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The
International Flag
Football Federation held its first
international tournament of
the year this weekend as representatives from six countries England, France,
Ireland, Israel, Scotland, Sweden, Uruguay and the
USA all attending. The tournament was held two hours south of
Paris in a town called Troyes. The host country took great care of
the international teams as each were transported, feed, and
housed. The event made for a great social environment. IFFF
President Jim Zimolka stated "The French were great hosts, this is
what the World Cup is all about, players putting aside their
diplomatic differences and having fun. We expect this tournament
to double in size next year as everyone had a great time and is
looking forward to coming back" (it was just two years ago when
Team USA participated in another organizations tournament in
France and everyone had a horrible time).
Ten Men's and five women's teams participated in the
5on5 no contact event. The tournament offered round robin play
with referees and single elimination on Sunday as games were
played 10 minutes per half with no timeouts and laterals
allowed.
In the womens division, England had a womens team participate for
the first time, as they were sponsored by FlagMag.com. The English
had a tough time of it, but made the best out of it as the French
women were cordial. In the championship game Trop Yes defeated ESC
19-6 as the MVP was Miss FlagMag France Celine Garette.
In the Mens division, Team Israel upset previously
undefeated Team
USA 21-13. Israel scored on the last play of the half on 4th down
to take the lead 13-6 at the half. On the first play of the second
half Israel's the "animal" sacked QB Pat Connolly to take a 15-6
lead. Team USA then stopped Israel and Connolly hooked up with
James Mayo to bring the score to 15-13. Israel used great clock
management and ran out out the game clock as team usa let them
score in hope of gaining one last play but the clock ran out on
the extra point. (Team USA ran 7 offensive plays in the entire game) This was Teams USA's only fourth loss in international play.
Canada, Russia, and Mexico have also defeated Team USA in
International tournaments.
In the other semi final game England was no match for
the French champs Pygargues as they easily defeated England
21-0. In the championship game Pygargues easily defeated Team Israel
25-12. The Pygargues are made up mostly of players from the
National Flag Team and showed great improvement from when they
started just two years ago. In France's first world cup tournament
in Ft. Lauderdale, FL 2002, France finished last and only scored 2
points in four games.
France's progress is a true indication the
international teams are gaining valuable experience and could be a
viable threat to the top three teams, USA, Canada, and Mexico at
next years World Cup tournament.
A 9Man Ineligible exhibition game was played as the USA
and Israel combined to take on the French and English. An amazing
task seeing the French and English play together as politics and
the language seemed to be a bit much for the squad as USA/Israel
easily handled them 21-6. |
