Battling for $10,000 and bragging rights, 40 teams from around the country huddled up at Central Park to compete in the Flag Football World Championship Tour Battle LA.
Battle Los Angeles is the FFWCT West Coast National Championship Tournament for traveling flag football teams from across the nation to compete. The top four teams from the tournament will be given free admission into the final competition of the year in Texas, according to Chuck Davis, co-founder of FFWCT.
Teams entered into one of four divisions, 5v5 Men’s Contact or Non-contact, 8v8 Men’s Contact and 8v8 Women’s Contact.
The 5v5 divisions plays with no offensive or defensive lines like those seen in the NFL. Instead the quarterback is only with four optional receivers or runners. The 8v8 divisions plays a bit more like standard football, the way people watch at home.
While the competition is fierce with players pushing to win, Davis says it’s a way to keep up the players’ fitness going forward in life.
“Flag football is a great way to stay in shape for your recreational adult who obviously can’t go play high school football at 40,” Davis said. “For them it’s a good way to stay in shape and to compete and travel.”
The tournament is taking place over two days with group play happening Saturday and playoffs kicking off Sunday.
Many of the players expressed joy in just traveling out to compete against over teams and show off what they’ve got.
“It’s definitely worth traveling out here,” said Jai Ollie, a receiver for the Thunderbirds 5v5 team from Salt Lake City. “These guys work hard and it’s fun to compete against so many people from different places and backgrounds and have the chance to meet them.”
Santa Clarita was chosen as the location for the championship for many reasons.
“Santa Clarita is an absolutely beautiful city. It gives you all the best of both worlds, having your remote countryside and then having the big city of LA not too far away as well,” Davis said. “It’s a good draw to our players who want to come and travel. The players love it and they say it’s one of the most beautiful places they’ve been to so far.”
Those looking for more information or how they can compete can visit https://ffwct.com/flag-football-tournaments/.
