When it comes to flag football, there’s nothing bigger than the United States Flag and Touch Football League. America’s biggest league recently announced that the stage for its national championship tournaments has been set, right in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
The USFTL has teamed up with the Plant City Recreation & Parks Department to bring the 45th annual National Flag Football Championships to the Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex, which will keep the area busy from Jan. 15 to 17 of next year.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission in bringing the USFTL to Plant City,” Recreation & Parks director Jack Holland said in a release. “A tournament of this magnitude will bring thousands of dollars of economic development to our city through area hotels, restaurants, grocers, pharmacies, convenience stores and other businesses that will see an increase in foot traffic during the tournament.”
HISTORY
Although the tournament itself is going on its 45th year, the USFTL itself has only been around since 1988. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the league gave the sport of flag football something it didn’t previously have: a large, organized structure with clearly-defined, universal rules.
The USFTL spent five years forming a rulebook and separating the game into four distinct types: flag football, touch football, screen flag football and ineligible lineman flag football. The league has had enough staying power to create its own Hall of Fame, for which anyone with at least 10 years of USFTL involvement is eligible, and has sections listed on its website for Cleveland, Ohio and nationally-based inductees.
Plant City isn’t the first new destination for the tournament, which was previously held in Kissimmee for the last 19 years. But the league’s goal was to help the tournament grow into an even bigger event, and the Otis M. Andrews complex just happened to be the ideal venue to do that.
BIGGER AND BETTER
Plant City may not be as big or well-known as Kissimmee, hence the league using Tampa in most of its promotional materials, but what it lacks in familiarity, it makes up for in potential.
“We were looking for a change of pace,” marketing head Mario Durastante says.
The organization is looking for bigger numbers. Playing in Plant City, the USFTL estimates it will be able to bring around 9,000 players on 400 teams into town for that three-day span. Durastante also expects attendance to go up from the usual 2,000 to 3,000, especially with everything else the league is bringing.
Yes, there will be far more than just football at the complex. Durastante says that the tournament will feature live music, food trucks, vendors, team meet-and-greets, an athletes’ village and four showcase fields, in addition to holding its Hall of Fame induction ceremony on-site. The USFTL wants to have a family-friendly event with something for everyone to do on all three days.
The USFTL signed a three-year deal to stay in Plant City for the tournament, with some clauses in the language just in case something doesn’t work out. But the league and the city aren’t planning to split up anytime soon.
“We don’t anticipate separating, but the point behind that was to continue the relationship as it goes,” Durastante says.
Local football fans can expect to see top-notch competition in men’s, women’s, co-ed and youth non-contact divisions, featuring some of the top talent from all over the country. In particular, the league is promoting its adult divisions as the cream of its crop. These are the competitions that no one should miss out on. Going into his second year working for the organization, Durastante believes the adult divisions could be the top draw of the tournament.
“One of the things I enjoy is the competitiveness of the top-tier teams,” he says. “It’s fun to get that atmosphere, a high-energy, very fun event. With some of the changes we’re making this year, we think it’s really going to elevate the profile of our event.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
IF YOU GO
USFTL NATIONAL FLAG FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Where: Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex, 2602 E. Cherry St.
When: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Jan. 15 to 17, 2016
Cost: $5 parking per day; free admission
For more information, visit usftl.com/nationals.