Leaping high to try and make the interception
The first sports weekend of the New Year saw the opening tryout in the build up to the International Cup of Flag Football or ‘I-Cup’.
According to event organiser Brendon Malice, the goal of the I-Cup is to spread Flag Football across the Island. “With all the nationalities that play in our flag football league, I thought this would be a great opportunity to play alongside your fellow countrymen in a friendly competition,” he explained. Adding that this is the first-ever International Cup and so far the turn out has been great.
Teams representing the Cayman Islands, Canada, the USA and the rest of the World will contest the cup. Each team will consist of two coaches or captains and up to 20 players.
After the initial tryouts, the USA and World team rosters are almost complete with six open spots remaining on the World team and just one player needed to complete the line up for Team USA.
Although Team Cayman looked good last Saturday, they still need seven or eight more team members.
The Canadians are on the look out for more players, with just nine signed up so far and 11 vacancies to be filled.
According to Brendon, Canada has some good talent but lacks size up front on offensive-line and defensive-line. They will be led by Team Captains Rustin Smith and Brad ‘Lazy Eye’ Berger, Brad is already a familiar figure as a team captain on the roller hockey court.
So far, Brendon says the best team on paper seems to be the World Team, which is led by Quarterback Carlo ‘the Killa from Manila’ Ylagan and CIFFA MVP Nigel Solomon. “The World Team has it all, speed, size and skill,” he observed.
He also says Cayman will be a force to be reckoned with, featuring great team speed. “Team Cayman’s Coach, Teddy Hydes, has the athletes to win,” he predicted.
Finally, he feels Team USA will have the edge on football knowledge and size. “The USA’s Defence will be the key to victory, led by CIFFA Defensive player of the year Todd ‘Maverick’ Hazelwood,” he concluded
Team USA is scheduled to practice at the Triple C field on Outpost Street off Aspiration Drive this Saturday, 13 January at 10:00 am.
The I-Cup will be played over 10 and 11 February at the North Side Old Man Bay Field in North Side.
Anyone interested in playing in the competition should contact Brendon Malice at ci.roller.hockey @hotmail.com or on 925-4964.
