Sean Conway never expected to use the oversized yellow flags sticking out of his front khaki pockets. The Sept. 5 flag football game was, in essence, a dress rehearsal — for him, the coaches and the horde of 11 year olds tossing footballs around him. He checked his text messages, hoping for a response from the teenage referee who was supposed to be running the next game. In the mean time, Conway quickly and kindly recruited an eager kid from the sidelines to handle the down marker.

It’s game time, and both Conway and the city of Covington seem ready to take the recreational sports handoff and run.

“This is my dream job,” Conway said.

The opening weekend of youth recreational sports, now being managed by the city, began Sept. 5 with coed flag football for 11 and 12 year olds. A soccer jamboree and team pictures for multiple ages followed the next day.

The city agreed to take the recreational reigns in January after learning the nonprofit Covington Sports athletic program would fold from lack of funding after about seven years handling the sport duties. Rather than force area parents and children to travel to other cities for athletics, the city took over, hiring Conway as the athletic specialist to run the programs and Rachael Leung, who handles registration for both rec sports and the aquatic center.

The city added the rec sports programming to its recreation division. The net cost estimate for the undertaking in 2015 is between $80,000-$120,000, with $32,000 in startup fees.

The city hopes that parents and athletes won’t notice any major changes from the previous league. And if they do, that they are positive changes.

Covington resident Chris LaQua watched his son, Taylor Geffre, 11, play from the Covington Community Park sidelines on Sept. 5. He found the overall process to be simple once he figured out how to sign up.

Colin Bowler, who has coached flag football for three years, was pleased with the new system.

“It’s been a seamless transition,” he said.

The kids seemed to enjoy the games, too, staying focused on the game, huddling and laughing. Conway made a few mini athletes promise to return next week with mouth guards, but also gave advice and encouragement throughout the game.

“Two beast modes in a row,” said one kid, running back to the line of scrimmage after his team burst free with consecutive long runs.

Conway, who studied sports management at Washington State University and lives in Renton, has a variety of part-time rec sports experience as a coach and official in multiple cities. The Covington job, however, marks his first experience running, and putting together, an entire rec sports program.

“This was my next step,” he said.

Starting a program from scratch is a much different beast than running one that’s already in place. Conway and Recreation Manager Pat Patterson said it has taken collective effort from each of the city’s departments, from public works to human resources.

Conway used to have a Post-it note on his computer that showed Covington Sports’ participation numbers from 2013,  but he eventually threw it away.

“It was stressing me out,” Conway said. “This is my own thing. There’s no reason trying to compete when we’re trying to do something completely new.”

Conway hopes to put a stamp on the product that assures “really high quality programs.” That means well manicured fields, coaches with solid background checks and positive attitudes from the officials.

“Great referees make things so much better,” Conway said.

Conway said the opening weekend jamboree went even better than he’d imagined it could. Patterson said he received a surprising amount of feedback from those in attendance.

“I didn’t get one negative comment,” Patterson said. “…I couldn’t be happier with the job Sean’s done.”

Conway secured one major sponsor for the summer leagues and will be looking for community sponsors for the fall. He is looking to hire more referees (which pays upwards of $10 per hour) and can always use volunteer coaches.

Conway said he understands it can be difficult for parents to donate their time to an unknown product He tries to assuage those fears with his own pep talk — that the X’s and O’s aren’t important; the key is to be energetic, give high fives and sport a positive mentality.

“You can fake the rest,” Conway said.

The city is also taking registration for volleyball and basketball.