Games are played at both Margarita and Thompson Middle School in Murrieta. The offense gets three downs to reach mid-field and pick up a first down. There are no kick-offs or punts. If the offense fails to get a first down or touchdown the other side starts out at their own 5-yard line. That isn't to say that kids don't run into each other.
Kids are kids and when the ball is up in the air anything is likely to happen.
A belt is worn with flags on each side and a player is down when one of the flags is pulled. Pulling a flag on a shifty runner is as difficult as knocking him or her down. Kids start playing as young as kindergarten and are divided into leagues by school year through the ninth grade. There is also an adult league and on any given Saturday you'll find alumni of the Temecula Valley Golden Bears CIF champion football teams of the early 1990s trying to relive their glory days. The YMCA league may be new, but flag football has been around for decades.