Registration opens for women’s flag football

(GCFFA): Flag football for females on Grand Cayman is one of the fastest growing sports, as reflected by the increasing number of participants and teams for the Grand Cayman Flag Football Association’s 2012 season, sponsored by DART. In its second year of inception, the GCFFA credits a successful 2011 season, both locally and internationally, for the growing popularity of the sport.  “Last year we had just under 100 members a part of the GCFFA, and this season, with the addition of a couple more teams, we are nearing 150 female participants in flag football,” boasts the association’s President and co-founding member, Sophia Dilbert.

The GCFFA is encouraging females 17 and older who are interested in playing flag football this year, to email gcffa@ymail.com and register by Friday, May 18th. Registration is $25 per player with a cap of 18 players per team. The league kicks off with an open scrimmage on Saturday, May 26th at the Camana Bay Field.

The open scrimmage being held on Saturday, May 26th is to introduce new players to the game, have teams become familiar with league members, and to build camaraderie amongst the players.

“We want to remind females that even if they have never played before, or don’t know which team to approach, the association can place you on a team that has open rosters, or we can build an additional team,” informed Ms Dilbert. “No one is left out,” she added.

Reflecting on the 2011 season, out-going Vice President Christine Bisnauth noted that in its first year of operations, the GCFFA represented the Cayman Islands in a regional tournament in the Bahamas and the biggest national tournament in the USA held in Kissimmee, Florida.

The two teams that the GCFFA sent to the Bahamas came back victorious, claiming first and second place standings. Although their placing in the US tournament wasn’t as successful, it did expose the players to a heightened level of competition and also garnered much attention from teams across the US expressing interest in traveling to Cayman to participate in local tournaments.

“We are looking forward to an even better season,” says Ms Bisnauth. “With more teams and more female participants, the level of competition is rising. Our plan to develop an inter-school NFL Youth League is also developing; we are just waiting on the official confirmation from the NFL to begin our youth programme.”

“We would like to thank our league and team sponsors for their continued support: Dart Cayman Islands, Andro-Group, Domino’s Pizza, Hammerheads, Jagermonster, Lonestar, Hot 104.1FM, Maples, and all the companies and individuals who helped us with fundraising initiatives throughout the year,” Ms Bisnauth added.

The 2012 GCFFA board association members include President, Sophia Dilbert; Vice-President, Lilia Conolly; Treasurer, Darrel Porter; Secretary, Anna Nyaundi; Public Relations Representative, Kathy Miller; and Equipment Manager, Andrew Wisdom.