Ten Teams Qualify For New Orleans
All ten teams have qualified for the 2007 NFL Flag Football World Championship (FFWC) to be played in New Orleans from August 7-10. Teams comprised of 12 to 14-year-old boys and girls from ten nations and three continents will compete in the United States for the first time in the event’s eight-year history.
First round games will be played at the New Orleans Saints practice facility in Metairie on August 9 and 10. The two teams that qualify for the championship game will meet at the Louisiana Superdome at 4pm CT on Friday, August 10, prior to the Saints’ NFL preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. The FFWC teams will also provide a NFL Flag football demonstration at halftime. Ticket holders for the Saints game will see the Championship game at the Superdome, and preliminary rounds at the Saints facility are open to the public.
Chaopraya Wittayakom School (left) from Bangkok will defend the title it won in Cologne, Germany, in 2006 having retained the championship of Thailand by defeating Barnna Nayokpittyakorn School 33-12. Only one player returns on the seven-player roster in Wutthikrai Kanjanasit, who caught two touchdowns in the semi finals in Cologne to propel the Thais into the final.
“We are glad to represent our country again,” said head coach Udom Jaithatkul. “All of our players are determined and will do their best in New Orleans.”
Canada, whose teams have finished as runners up on three occasions, will be represented by the Steeltown Steelers from Hamilton, ON, who beat Manitoba 12-0 in the semi finals and then edged Alberta 7-6 in the Canadian championships.
Japan’s hopes will rest with the Adachi Gakuen Junior High School Wild Bears (right) from Adachi-ku, Tokyo, who scored 169 points and conceded only seven in three games to qualify for the Japanese national championships. As part of the IFAF World Cup of American Football being played in Kawasaki, the Junior Bears then defeated the champions of Okinawa and Kyoto before defeating Muscle Nagaito of Fukuoka 31-27 to secure a trip to New Orleans.
Europe’s three representatives won through during the celebrations surrounding World Bowl XV in Frankfurt, Germany. The Wenzgasse Vikings from Vienna emerged as the champion of the European Schools Final by beating Spain’s Pere Vives Viches 34-25 and will represent Austria in New Orleans.
“We are delighted to be back,” said head coach Jϋrgen Gatterbauer, whose team took part in the 2004 FFWC in Vancouver. “We know from previous experience that the competition will be very strong, but we are excited and are looking forward to the challenge.”
Pere Vives Viches from Igualada near Barcelona, Spain, reached the semi finals of the FFWC in Cologne last year, but a new roster of players will fly the Spanish flag in New Orleans, hoping to improve on the fourth place finish of their predecessors.
“We are a young team, but have good skills and are very determined,” said coach Jordi Sanchez. “There is a tradition to uphold and a new standard has been set because Spain recorded the best ever finish by a European team last year.”
The United Kingdom will be represented for the first time in the finals by the Woodham Warriors from County Durham, England. The Warriors beat Italy into the third qualifying spot in Frankfurt with a 40-12 victory.
“We’re just overjoyed because it has been a long time in coming,” said Warriors head coach Jon Tait, whose team has twice missed out on progressing at the final hurdle. “It is what we’ve been working towards and it is what we’ve dreamed of. I imagine it will sink in eventually.”
Flying the flag for Mexico will be Los Diablitos (left), whose club won the 2003 NFL Flag Football World Championship in Tokyo. They won through from a national championship featuring teams from Guadalajara, Mexico City, Puebla and Monterrey. China will be represented by the Shoushi Shiyan Middle School from Beijing, Korea by Sungseo Middle School from Daegu and the United States by the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center from Miami, FL.
Under the guidance of coach David Fried, the Miami-based US team won the FFWC title in Vancouver in 2004 and was runner up in Beijing a year later. The latest crop of MAR JCC youngsters (below) won the NFL Flag national championships at the Disney Wide World of Sports in November to qualify.
A dedicated tournament website www.NFL-Flag.com will feature team and event information, the history of the FFWC, player notes and quotes, results, recaps, statistics and photographs. The NFL will partner with Reebok, EA and Gatorade to promote this coed event, which motivates boys and girls to participate in a fun and safe sport.