For decades, Los Alamitos Friday Night Lights flag football has been home to young athletes from across the local area. But finally, Long Beach is home to its own FNL league.
Friday Night Lights is now taking registrations for its new Long Beach league that will host K-8 divisions of both girls and boys flag football at George Allen Field at Long Beach State. The league kicks off with its inaugural season in the spring of 2025.
“My kids play for Los Alamitos FNL, and that’s where it all started,” said commissioner of the new Long Beach league Richie Monge. “It’s really big and I like that it’s a whole event. I started thinking and I was like, man, Long Beach really needs this because there’s so many kids in Long Beach. I know a lot of kids on the east side already play, but Long Beach is so big and there’s an untapped well of kids that want to play and need a place to play.”
A Long Beach native and father of three, Monge began exploring expansion opportunities with FNL after enjoying the community aspect while watching his kids play at Los Alamitos. Anyone who’s driven down Bloomfield on a Friday night can attest to the brisk 450,000 square-foot area at McAuliffe Middle School that boasts 16 games all at once. The games consist of all levels of girls and boys flag football conjoined by the claps and chants of FNL youth cheerleaders.
Monge especially liked the fact that FNL allows kids to form teams with their friends, and he says that oftentimes he ends up seeing parents of his kids’ friends who he watches the games with. Monge says that the community made for a fun night for both kids and parents, and he wanted other families and young athletes in the Long Beach area to enjoy that same feeling of the FNL community.
“I want other parents to feel like I do on Friday nights. You’re going to watch your kids play with their friends, and you know their parents so you make a whole night out of it. You watch them play, which is now in Long Beach at George Allen Field at Cal State Long Beach, and then you go out to get pizza or go to frozen yogurt together. It just kicks off the weekend.”
Finding the right place to host the league was important in creating that community, and Monge searched through several locations before landing on George Allen Field. He calls it the “perfect location,” and stumbled upon it while scrolling through Google Earth one day after having trouble tracking down a field. The field is in the center of Long Beach Sate’s lower campus, and is home to the Beach’s women’s soccer team.
“When I walk the field it’s like, it’s absolutely beautiful,” Monge said. “It’s a great location with lights that’s available on Fridays, and then it also has parking. When I found it, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t even believe this is open.’ It’s just a great field with how big it is and how well it’s kept. It’s right near where you can see the pyramid when you’re playing, and you know, it’s a Long Beach staple. I couldn’t think of a better location.”
The league also comes at a suitable time, as flag football continues to see undeniable growth at all levels. Earlier this year it was announced that men’s and women’s flag football will make its debut in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, meanwhile 15 NAIA schools now offer the sport at the collegiate level. Girls’ flag football has also grown at the high school level in its second year as a CIF sport, giving girls the opportunity to play organized flag football past middle school.
That inclusivity of girls’ flag football in FNL was also a driving factor for Monge, who was inspired by watching his daughter play her first season at Los Alamitos over the summer. The 13-year old, Eva, picked the sport up quickly and now plays it among volleyball and soccer. Monge hopes to have her playing next year in high school, and he harped on the opportunity his new league creates for young girls in the city to play flag football.
“I mean it’s fun and kids love it. It’s absolutely blowing up, particularly for girls. We’re going to be having all girls divisions, you know in every division above kindergarten. Now that it’s coming to high school and some colleges, there’s sponsorship opportunities. It’s only a matter of time that it goes to all the colleges, so that’s just going to open up so many more scholarship opportunities for girls to play flag football.”
Monge has been a firefighter at the Long Beach Fire Department since 2005 and simply likes doing whatever he can for the city. He moved to Downey as a kid and grew up playing Pop Warner and high school football, which is where his excitement for the sport began to blossom. Now a Rams season ticket holder, Monge says he’s proud to represent Long Beach with a sport that he’s passionate about and hopes to someday produce talent at the highest levels.
“I just love my city. I’m proud of it. I work in the city and I’m proud to be a first responder in the city. My ultimate goal for this league is to have people represent Long Beach. Every Olympics Long Beach has locals representing. How cool would it be if in the future we have girls and boys representing in the Olympics or in the NFL that came through the Long Beach FNL program? That’s a big goal of mine.”
Registration for Long Beach FNL’s spring season is open until Jan. 1 or until sold out, and you can click here to register an athlete. The league is also in need of paid referees, and you can apply here or contact longbeachfnl@gmail.com for more information.
