The United States Postal Service has a creed: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Well, neither rain nor cold nor wind stayed our teams from competing in the 2016 NIRSA Flag Football National Championships!

The crescendo of the NIRSA Championship Series flag football season, hosted by the University of West Florida, was held in Pensacola, FL from January 6–8. While low temperatures, driving rains that cut games short on Friday, and gusting winds fought against 798 participants, they did not stop the fun. Sixty-seven teams—14 Co-Rec, 24 Men’s, 14 Women’s, and 15 Open Division non-collegiate—went head-to-head in the panhandle for their opportunity to be crowned a NIRSA Champion.

Fierce play

Nineteen states were represented as Pensacola experienced an unnatural cold front that chilled the fields at Ashton Brosnahan Park. What was lacking in temperature, though, was made up in heated anticipation as participants rolled in the Thursday before the tournament to check-in and get their practice repetitions in before the action took place.

The heat turned up even more as teams began battling during Friday and Saturday pool play for positioning, and eventually culminated in bracket play as each team looked to insert themselves into the championship picture on Sunday. Familiar faces returned to the winners’ circle as the tournament concluded. The University of Central Florida won its fourth straight championship in the Women’s Division, and Valdosta State University took the Men’s title for the third straight year while also winning the Co-Rec Division title. For full results, including All-Tournament teams, All-American officials, photos, and archived webcasts of the championship games, check out the NIRSA Play blog.

The @NIRSAChamp Twitter and Instagram accounts kept the fires of conversation stoked as staff, participants, and followers of the #NIRSAFlag hashtag added updates and information. Over 600 tweets, pictures, and video clips gave followers an inside look into the entire event. The championship games were webcast live— with commentary by NIRSA Championship staff members Dave Peters of Florida State University and Marty Dempsey from the University of Florida—which allowed supporters back home to watch the exciting conclusion of the tournament.

Whether new to the experience or seasoned, teams enjoyed the opportunity to compete at the NIRSA Flag Football National Championship. Both Terri Molt and Raegan Anderson of Wayne State College were excited for their first championship experience. “Our experience down here, so far, has been awesome,” Reagan says. “We come from a small town of about 3,000 people. Exploring the area has been pretty fun. It’s very different than Nebraska. They’re putting on a great tournament.”

Terri adds, “The weather is a little warmer here, so we’ll take it.” Bryll Moss, from the returning North Carolinia A&T Men’s team, was focused on bringing wins for the team as they ran their offense during practice on Thursday. “We have to stay aggressive on the field, taking it to them and competing the best way we know how,” Bryll stated. “Listening to our coach and staying disciplined—that’s how you do it.”

Strategy is always a key component to winning a hard-fought game, and each team had their own take on what it would take to win at the NIRSA Flag Football National Championships. Whether it was just taking each game as it came or preparing for a championship matchup, everybody had an opinion on what would elevate them to the next level. Jonathan Taylor from UT-San Antonio said, “The keys to the game today is teamwork, staying disciplined, and doing what we have to do.” Both Kristen Castilla and Tatiana Araujo of the eventual champion UCF added, “We are going to just play together as a team, we’re going to execute our plays, and just not give up.”

Amazing volunteers

It takes an incredible staff of volunteers to make the National Championships run seamlessly—even in difficult moments. This year, 50 volunteers from various institutions worked behind the scenes to successfully put together another championship steeped in the traditions of excellence and execution. The tournament was co-directed by Jessica Coleman from UWF, and the Flag Football Work Team Chair Mark Comer from the University of Baltimore. As a first-time director of the tournament, Mark was ecstatic about the professionalism shown by staff.

He stated, “I do not think there could have been a stronger set of leaders to push this tournament to a success through all the weather and rescheduling. Far too often we allow outside variables to serve as an excuse and that hinders our job performance; however, this was not the case in Pensacola. I could not have asked for a greater group of individuals to work a tournament and the staff at University of West Florida did an amazing job with every aspect of the tournament.”

A tournament cannot have games without officials, and 50 students selected from the NIRSA Flag Football Region Tournament circuit and through at-large bids worked to oversee the competition and hone their officiating skills. The officials worked tirelessly through the weekend, receiving additional training and evaluation from the Officials Committee—the goal was to see improvement from game to game.

First-year official Danielle McDonald from the University of California-Riverside was glad to have the opportunity to work with an exemplary staff of peers and evaluators, saying, “This weekend, I’m excited to hear from the clinicians and to officiate with other officials at a higher level.” Brothers Logan and Landen Cammack, both officials from Georgia Southern University, had a unique opportunity to officiate together in the Men’s Championship final. “This really means a lot to me because we both started officiating together and what better way to experience this than with your brother,” said Landen. With a slight grin, Logan added, “I’m more than excited to do it because Landen was the one who got me started in officiating, and it’s been competition ever since to see who’s better.”

Thanks to supportive institutions

This tournament could not have happened without the contributions of NIRSA members who took advantage of Institutional Registrations. We would like to thank the following institutions:

Gold level
University of Florida
University of Southern Mississippi

Silver level
Georgia Southern University

As always, we are indebted to the University of West Florida Recreation & Sports Services staff for their stellar service and exemplary hosting during the event. As flag football looks to cool off for the year, we cannot wait for the NIRSA Flag Football Championship Series to heat up again next season.

 

  • For more information, please contact NIRSA Director of National Sports Programs Valerie McCutchan.
Director of Intramural Sports at Cornell University | NIRSA Profile

Scott Flickinger is currently the Director of Intramural Sports at Cornell University.