Chatham community rallies after theft of flag football equipment cancels kids’ season opener

A theft of flags and footballs forced the cancellation of the Chatham Kent Kids Flag Football League on Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Source: Chatham-Kent Kids Flag Football League)

A break-in to their equipment shed forced the cancellation of the Chatham-Kent Kids Flag Football League (CKKFFL) season opener.

League organizer Jason Reynolds took to social media to share the news Sunday morning.

“I’m a little beside myself right now,” Reynolds, who has been running the men’s and youth flag football league for decades, said in a post. “For the first time, I showed up to set up football and somebody broke into the shed and stole our bin of flags and our bin of balls. Why they would take that, I don’t know?”

He said the CKKFFL was scheduled to start Sunday, and many kids were excited to play. There were over 200 kids ready to participate in the program.

Parents took to Facebook to express their disappointment.

“My son was supposed to kick off his flag football season today, along with a whole bunch of other excited kids,” wrote Sarah Hinnegan. “Instead, someone broke in and stole all the flags and footballs. Imagine being the one who has to tell a field full of kids that there won’t be any games because someone chose to steal from them.”

Others were asking people in the Chatham area to watch out for the missing gear.

“Griffin was so excited to get out there and play today!” wrote Jackie Waddick. “Keep your eyes and ears open for someone who happens to have this equipment. Or who knows, maybe they ditched the totes somewhere when they realized they probably wouldn’t make a quick buck off of it. Keep your eyes open!”

Reynolds says the balls and flags were stolen but pylons were left untouched.

The estimated total of stolen goods is around $1,000, Reynolds said.

“I’ve got men back there that come from Windsor, London, that are trying to play to that can’t play now because someone stole our equipment,” he said.

“I apologize to all the kids and men that were out here trying to play today. I’ve been running this for 30 plus years and never had this problem but now if have to go out and look to get new stuff and it’s not just stuff you can get from SportChek or Canadian Tire. It’s stuff I have order. I’ll have an update tonight, but no football today.”

Reynolds told CTV News that after the initial post this morning, he received an overwhelming amount of support from the community, with folks offering to pay for new flags and footballs. Because of that, they will be up and running next Sunday.

Reynolds will be hosting a community appreciation BBQ for next week’s season opener.