FFWCT’s Orlando Flag Football World Championships powered by SeaWorld is right around the corner and we have more international teams represented this year than ever! Teams are coming in from all over the world, including the countries of Canada, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Venezuela and...
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It’s every Flag Football players favorite time of the year. The holidays are over and its time to start dialing in for Orlando. Here are all the details about this year’s draft and media night events! Quick Facts Draft & Media Night Address: SEA WORLD...
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The FFWCT Orlando World championships are just a couple weeks away and the fields of teams in each division have never been more stacked. From top to bottom the tournament has more teams and a more competitive field than any tournament previously. Let’s look at...
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The 2019 Battle Orlando Flag Football Nationals is approaching fast with divisions for youth to adult for all skill levels across many styles! Orlando is one of our absolute favorite destinations in the country with a ton of attractions, theme parks, restaurants, and nightlife options...
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In the next progression for women’s flag football across the nation, the Flag Football World Championship Tour (FFWCT) is rolling out its women’s flag football division series this Fall of 2018 and Winter of 2019, orchestrated by Mashonda Gilmore and Norman Carter across 12 states!...
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Battle Seattle is just around the corner and it has already shaped up to be one the biggest tournaments since Battle Orlando. With over 40 teams registered or on the INC list coming in from all over the country, the talent of this tournament is...
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Continuing on our journey to help improve the sport and build excitement for flag football all across the US and world, we are ready to announce our new Battle Rating ™ point system that will roll out this year at Battle ™ Orlando! All year...
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With Battle Orlando fast approaching, we are starting to get more and more of the same questions that we are addressing here in this article! Please share with your teams and read through fully and comment below with any additional questions you may have that we can answer promptly! Q: How do I register? Go to the Battle Orlando main page, click on the format you are playing, then the division to go directly to that registration page. Or click the Registration link from the main menu above and find your division. Q: What time do games start on Friday? A: That all depends on how many total teams we have, as of right now (4/8/2017) before any teams potentially drop we are at nearly 360 total teams across all formats. If that number continues to rise we will have to start earlier. Plan on being ready to play as early at 9am on Friday and arriving Thursday for the media day and live draft. Q: What Formats are playing at what fields? A: 8v8 Contact Men & Women are now playing at Northeast Regional Park in Davenport due to that format needing goal Posts for Field Goals. All other formats will be played at Simmers Young Regional Park in Winter Haven. Q: Can you schedule us so we don’t play a team from our area? A: For adult divisions, that is all up to you. This is why we implemented the Bracket Draft in the 1st place. YOUR TEAM has total control over what time and who your first game is against. This is why we made it a VERY LARGE factor to register early. For youth divisions with automatic seeding, we will work with the seeds a bit on the lower seeds to make sure two local team don’t play with each other first if at all possible. Q: Can a team captain pay for the entire team or additional players besides himself? A: Yes a team captain or coach or sponsor can pay for your entire team. You need to follow the following steps in order to do that: Go to battleorlando.com and register your team Add all of your players to your roster with first name, last name & email address ONLY After ALL of your players are added to your roster, or atleast the players you need to pay for, email us at info@ffwct.com and request an invoice so you may pay your teams balance online. Q: Does my entire team need to be at Media day and or the captains & players meeting? A; No but we highly recommend as many people as you can get to media day as that’s where players will pick up their badges that will have discounts, and have your ticket access to be a part of the NERF battle. You must however have atleast 1 person present the captain & players meetings on Thursday night. Q: How do I add my players to my roster? A: You need to log back in to your dashboard where you initially registered your team and click invite players link, and add them with their first name, last name and email. Q: I am a player how do I register on my team? A: You need to go to http://ift.tt/2jooimt and click on the format and division your team is on and register AS A PLAYER and select that team to be on. Your captain will need to log in and approve you to be on that team. Your captain may also individually invite you directly to his team as explained in the question above. Q: How do we get the discounts to Universal Studios? A: Follow the link in the Universal Studios discount article or download the form directly here. Q: Is there a charge for my family to go to Media Day at Universal Studios? A: No media day is free to attend for everyone. Q: Do the youth have to wear the Rocksolid soft shell helmets A: No they are not mandatory but we do recommend them. Q: What day do the youth start playing? A: The youth start playing on Saturday morning at 8am. Youth captains meeting will be Friday night along with the Nerf Battle that your kids are going to want to participate in and help set a world record, so we highly recommend getting to town no later than Friday afternoon. Q: What is the age cutoff date for youth flag football? A: The age cutoff date is 8/1/2017. Click here for a quick reference chart to view what division your child or player is eligible to compete in based on their birth month and year. Q: I want to register as a Free Agent, if I do will I get to play? A: Yes we will place you on a team if you register as a free agent, so sign up here! Q: Do we have to wear the Sonic Flags or can we wear Triple Threat? A: You have to wear the Sonic Flags. You can buy them online for around $5.00 each so order some today for you and/or your whole team to make sure you have them on hand at the event! Q: How do we book hotels or rental houses? A: go to www.hotels.com/ffwct and pick any hotel or rental house you want. They are all already pre-programmed to be around the fields. Q: One of my players can no longer make it but they have already paid, how do I delete them and use the money for another player? A: You will need to email us and tell us which player to delete and what player the payment is now for if that player has already paid. Q: I can’t make the tournament anymore but I already paid the deposit, do I get a refund? A: Our tournament fees are nonrefundable, you can however apply that fee to play in any of the other tournaments on our schedule that we run for 1 entire calendar year. Q: Are there places to eat around the fields or will you serve concessions? A: We will have 10+ Food trucks between both locations with various food options! Q: We are playing 2 different formats, will my games overlap? A: We will try our very best to prevent schedule conflicts but at the end of the day we can’t guarantee that. 8man Contact formats will be at a separate field location than other formats and will run all day all 3 days, so for sure do not plan on the ability to play in multiple formats if this is your primary. For other formats, we are working on A divisions not overlapping for 4v4 Men’s, 5v5 Non-Contact Men’s and 7man Men’s divisions specifically, and others may end up working out as well. We have increased the rosters significantly for this very reason as we can’t make any guarantees so take advantage and load up just in case. Q: Is there a charge for my family or friends to come watch the games? A: No this tournament is open to the public and anyone can watch for free. Q: Will my family and friends get a badge also? A: No only registered players will get a badge AND people who are registered for the NERF Battle. Q: Can anyone participate in the NERF battle? A: Yes anyone can participate in the NERF battle as long as they are registered for the event. Players will automatically be registered since they are playing in the tournament. If your family members, kids, friends or local community citizens would like to participate in the Nerf Battle they can register online or during the tournament itself. Q: What time will the games end Sunday? A: There is no way to know what time the games will end Sunday. It all depends on how many teams, weather, game length etc. Plan on leaving Orlando Monday to be safe. We are working to get done as early as possible Sunday, but cannot make any considerations to travel or end-times at this point. Q: Can Girls play on a Men’s Team? A: Yes Q: Can my 17 year old son play on my adult team? A: Yes as long as he waiver is filled out and the parent consents to him playing then yes he or she can play. Q: Do all divisions get a cash prize? A: No only the A divisions get a cash prizes to discourage from sandbagging and normalize the divisions appropriately to the competition level it should be. Q: Can we use our mushroom flags? A: Yes mushroom sonic flag-a-tag poppers are allowed. Ball and sockets are not allowed. Q: Where can I find a copy of the rules? A: You can find the rules on our website www.ffwct.com in the main menu under the Rules section.
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Leading up to one of the biggest flag football tournaments of the year, Battle Orlando, we’ll be doing a player spotlight series featuring players signed up and ready to go for the $30,000 tournament event next Memorial Day in Orlando, Florida! Want to create your own player card and possibly be featured for one of our player spotlight articles? You must be registered for Battle Orlando first, then fill out this form and we’ll create one for you shortly! Patrick Henderson | C – Georgia United – Atlanta, GA Q) Give us a little info on your flag football experience, how long you’ve been playing, teams you play for, what positions you play, etc. I started playing flag back in 03 with 1st and Goal 7man team and after a few years of 7man I migrated over to the 8man game. Teams that I was in charge of Nu Nation and now GU. Which format do you enjoy the most and why? The format I enjoy the most in flag is 8man. What’s not to enjoy about the fastest growing division in the sport. What is it about flag football that you enjoy the most and keeps you coming back to play year after year? Some would say flag life is like a soap opera. That statement is so true to form, however it is intoxicating to the point where you can’t get enough. From the friends and associates that I have met in this sport from all across the county and even from an international standpoint, it is immeasurable. I would not trade it for the world. I say this phrase to this day, “The day you stop playing, is the day your start aging.” What are you most excited about in regards to Battle Orlando? I am looking forward to bringing the two coast together. Teams are expected to attend from all over. Any tips or advice for new players out there, in regards to flag football techniques, running a team or travelling to tournaments? People think that it is easy to run a team. Trust and believe that it is not as easy as one would think. I know several would attest, it’s like a second job Stay tuned for more player updates and be sure to go here to request your own player card created just for you!
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Leading up to one of the biggest flag football tournaments of the year, Battle Orlando, we’ll be doing a player spotlight series featuring players signed up and ready to go for the $30,000 tournament event next Memorial Day in Orlando, Florida! Want to create your own player card and possibly be featured for one of our player spotlight articles? You must be registered for Battle Orlando first, then fill out this form and we’ll create one for you shortly! Diere “Fresh” Franklin | Quarterback – Looney Tunes – Dallas, TX “Fresh” off a recent 8man screen state championship, and with multiple other local and national championships under his belt, here’s is a little insight and advice from Diere “Fresh” Franklin on his years playing the sport and what he’s looking forward to! Q) Give us a little info on your flag football experience, how long you’ve been playing, teams you play for, what positions you play, etc. Wow I’ve been playing flag football since I was 18 yrs old. I started out just playing in the air it out 4 on 4 tournaments every year until that tournament died out. I’ve played in all types of formats since then lol… 9man contact for 12 years “Shotyme” 8man screen “Havoc” 4man screen “Looney Tunes” 5man screen and contact 6man screen 7man screen 8man Coed. “HOF” Which format do you enjoy the most and why? My favorite format I would have to say is 4man because it’s the game that challenges me the most although I’m really liking 8man these days. What is it about flag football that you enjoy the most and keeps you coming back to play year after year? The thing I enjoy most about flag football is the fellowship man…I’ve made so many friends in this sport that it’s unreal so it’s like a family away from family, even a the guys from other states we all keep in touch now that we’ve gotten to know each other. So for me that’s what keeps me coming back year after year, the competitor in me to be the absolute best ever and the friendships I have with teammates and competitors. What are you most excited about in regards to Battle Orlando? I think “Battle of Orlando” will be exciting because you guys care about the product!!!! The elite divisions are over looked most of the time in the huge tournaments with multiple divisions and I believe you guys put the time and energy in making a good product for the guys that have pushed the sport for all these years man. I think we deserve something like this and I’m very thankful for it! Any tips or advice for new players out there, in regards to flag football techniques, running a team or travelling to tournaments? My advice to new players is to ALWAYS RESPECT THE GAME….what I mean is respect the great players before you. Ask questions, watch games, watch leadership, soak up as much info as possible and apply it all to your own game. Don’t be so cocky that you don’t learn as much as you should because that’s the way I’ve been able to be considered the best by some of my peers! And to my QB’s understand that criticism will only make you better, it’s about how you deal with it because you will have positive things said about you win you win and negative things when you lose but it comes with the position and you have to be level headed enough to deal with any and every kind of criticism to make it in this sport as a QB! Stay tuned for more player updates and be sure to go here to request your own player card created just for you!
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The Olympics are unlike any other sporting competition on the planet. For 16 days, over 300 events representing 35 sports and every country on the planet compete to take home their prized medals, and I have looked forward to watching the Summer Olympics every 4 years since as far back as I can remember. But there’s always been something missing. One of the United States most popular sports, and a top 10 sport throughout the world, football has been left on the outside and the answer to why has not been as easy of a problem to solve as you might think. WHY ISN’T AMERICAN FOOTBALL ALREADY AN OLYMPIC SPORT? According to an article by NFL.com, the biggest logistical problems facing the sport of American Football being included in the Olympics are very similar to that of Rugby. With the large numbers of participants on each team, the “gender equality” formats where both men and women participate in every sport, and the compressed 3 week schedule that would be tough with a more physical game like football and rugby. Furthermore for American Football, the barrier to entry is high due to it’s cost to equip all players with pads and gear, and therefor has also been slow to adopt in many foreign countries, especially of the poorer variety. Knowing all this, it’s hard to see how either sport would be a good fit for the Summer Olympics. Rugby is a lot like Soccer in that very little is needed to play the sport in terms of gear and practice at it’s base level, and has a much larger international following. This among other reasons has recently allowed Rugby to be cleared for the Olympics starting in 2016 by changing the traditional style to a less traditional “sevens” format which is faster paced with less people, which could help carve a similar path for American Football, or flag football more specifically. TACKLE SAFETY CONCERNS There’s a lot of talk recently revolving around the safety of tackle football, and not just in the NFL where concussions are a major concern. Starting as far back as the youth football level, recent evidence has surfaced supporting the idea that even short of a concussion, repeated head impacts and collision can manifest in similar brain injuries later in life for kids tested between the ages of 8-13. Many researchers are suggesting kids shouldn’t be playing football at all, suggesting that kids’ heads are “a larger part of their body, and their necks are not as strong as adults’ necks. So kids may be at a greater risk of head and brain injuries than adults.” Even more and more high school, college and pro teams are starting to reduce the number of contact practices, still sporting the likes of soft-padded headgear and shoulder pads for added protection. But what if we could limit the contact players see before high school and middle school while also addressing some of the concerns for the sport related to it being fully accepted into the Olympics? DREW BREES BELIEVES FLAG FOOTBALL CAN SAVE FOOTBALL And he’s not the only one. Recently Drew Brees was interviewed by Peter King for NBC’s pregame show and had some strong words on why he believes flag football is the answer. “I feel like flag football can save football,” Brees said. Brees coaches his son’s flag football team, and played flag football himself through junior high, never playing tackle football until high school. “I feel like (flag football) is a great introductory method for a lot of kids into football,” Brees mentioned. “Otherwise I feel it’s very easy to go in and have a bad experience early on and then not want to ever play it again. I feel like once you put the pads on there are just so many other elements to the game, and you’re at the mercy of the coach in a lot of cases too. And to be honest, I don’t think enough coaches are well-versed enough in regards to the true fundamentals of the game especially when the pads go on at the youth level.” Many other pro athletes and coaches have expressed similar sentiments as well, singing praises for the sport of flag football, and the rise in popularity of the sport echoes that. As of 2015, studies show that flag football is the fastest growing youth sport in the United States, greatly outpacing the growth of traditional tackle football. Many individual high schools are making the switch to flag football over tackle, getting other schools in their regions to follow suit creating organized leagues and divisions. It’s even an officially recognized varsity sport in many states, and with women especially flag football is a way to allow easier participation versus the physical nature of tackle. Flag football isn’t a fluke or just a recreational development tool that feeds into tackle football, it’s a full-fledged movement that has it’s own identity and purpose and it’s time we recognized that distinction. Internationally it is gaining popularity as well, much faster it seems than traditional American football where the barrier to entry is much higher with the need for full pads and gear. In Mexico for instance, flag football is booming in popularity, where most consider it to be the #2 sport to soccer and closing fast, with and estimated 2.5 million kids participating just at the elementary school level. International teams are starting to make the trip to some of the more popular American flag football tournaments, with representation from Panama, Indonesia, Bahamas, Mexico, Canada and more a common occurrence. At an adult level, it was a record year for the sport of flag football. New major tournaments are popping up across the world, seeing thousands of teams competing across all age groups, formats and styles. Cash prizes have been at an all time high, expected to eclipse over $100,000 in team giveaways in the next calendar year. Sponsors have started taking notice as well, with the likes of EA Sports, Nerf, Hotels.com, Red Bull and other major brands seeing the value and growth from flag football as a way to effectively reach their target audience in large numbers. Women’s participation is at an all-time high as well, mirroring it’s popularity at the youth level, and is the preferred format of play for American football in most Central to South American countries. Everywhere you look, participation and interest in the sport flag football is exploding. So how does this all lead back to the Olympics and getting American football included as an official sport? First, let’s review a little history on where the sport stands today with the International Olympic Committee, or IOC. Historically, In order to be included into the Olympic games as a demonstration sport, you have to have an International Federation and have held a World Championship competition. This must take place a minimum of 6 years before a scheduled Olympic games. The International Federation of American Football, primarily focused on tackle football but includes flag in it’s tournament lineup, met this standard and was approved in 2012, and gained provisional recognition in 2014. This could pave the way for American football to be included as an official sport, and flag football as possibly a discipline of said sport, however the IFAF has since faced setbacks due to alleged scandal, event mismanagement and misappropriation of funds that cannot bode well for the sports inclusion short term. Fortunately in 2007 the IOC adopted a new, more flexible rule set allowing programs to be up for review after every Olympics starting in 2020, clearing a path for all sports to present their case for being included by winning a simple majority vote. So the opportunity is there for American football to be included in the most prestigious sporting event around the world, but how do we overcome the obstacles presented by the structure of the sport to fit the mold of a successful Olympic sporting event? FLAG FOOTBALL IS THE KEY TO OLYMPIC INCLUSION For every way tackle football doesn’t fit the mold as a logical choice for the IOC, there’s flag football. Here are the top 4 reasons flag football should be considered to be included as the next Olympic sport. 1. It’s Less Physically Demanding than Tackle Football As we’ve already established, flag football is a much safer alternative than tackle football. Less hits and collisions equal fewer injuries, and flag football is already a proven success model that’s being praised for preserving the game for future generations. But when it comes to the Summer Olympic Games, safety is just one aspect of the physical demands of the sport, considering you have less than a 3 week window to fit in all levels of competition, and the year-round activity needed to practice and qualify. Imagine playing 6-7 full contact football games with a limited roster all within a span of ~16 days, not to mention other possible qualifying events throughout the year. For flag football, it’s not uncommon to play 6-7 games in a weekend or sometimes even a day, so the sport is more than equipped for this style of tournament play. 2. International Flag Football Interest is Exploding As mentioned above, this is a major issue when determining whether a sport is fit to be considered, and while traditional American style tackle football is extremely popular worldwide as well, flag football appeals to more countries. It’s a lower barrier to entry as far as cost and equipment go, don’t require full length and striped football fields to participate, and is easier to hold larger tournament competitions and leagues to inspire local interest. 3. It Requires Fewer Participants Depending on which format would be used (our guess is either 5v5 or 7v7), flag football requires far fewer participants than traditional tackle football. Part of this is due to it being a less physically demanding sport and the need for less substitutions, and another part is due to needing less specialist players, such as kickers, punters, special teams, offensive lineman, etc. Where each traditional tackle football team would probably carry 50+ competitors, flag football would need probably 15 players at most, cutting that number to less than a third. This is important because the Olympics cap their total participants to 10,500 athletes and coaches. It also again allows more countries to compete, especially poorer countries, where fielding a smaller and less financially demanding team coupled with the reasons above makes more sense. 4. It’s Not Just a Men’s Sport Gender equality is a major emphasis for the IOC. The 2012 Summer Olympics marked the first time all sports included competing women in their category. Today, any new sport that is added to the Olympic Games must include both male and female participants. For tackle football, there is just not nearly enough interest from women participators for it to make sense. While there are some female players, and even some female tackle football leagues and organizations, it just doesn’t fit the mold, especially with the other issues relating to physicality and barrier to entry. For flag football this is not a problem as detailed above, with female participation booming internationally. NEXT STEPS FOR FLAG FOOTBALL AND OLYMPIC INCLUSION So how do we take the next steps to ride the momentum of flag football straight into the next available Olympic games? The IFAF has already helped begin the process of getting the sport of American Football in front of the IOC in recent years, but with their public issues and seemingly no movement since 2014 more needs to be done to keep moving forward. What we do know is that flag football is being taken seriously at all levels for really the first time in history, with major organizations making moves to get more into the flag football space and the creation of bigger and more international events to fuel the sport. We believe that either on it’s own, or as a discipline of tackle football, flag football WILL be included in the Olympics at some level in the next 10-20 years. If that happened, what do you think that would do to boost the popularity and legitimacy of the sport of flag football long term? Let us know in the comments below!
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You think you know the sport of flag football? Since originating in the mid 1900’s, flag football has recently risen in popularity to levels not seen since the NFL was involved in the late 1990’s. With a variety of formats, rules and events being run across the world, there’s alot to the sport that even some hardcore players and fans may not know! Put your knowledge to the test now by taking the 20 question quiz below!
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