Glen Ridge student turns sold-out flag football class into leadership lesson

Jackson Goldberg turned a simple youth flag football class at Forest Avenue School into one of Glen Ridge’s hardest-to-get Discovery Program spots, and he filled it twice. The Glen Ridge High School junior built the class around more than route running and handoffs, using the session to teach teamwork, confidence and sportsmanship to children in prekindergarten through second grade.

The class fit neatly inside Forest Avenue School Discovery Program, an after-school offering at Forest Avenue School that runs a wide mix of classes in sports, arts, science, technology and games, with most sessions beginning at 3:30 p.m. Goldberg did not treat it like a one-off clinic. He blended football basics with a leadership curriculum, giving younger children a low-pressure introduction to the sport while building gross motor skills and group habits along the way.

School leaders said Goldberg was prepared and had the patience to manage a dozen young children without losing the fun of the session. They credited him with keeping the environment encouraging and with leaving a strong impression on the school community through his energy and consistency. That mattered as much as the football itself. In a town where the Discovery Program already had completed 2022-2023 sessions and listed 2023-2024 information, Goldberg stepped into an existing structure and made it feel fresh enough to draw repeat demand.

Goldberg’s own football background gave the class another layer. He will be a senior in the fall and plays varsity football for Glen Ridge High School, while also running a football-focused Instagram account where he posts news, commentary and highlights. He said he wanted to pass along the same kind of encouragement he once received from coaches, and that instinct showed up in the way he built the class around instruction and confidence rather than just repetition.

The bigger picture reaches beyond Forest Avenue School. Girls flag football programs have been popping up or expanding across Essex County, including at West Orange, Orange and Bloomfield, where one debut program drew 70 girls to tryouts and received a $10,000 grant from the Bloomfield Educational Foundation. West Orange PAL has also said local conversations are underway about making girls flag football an official high school sport in New Jersey and, eventually, an Olympic event. Goldberg’s sold-out class showed the same thing at the elementary level: when the offering is accessible, structured and tied to leadership, the demand is already there.