Ladies in Cayman can soon chase pigskin kudos.
Flag football for females on Grand Cayman is one of the fastest growing sports, as reflected by the increasing number of participants and teams for the Grand Cayman Flag Football Association’s 2012 season, sponsored by DART.
In its second year, association president and cofounder Sophia Dilbert credits a successful 2011 season, both locally and internationally, for the growing popularity of the sport.
“Last year we had just under 100 members as part of the association,” Dilbert said. “This season, with the addition of a couple more teams, we are nearing 150 female participants in flag football.”
The league kicks off with an open scrimmage on Saturday, 26 May at the Camana Bay sports field. Dilbert states the scrimmage is designed to introduce new players to the game, have teams become familiar with league members and build camaraderie.
“We want to remind females that even if they have never played before, or don’t know which team to approach, the association can place you on a team that has open rosters or we can build an additional team. No one is left out.”
Last year, the Hammerheads Lady Sharks emerged the inaugural winners behind stellar efforts from the likes of Serena Yates. They would outdo the likes of Antoinette Lewis and the Domino’s Pizza Wolverines, Christina Hefner and the Lone Star Jager Monsters, Heather Roffey and the Andro Killa-Watts and Sheyla Torres and the Pythons.
Reflecting on the 2011 season, outgoing vice president Christine Bisnauth noted that in its first year of operations, the association represented the Cayman Islands in a regional tournament in the Bahamas and the biggest national tournament in the US held in Kissimmee, Florida.
“We are looking forward to an even better season,” Bisnauth said. “With more teams and more female participants, the level of competition is rising. Our plan to develop an inter-school NFL Youth League is also developing; we are just waiting on the official confirmation from the NFL to begin our youth programme.
“We would like to thank our league and team sponsors for their continued support: Dart Cayman Islands, Andro-Group, Domino’s Pizza, Hammerheads, Jagermeister, Lonestar, Hot 104.1FM, Maples, Tortuga Rum Company, Cayman National Bank and all the companies and individuals who helped us with fundraising initiatives throughout the year.”
The two teams that the association sent to the Bahamas came back victorious, claiming first and second place standings. Although their placing in the US tournament was not as successful, it did expose the players to a heightened level of competition and also garnered much attention from teams across the US expressing interest in travelling to Cayman to participate in local tournaments.
For the record, the association recently held its annual general meeting and the 2012 association board members include Sophia Dilbert as president, Lilia Conolly as vice-president, Darrel Porter as treasurer, Anna Nyaundi as secretary, Kathy Miller as public relations representative and Andrew Wisdom as equipment manager.
The association is encouraging females, age 17 and older, who are interested in playing flag football this year to e-mail [email protected]. The registration deadline is 18 May and there is a fee of $25 per player with a cap of 18 players per team.
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