With the Cayman Islands Flag Football Association 2012 season just days away from getting started, teams are preparing for a gruelling campaign.
Eight squads are in the hunt for the title this year and the defending champion Hellcats seem to have a target on their back with the rest of the league gathering ammunition.
This season will feature a few rule changes with players being allowed to stiff-arm on offence and downfield blocking being legalised on interceptions and kickoffs. Also, teams are now given the option to kick field goals and extra points after touchdowns. Games will be held at West Bay’s Ed Bush Field and the Annex in George Town on Saturdays, starting at 1pm on 2 June.
The Hellcats are a flag football dynasty, winning the last three championships and collecting six finals trophies in nine years. In a word? Domination. But what’s next for the team? Staying motivated, fighting as hard as they can every game and playing with heart seems like a tall task when they’ve already achieved dominance as a dynasty.
Nevertheless, they remain hungry for another championship. “We’re still hungry,” states star player Phil Brown. “The competition has gotten better, and we’re out to prove we’re still the best. We want to win our fourth in a row.”
The Hellcats have no shortage of stars. Brown plays both sides of the ball and quarterback Jacob ‘Frecko’ Ebanks is coming off a Most Valuable Player season. Already with a three-peat underneath their belt, they still have a chip on their shoulder and their eyes on a fourth consecutive title.
“We’ve kept the same core players, added a couple new guys here and there, but our team is still the same.” says Brown. Not necessarily the best of news for the rest of the league. It may be a new year, a chance at a clean slate for all the teams who can renew their championship aspirations, but they still have the same dominating Hellcats to dethrone. Easier said than done.
“What’s the sense of playing if you’re not playing to win?” Frecko said. “I’m not going to play for second place, me and the team want another championship.
“We’ve added some talent on defence. Guys who played for a different team last year but, for some reason or another, didn’t stay with them have now come over to our squad and our defence is a lot stronger.”
Not only do the Hellcats still have a high-powered offence, but they’ll be even more difficult to keep up with now that they’re defence has been bolstered.
“We’re still confident despite the coaching change,” Frecko continued, “Our coach retired last year but now we have an ex-player coaching us and we’re all still on the same page.”
Frecko is speaking about coach George ‘Teddy’ Hydes retiring after the 2011 championship campaign and being replaced with Jayson ‘Papi’ Gonzalez and Jamal Young. However, the quarterback sounded very confident in the change as ‘Papi’ and Jamal are very capable coaches. Both Brown and Frecko sounded more than confident about the Hellcats’ chances at a title this year.
“Beware of the Hellcats!” warned Frecko. They show no signs of slowing down.
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