Games We Play: Israel to host int'l flag football tournament

Tournament games will not be played on Shabbat, and the Israeli players will welcome guests into their homes for Friday night dinner.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
flag football 298.88 (photo credit: )
flag football 298.88
(photo credit: )
American Football in Israel last week announced plans to host its first international flag football tournament, to be held February 23-25, 2006. "Our national teams have competed at tournaments in Finland, France and Florida. We felt it was time to bring the excitement to Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem," enthused AFI President Steve Leibowitz. Tournament games will not be played on Shabbat, and the Israeli players will welcome guests into their homes for Friday night dinner. "It is going to be the first of what we hope will become an annual Holy Land international flag football tournament," said Leibowitz, who co-founded the first American football league in Jerusalem 16 years ago. Three men's teams fall from unbeaten ranks In a battle of unbeatens in the Heritage Affinity AFI league on Friday, the Out-of-Towners beat Misha'an Plumbers 32-20. On Saturday, D & D Marketing and Yesodei.org suffered their first defeats of the season, while Klein Management improved its record to 3-1 with a 19-10 victory over Cobras. Ziontours recorded one of the highest scores in AFI history with a 79-0 rout of Mug Club. After the first round of the Heritage Affinity AFI men's contact league, in which each team plays six games, the top 32 teams - 16 from Friday and 16 from Saturday - will be placed into eight divisions of four teams each. Each of these 32 teams will face the other teams in its division for a three-game second round, hoping to claim one of 16 spots in the Holyland Bowl playoff bracket. Fieldturf WAFI's Ziontours wins thriller The week three Fieldturf Women's American Football in Israel showdown between 2-0 Jump Gym and 2-0 Ziontours lived up to expectations. A total of seven touchdowns were scored, with Ziontours sealing a 25-19 victory with an interception in the final seconds. Also last week, Diamonds.com recorded its first victory of the season. The Diamonds beat Eden's Eagles 12-0, and Big Blue beat Boston Friends/Havia 48-0. Oasis Management high schoolers come up with first victory After starting the season at 0-3, Oasis Management pulled off the upset of the week in the High School American Football in Israel league by knocking off the previously undefeated Chashmo Jaguars. The loss by the Jags leaves the Pizza Sababa/Super Deal squad alone at the top of the standings with a 4-0 record. Pizza Sababa/SuperDeal escaped with a victory over the Thunderbolts as a result of a last-minute controversial touchdown. In a battle of winless teams, the Dominators got their first victory of the season by knocking off the Bulldogs. Kfar Zippori rolls overHUC-YA in co-ed league Defending Tuesday Night Football League champion Kfar Zippori (3-0) displayed its full potential with a 73-0 thumping of HUC-YA (0-4) last week. Big Blue upped its record to 3-0 with a 49-8 victory over the HUC Mullet Men (1-2), while Josh Shuman PR dropped to 2-1 after a narrow 15-13 loss to Pardes (2-2). Josh Shuman PR had a chance to tie the game on the last play, but its two-point conversion failed.