coaches of any worthy community service and/or academic excellence. The Coach can select up to 1 player per week, per Team, to receive a “Free” Chic-A-Fil meal ticket. The honoree and their Coach need to stop by the FNL snack shack after their game to pick up the award.

2) Crumbl Cookies - award recognizes athletic excellence "on the field" of play

Here is how it works- Our Coaches will select up to 1 player per week, per Team, to receive a free Crumbl cookie certificate for their standout performance and making players around them better. Stop by the FNL snack shack with your Coach to pick up your certificate, redeemable at the La Quinta location

* Note- Coaches will try and spread the recognition across all members but ultimately, it’s up to the players to earn the recognition.

Hello Community Partners,  

On behalf of our staff at Variety and the children we serve, we would like to send out a special thank you to Desert Sands Friday Night Lights, I-10 Toyota and the Desert Sands Families for partnering with our organization during the Diaper Drive on April 28th. We are grateful to see the community come together to support the children of the Coachella Valley.

Since our Caring Connections program began, we have provided developmental screenings to at-risk children as well as distributed resources such as diapers, wipes, and educational toys. Most families that we serve need these basic items and come to Variety to seek help. With the help of our partners such as yourselves, we can further provide those much-needed resources. I have included pictures of the donations for you to enjoy! 

We appreciate all your efforts in making this Diaper Drive a success and I hope to partner with you again in the future!  

Kind Regards,  

Annika Renteria, Outreach Coordinator 

Variety - the Children's Charity of the Desert

42600 Cook Street, Suite 150

Palm Desert, CA 92211

info@varietyofthedesert.org

Office: 760-773-9800

In closing-

Please remember the overall purpose of our league is to develop the youth in our community. While it is more fun to win, the lessons we teach are more important than “wins and losses”.

Every Friday half the Teams win, and half the teams lose, but everyone can learn the life lessons generated from the :50 minutes of competition.  They learn how to compete, how to deal with adversity, hard work, and Team commitment. No scholarships just the joy of playing flag football.

Keep the focus on personal and Team development, good sportsmanship, and having Fun!

Here are a couple other reminders to keep things rolling..

Parking Tips

• Arrive early
• Utilize our drop-off area at CMP field entrance. Coaches drop gear and Parents drop players.
• Please meet at your home and have family members carpool to reduce automobiles.
• Realize we have 5 rounds of games (5:00, 5:50, 6:40, &:30, 8:20); so, five waves of spectators. As people exit spots open! EXAMPLE The early games start at 5 pm games exit at 5:50- 6:15 plan accordingly.

Competition has made us better! You can expect the best youth sports experience in the Valley.

• Better Equipment- including balls jerseys and flags.
• Better Referees and Coaches
• Better trophies and team pictures
• Added fields and security.
• Improved special event ie-Free Mother’s Day Roses for our special ladies.
• Multiple divisions at every age group- ensures more competitive balance.
• Better Vending- Arrive hungry and support our growing Vendor partners!!!

1. New- Chick-Fil-A
2. New Cold stone creamery​​​​​​​
3. Las Carretas Taco shop
4. Pele's frozen lemonade
5. Kettle Corn
6. Pizza

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS- ONE GOAL,…. KEEP IT FUN & THANKS FOR YOLUR TREMENDOUS SUPPORT!

Tom Roche and John Maldonado

DSFNL Commissioner’s Friday Night Lights

www.desertsandsfnl.com

760 636-8266

Arrive hungry and support our growing Vendor partners!!!

• New- Chick-Fil-A
• New Cold stone creamery 
• Las Carretas Taco shop
• Pele's frozen lemonade
• Kettle Corn
• Pizza