By Roya Ghorbani-Elizeh
Flag football season has officially started at the University of Portland with 16 teams total playing in the two separate intramural leagues. Games for the season are played every weeknight at Prusynski Pitch, better known as the turf field.
"I like playing flag football at night under the lights," junior Ryan Livingston said. "It makes it easier to play games without interfering with class."
The teams are battling for the two championship honors for this month long season.
Teams can consist of as many players as the teams want, however, only four men are allowed to be on the field at one time. These four include the quarterback and three receivers during this pass-only style of flag football.
According to Livingston, it is better for teams to have a smaller lineup so players can get more playing time during the games. Teams are divided into a Division 1 (D1) and a Division 2 (D2) league with 10 teams and six teams playing, respectively.
"Division 1 is supposed to be really competitive," junior Zach Uhles said. "If people didn't want it bad, then it wouldn't be as fun."
Although many flag football players in the more competitive D1 division share the same sentiment as Uhles, other students enjoy playing D2 as a way to participate in sports without the pressure of winning.
"The intramural teams in D2 are still pretty good," said freshman Matt Timm. "But we're just here to have fun."
Intramural sports like flag football allow for every type of student or staff member to participate. Skill levels range from former athletes to students looking to be physically active, stay in shape and participate in various sports.
"I have a couple guys on my team who played high school football and others who are very athletic and bring some great skills," sophomore Brian Spencer said. "I think we will be pretty good after we get some practice in."
Flag football not only allows students to meet one another, but also allows for friends to compete against each other.
"Playing against your friends can sometimes be the most fun because you can all share laughs when the game is over," Livingston said. "The games are still extremely competitive, but it's fun to play against people you know."
According to Livingston, who is also an intramural coordinator for Recreational Services, past attempts have been made to create a Co-ed and a women's flag football league for intramural competition.
"We try to get people interested about it every year, but we never seem to get enough teams interested to join a league," Livingston said. "We will continue to offer a Co-ed and women's league and hope that people will, hopefully, get interested in it again."
In previous years, flag football championship winners would receive the UP intramural champion t-shirt. However, recent budget cuts eliminated the prized shirts.
"The taking away of shirts was very disheartening because that's what you played for," Uhles said. " Now we're just playing for pride, which isn't as fun."
Although still dissapointed about the shirts, players from the flag football league are focused on winning.
"Everyone wants to win a championship and everyone thinks they have a chance to accomplish that goal," Livingston said.
Sophomore Kyle Figura's team, "Team Swag," recently won an upset victory against a veteran team.
"We were down by seven and came back to win with a minute and a half left," Figura said. "We beat the team by one point."
With competition like that, every game will matter for teams aiming to win the championship.
"We just have to go into every game like it's our toughest," Uhles said.
