Flag football has finished for the season, most people think. Wrong. It has such a growing fan interests in the Cayman Islands that there are plans for all manner of things to keep it going throughout the year.
The All-Star game ended with a surprising 13-6 victory for the Eastern Division against their Western counterparts at the Outpost Field on Saturday. Considering the nucleus of the West side comprised of the all-conquering Margaritaville West Bay Hellcats, this was an unexpected result. At least the Digicel players in the East can boast they finished in triumph.
Hellcats defensive stalwart Adrean ‘Big Dog’ Russell shrugged off the result. He’s looking forward to the exciting events planned for Cayman’s flag football soon. ‘What we’re trying to do right now is to form a little league for the youngsters,’ he said. ‘There is definitely enough interest being close to Florida and the rest of America and everyone watches the Super Bowl and knows the rules. So many kids play football in high school so they know all about the game. They were playing it five, six years ago when I was in high school and I’m sure they’re doing so now in their recess.
‘We also did a beach tournament the year before last, a little fundraiser for the national team that we were sending away. We’re also sending a national team again next year, February to the World Cup. The beach tournament is going on in November or January. Definitely not December because everyone has family things going on then.’
The World Cup of Flag Football takes place in Costa Rica and Cayman want to be there. St Croix in the US Virgin Islands won it this year with Mexico second, USA third and Honduras fourth. The first time Cayman entered they finished eighth in 2003 but their standard is much higher now and they’d really love to pit their skills against international opposition. In 2005 they were equal third with St Croix behind the powerhouses of USA and Canada with the Americans champions. It is all organised by www.flagmag.com, the biggest organisation of the sport in the world.
Russell added: ‘I think there’ll be a large turn out in Costa Rica, as opposed to the US because it is more affordable there and there are not so much traveling restrictions. A few years ago they had it in Dominican Republic and
the Bahamas and in those two countries we had Israel and England, teams prepared to travel half way across the world to compete.
‘Another thing we’re trying to do is generate any projects that can raise funds for ourselves so that we can get a field of our own. That’s what we need, a home where we can say this is flag football headquarters like the rugby club has their place. That’s our long-term goal. We’re trying to make it a year round sport.’
Another strong advocate of promoting flag football is Next Level Nitemare’s Todd Hazlewood who isn’t just a player but a committee member too. He said: ‘We’re going to have try outs over the weekend of 3-4 November for the national team for the World Cup which is being held from 28 February. We want to get the best players out, obviously and also the most committed guys that want to be there.
‘They did it in Panama City last year which proved a little expensive. Costa Rica is also a destination that people want to go to which is why in the future I think we should have it here. It would be great to host it. There’s supposed to be 10 teams from all over the world participating in the next one. We’re hoping to put on a youth league and start a week long camp and hope to start spreading the development of the sport throughout the island.’
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