Football fans in Clermont County have a chance to take in a different type of gridiron action this weekend.
The Flag Football World Championship Tour makes a stop at the Olympic Fields in Batavia on Saturday, November 10. Teams from all over the region compete in the two-day tournament in an attempt to earn points to qualify for the national tournament in Florida next January.
Tournament director Keith Ludrowsky said this year’s tournament will be the first for the Cincinnati area.
“This is the first time we’ve ever had it in Cincinnati,” Ludrowsky said. “It’s usually been in Columbus or Toledo. The people that live in Cincinnati are excited it’s going to be there for the first time.”
Ludrowsky added the reason Olympic Fields was chosen to host the games was because of the site’s ability to host multiple games at once, while also providing enough lodging for teams in the area.
“We knew it was a big enough complex,” Ludrowsky said. “It has enough hotels in the area to house the teams that are coming in. Right now, we have about 35 teams in four divisions. They’re coming from Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Dayton, Youngstown…A team from Chicago is coming and a team from Erie, Pennsylvania is coming.”
In terms of on-field action, Ludrowsky said there is one thing fans can expect from the games.
“Competitive football,” Ludrowsky said. “The 5 on 5 is a fast-paced game. It’s becoming very popular. The state of Florida and those areas, that’s all they play. It’s a quicker game and you don’t need as big a roster, you only need 10-12 players instead of 25-30 when you play eight man.”
The tournament this weekend is expected to have between 40 and 60 teams in five divisions. The total number of teams was not finalized at press time. Teams that win the tournament receive bids to the FFWCT Battle Orlando National Championships in Orlando, Florida January 18-20, 2019.
Tournament play begins on Saturday with pool play. Teams are then seeded and face off in a bracket-style contest on Sunday, November 11 to determine the title winners.
Flag football is growing in popularity throughout the country. Data from the Sports Fitness Industry Association says participation in flag football by kids aged 6-12 has grown 6.3 percent in the five-year period from 2011 to 2016.
Last summer, the American Flag Football League hosted a tournament comprised of teams made up of former NFL players against teams of amateurs from across the country. In the 2018 championship, Fighting Cancer, the team of amateurs, won the title with a 26-6 win over Godspeed. The pro team was captained by former NFL player Justin Forsett and retired Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson.
Players in the AFFL league are no stranger to tournaments like the ones being held by the FFWCT.
“With the concussions in tackle football, flag football is becoming very popular,” Ludrowsky said. “All of those players play in our leagues. It’s becoming very big.”
Ludrowsky added that this tournament is one to help teams prepare for the national championship rounds in a few months.
“This tournament here is prep for people going to nationals in Florida in January,” Ludrowsky said. “We’ll have probably close to 400, 500 teams in Florida. There are different styles played throughout the country. New York, New Jersey area plays a lot of nine-man. The Carolina area plays a lot of screen, which is like the AFL style. There’s no blocking. Florida and California plays a lot of five-on-five or four-on-four. We’ll have a lot of youth playing, and we have three different women’s divisions. The women’s division is growing just as fast as the men.”
Admission to the games in Batavia this weekend is free, though there is a charge for parking. Rates can be found at www.olympicfields.com/facility. More information on the tournaments, including future tournament dates and locations, can be found online at the FFWCT website, www.ffwct.com.