A brand new sport was recently added at Alpha Omega Academy in Huntsville— football, with a twist. It is not just regular 11-on-11 high school football. This is six-on-six football.
What exactly is six-on-six football? It is a reduced version of 11-on-11 football with a few changes. For example, a first down is not after 10 yards like in 11-man football. It is in fact after 15 yards within four consecutive plays.
The Lions of Alpha Omega Academy are 0-2 heading into their fifth game of the season, with the past two weeks resulting in a cancellation due to weather. This week, the Lions will take on Baytown Christian Friday at 7 p.m. in their first game since Sept. 8.
Lions head coach Ron Lynch talked about the atmosphere at games and how it helps with the game day experience.
“If you come to one of our games, you will see a lot of people and volunteers in the bleachers,” Lynch said. “A lot of grandparents, a lot of parents, our place is a good crowd. Usually, the people we play from Conroe and Bryan, they bring a good crowd and the private schools, they really have a lot of family support and parent support. They work together and pull together since they all help with volunteer stuff for the events that you put on.”
Alpha Omega Academy after care program teacher and parent volunteer with Lions athletics Amy Balch, who has two kids on the team, talked about the kind of atmosphere that the fans and family of the team bring.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” Balch said. “There’s a lot of excitement. The players are excited to play. I see this all around in all the sports. They really do exhibit good sportsmanship. I really do see a lot of it just in the way they are taught because that attitude throughout every subject that they are in, not just athletics, to be gracious and to not give up. That’s another thing that Coach [Lynch] always points out. They never really get down, even though it looks like, in times, they would surely lose; they just rally together. They don’t get down and just keep giving it their all.”
The Lions will look to claim their first win of the season starting at 7 p.m. this Friday as they take on Baytown Christian in Baytown in a non-conference match-up.
