Women are often regarded as the weaker sex but they were the better flag football players at a recent international tournament.
Both local female teams outdid their male counterparts at last weekend’s US Flag and Touch League national flag football championships. Kissimmee, Florida would see the Cayman Islands Flag Football Association send a nine-man and a woman’s eight-man squad while the Grand Cayman Flag Football Association sent a woman’s seven-man side.
Brendon Malice is vice president of the Cayman Islands association and served as the men’s and women’s team coach. He states the eight-man squad earned the most props.
“The women’s eight-man tournament had 18 teams from Canada and the US,” Malice said. “The national team represented Cayman very well. They finished with a 2-2 record and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. They had a ton of support from both the men’s nine-man team and the women’s seven-a-side team.
“The extra support fuelled their energy and helped carry them deep into the tournament. The team sacrificed for each other and laid it all on the line playing through 35-40 degree weather, pain, broken fingers and sprained ankles. The weather definitely was an issue with two games taking place late into the evening.
“The women are eager to play again and want to begin training right away. I would like to see the women participate in at least two eight-man tournaments before next year’s national championships. The more competition the ladies can be exposed to the better we (as players and coaches) can get.”
For the Cayman Islands group, the men were Alex Angel, Damian Barboram, Matthew Bone, Phil Brown (the association president), Clay Coleman, Glenn Duran Jr, Steve Ebanks, Andrew Frederick, Taj Haye, Todd Hazlewood, Perry Levy, Brendon Malice, Rohan Marshall, Josh Merren, Nate Narcisse, Josh Parsons, Shawn Pitterson, Nicholas Roberts, Adrean Russell, Jermaine Sharpe, Baron Solomon, David Taylor and Andrew Wisdom. They were coached by Malice, Brown and Hazlewood.
Malice and Solomon coached the women’s side, which consisted of Jennifer Allen, Cassandra Bodden, Agueda Broderick, Scimone Campbell, Anne-Marie Douglas, Maggie Ebanks, Vanessa Ebanks, Antoinette Lewis, Lisa Malice, Erin Marshall, Camille Solomon, Keisha Solomon, Renee Thompson, Stephanie Watler, Zoenief Walker and Dionne Whittaker.
The Grand Cayman organization fielded a team in the woman’s seven-man screen division of Christine Bisnauth, Erica Bosch-Bone, Scimone Campbell, Lilia Conolly, Tonia Ebanks-McLaughlin, Maggie Ebanks, Sophia Dilbert, Michelle McTaggart, Kathy Miller, Shinette Rhoden, Monique Roberts, Gillian Roffey, Heather Roffey, Alexandria Saintvil, Saneata Smith and Marline Williams. All were coached by Wisdom and Sharpe.
Dilbert, who is cofounder of the Grand Cayman group, states her side had a solid showing.
“We lost the two games we played in but we gelled as a unit,” Dilbert said. “It was a good experience and exposure for the ladies. There were quite a few mentionables. Everyone stepped up and gave 110 per cent.
“But Monique Roberts stands out because she was good on O and D with a few sacks in her first international flag tournament. Being the youngest on the team and not knowing what to expect out there she really elevated her game.
“Ultimately we could have done with another month of training but Andrew and Jermaine did a good job of coaching us.”
All of the players competed at the Austin Tindall Sports Complex in Kissimmee, a manicured field used especially for flag football. The national championship were backed by entities like the Central Florida Sports Commission and the Florida Sports Foundation in its 41st year and featured hundreds of teams from the US, Canada and Mexico. Cash prizes were on offer and 13 different styles of play were seen.
This was not the first time Cayman has played at the international tournament. Last January a select squad with 20 women took part and won only one of its three matches.
For Malice, he hopes the play of the women can inspire the men to greatness.
“The men’s nine-man tournament had 12 teams from the US. The Cayman Islands went 0-3 in the tournament. We lost our first game 12-7, the second game was 24-0 and the third game was 22-0. I think the style of play was very aggressive and physical. I don’t feel we were mentally and physically at the level that we needed to be at.
“However, I think the exposure did light a fire under us to get better and train harder. Everyone agreed in order to compete at the international level we have the talent, but need to put more work in; not just on the field, but in the gym and classroom. I hope we follow through with the recommendations players and coaches echoed while in Orlando so that we can better prepare for next year.
“Everyone played with pride and I can’t really pick out an individual player. The Cayman Islands has the ability to participate at the international level. I think we need to better prepare physically and mentally for this type of tournament. In order to be at the level we faced in Orlando, the national team will need year-round training as well as more international tournament experience. Football is a very mental game and if you’re not confident in your own abilities it comes out on the field.”
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