Youth Summit & All-star game

Ballots sent to teams to help select 2017 all-star team

for classic East-West showcase on August 12 at Esther Shiner

The OYM Flag Football League announces that its third annual all-star game and Youth Summit will be staged August 12 at Toronto West and the game at Esther Shiner Stadium.

The league has requested each team submit ballots from each team with their votes for all-stars.

Each team picks one of its own players (male or female) to represent the team on the all-star team. This player is an automatic selection.

The league then asks each team to recommend 2 or 3 other players from its roster to be considered for selection. And each team is also asked to submit up to 8 players (male or female) from its conference (East or West) who are all-star worthy.

With this input,the league will announce its all-star selection on July 30.

All-stars will be recognized during the afternoon program of the Youth Summit where they get their jerseys and are presented to the Youth Summit gathering. The game itself follows the ceremony.

While the all-star game is a fun showcase of the talent in the OYM Football League, there are incentives for the winners. The winning conference is automatically awarded the coin toss, and is deemed the home team, and gets an extra time-out in the championship game.

The western squad has won the first two all-star games -- first in Hamilton in 2015 and in Markham in 2016.

The all-star game is the culmination of a full day of Youth Summit activities -- hosted this year by Toronto West Saints. All teams are required to participate in the day's activities -- through music, spoken word or other initiative.

Plans so far include:

>> 11 a.m. Special youth summit service for all teams and players at Toronto West.

>> 2 p.m. -- Summit lunch at T-West.

>> 4 p.m. -- An anti-drug and violence march through Rexdale, with each team walking under their team banner.

>> 6 p.m. -- All-star recognition, parade of the stars and motivational charge

>> 9 p.m. -- Game at Esther Shiner Stadium. $2 admission. Free for Kids under 12 and the financially challenged.