With two U-18 teams facing off in the provincial flag football championship game, the Westside Warriors knew either way they'd be representing B.C. at the Canadian nationals this month in Halifax.
Win or lose, it was a win-win for the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»football club.
The Warriors fielded three teams for the five-on-five B.C. Provincials and took as names the Falcons and the Giants in addition to the Packers.
The coach of the Westside Packers--a name inspired by the NFL team in Green Bay--came out victorious with a 47-19 win over their counterpart Westside competitors in the June 5 game.
The losing Westside team forced overtime in the semi-final, ultimately defeating a team from Coquitlam.
"There is a good talent level out here," said Packers coach Mike Pauls. "We've had an emphasis on flag football for the past five or six years and we're seeing the success of those years.
"The competition was very highly skilled kids, extremely fast. Some of the teams did really well in the B.C. high school championships."
The Packers are comprised exclusively of students from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» College. The Fighting Irish won the AAA 2010 provincial championship with defensive coordinator Doug Pauls, another Westside coach and the brother of the Packers' Mike Pauls.
The spring league begins in April and continues into early summer before pre-season training ramps up for tackle football in the fall.
Flag football is non-contact and Pauls said parents sign their children up for the sport because it's athletic and emphasizes fitness without the crushing physicality of blocking and tackling. Children as young as eight play in the U-14 division and registration is open to boys and girls as young as six. Full-contact tackle football begins for boys and girls at age eight.
There is an added benefit to playing flag football in the off-season: Free of helmets and body padding, young athletes can focus on building their finesse maneuvers and bolstering their tactical understanding of the gridiron game.
"Non-contact is fabulous that way," said Pauls.
"To develop kids' football skills, work on catching and defending, it gives them a different outlet. Development is earlier without pads and a helmet, rather than with big guys trying to hit you and knock you over. A lot of parents really like it, and try to get their kids to play football as a new sport because of the non-contact."
Then there are the gifted athletes who excel at both flag and tackle. For example, take Justin Sanvido and Daniel Laventure. The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»College students will join the Westside Packers when they represent B.C. at the flag football Canadian championships in Halifax one week after playing for the provincial team at the national tackle football championships in Lethbridge this weekend.
"It's pretty unheard of that two kids would be on two provincial teams battling for two provincial championships 10 days apart," marvelled Pauls.
The Packers--as team B.C.--take a roster of seven players to the Maritimes for the U-18 national tournament July 22 to 26 hosted at Dalhousie University.
Before arriving in Nova Scotia, they will be saluted tonight (July 8) by the B.C. Lions at Empire Field. The Lions host the Calgary Stampeders with kick off set for 7:30 p.m.
Registration is open now for the youth fall tackle football season.
Twitter: @MHStewart
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