The Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League, which began organizing late last year and officially launched in the spring, will kick off its inaugural fall season this weekend after having spent the past several months gaining momentum and credibility among the local and national LGBT sports scenes.
The season will launch with a pick-up game at 10 a.m. Sept. 12 at the association’s new field, Columbus Square at 12th and Wharton streets in South Philadelphia.
In the spring, the league held its games at Tarken Recreation Center in Northeast Philly, but the new locale — where the league will play pick-up games every Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. through mid-November — is closer to Center City and the Gayborhood, said league commissioner Scott Dinkins.
In the spring, players typically congregated at a Boston Market in the Northeast after games to socialize, but the post-game meet-ups will now take place at LGBT restaurant and bar Knock.
Dinkins said he and other league representatives are looking to renew the relationships formed among players last season and build upon those connections to network within the local LGBT community.
“We had such a great time last spring playing, meeting new people each week and just having fun,” Dinkins said. “Our goal this year is to grow this league even bigger and make it an integral part of the Philadelphia gay sports community.”
Dinkins said the league has concentrated this year on enhancing its Web site and Facebook page in order to recruit new players and keep its current members informed of upcoming events within the GPFFL and other LGBT sports entities.
“We worked hard to make it one of the best sites within the National Gay Flag Football League. We have links to the NGFFL Web site and all the other leagues in the country [and] to the other GLBT sports teams in Philadelphia.”
Dinkins said about 40 players regularly came out to play in the league’s spring season, while the association’s competitive team, The Revolution, had a roster of 16.
The Revolution played in its first-ever tournament, the Chicago Pride Bowl II, in June. Seventeen teams from around the nation took part in the competition, and although the Phoenix Hellraisers eventually took the top spot, Revolution player Morgan Sampson said the tournament was a valuable opportunity for the fledgling team.
The Revolution lost its two games on the first day of play — one of which was to the Hellraisers — and narrowly lost its first game the following day, but finished up the weekend with a 28-13 win over the Atlanta Woofs.
“It was a learning experience for us on the first day,” Sampson said. “We played two very good teams [and] lost both games but it helped us better prepare [for] Saturday. A lot of teams were impressed with how well we played, considering we formed our league in late 2008.”
The Revolution will also make its first appearance at the NGFFL’s annual Gay Bowl, Oct. 9-11 in Washington, D.C.
The local team received the 18th seed out of the 20 participating teams, ahead of the two other newly formed groups from San Antonio and Pittsburgh, and will play teams from Los Angeles, Houston and Boston before it enters the elimination round.
Players of all genders, sexual orientations and skill levels are welcome to join the league for its Saturday pick-up games or to compete with The Revolution.
For more information, visit www.phillyflagfootball.com or e-mail Dinkins at [email protected].
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].