Hello, I'm Ric Nichols.
I have been associated with this league in one way or another since 1984 and am proud to be the sole owner of the league since 1994.
I moved to south Orange County (Mission Viejo) in early 1984 from San Diego. A month or so later, after the move, I happened to drive past a nearby intermediate school football field (Jeronimo and Los Alisos in Mission Viejo) and noticed people playing football. They were wearing flags! I thought "I've got to get into this." I parked the car, entered the field and asked who ran the league. Players pointed him out to me and I started asking questions. Making a long story short, I got on a team that morning and played for the next 4 years. It was great.
I learned that the league, ran by Pat Maloney at the time, began in 1982 with only 6 teams. When I arrived they were up to 8 teams.
In 1988, I made a decision to become a football official and joined the Orange County Football Officials Association to officiate high school football games. At the same time, I turned in my cleats with flag football and became a steady official on Sundays for the flag league.
3 years after I started officiating flag football, I was offered 50% ownership and ultimately 100% ownership when my partner relocated out of state for his employer in 1994.
It has been a heck of a ride since then. I've made a huge number of friends; have seen professionals play in our league; have been on Cox Cable TV and took some division champs with me; in the local newspapers; have seen some great flag football finals; and, most importantly, have experienced a great following of teams and players over the years that make my league possible.
To this day we offer 3 divisions with an average of 20 to 24 teams a season. Many of the teams have been with us for up to 10 years. We have team trophies as well as individual trophies plus T-shirts for the champions. We throw in a MVP trophy on Finals day as well. (One team trophy was handed out in the 1984 finals.)
We have come a long way over the years and I promise that we will continue to stand by our mission statement and strive to consistantly offer a premier flag football league for Adults of Southern California.
Sincerely,
Ric Nichols