USA Lands In Tough Group

The draw for the NFL Flag Football World Championship (FFWC) matched defending champion the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center (MAR JCC) from Miami with teams representing Canada, host China, Germany and Korea in Group A. The sixth annual tournament will kick off at 3pm on Thursday, August 18 at the Xian Nong Tan Stadium in Beijing, China.

In Group B, last year’s beaten finalist Mexico was drawn alongside Italy, Japan, Spain and Thailand. The ten teams of 12 to 14-year-olds will complete a round robin schedule on Thursday and Friday to determine the standings for Saturday’s semi finals and championship game.

“We knew before the draw that whichever teams we came up against, they would provide a tough challenge,” said USA head coach David Fried. “This is about more than playing flag football, it is an opportunity to meet people from other countries and compete for a world title.”

Thursday’s first games will see Korea take on China, Italy face Thailand and Germany meet Canada, all at 3pm. An hour later last year’s beaten semi-finalist Japan plays against Mexico, China is the USA’s first opponent and Spain meet Thailand.

The tournament that has brought ten teams from three continents to China gets underway after two days of sightseeing, which included a visit to the spectacular Great Wall of China and to the Summer Palace in Beijing. On Thursday the teams will gather in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and also visit the Forbidden City.

Players and coaches alike were awestruck by the magnificent Great Wall, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Josh Shapiro of Team USA. “We didn’t get to climb the thousands of steps because our coach wants us to keep our legs fresh, but just being here and seeing this sight is amazing.”

Another popular visitor to The Great Wall was Philadelphia Eagles tight end Chad Lewis, who chatted with the flag youngsters as he made his way up and down the famous landmark. Lewis speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and is the tournament’s NFL ambassador.

“It was a great honor to hike up The Great Wall with you guys and I’d much rather be here doing this than be in training camp,” he told the players at a welcome dinner. “During the competition, I advise you to do what my coach at the Eagles Andy Reid tells us: be hungry and be humble. Give these games all you’ve got, but also respect your opponents and have fun out there.”