The Bahamas Flag Football League (BFFL) will host its sixth annual flag football invitational tournament, sponsored by Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), Powerade and Burns House, this weekend at the Winton Rugby Field. The largest tournament ever is expected to happen this year, with a total of 21 teams - 11 men's teams and 10 women's teams - from New Providence, Freeport and the Cayman Islands participating. BFFL President Jayson Clarke said the number of teams entered paints a good picture of how popular the sport has become in a very short time. He added that he is working on unifying the various leagues around the country to produce more tournaments of this magnitude.

"All of the leagues coming together will really be beneficial for the growth of flag football, because now you have a much broader spectrum and reach as it relates to the exposure of the sport, as well as competition throughout the Bahama Islands," he said.

"That kind of competition helps with exposure. As it relates to the Nassau and Freeport rivalry, it really helps as well. Nassau has won the Freeport tournament and Freeport has won the Nassau tournament and that increases the level of competition.

"This year a Nassau team won the Freeport invitational in August and I'm pretty sure that Freeport will be sending down a number of teams to better their chances to try and regain their title."

Freeport is sending six teams down this weekend- three men's teams and three women's teams.

"This one will be extremely interesting because now we have Cayman here once again," Clarke added. "They are bringing down their national men's team to play, and with the Nassau champions winning both at home and at Freeport, I think it will be a big rivalry to see if Cayman can dethrone them or if Freeport will come back and reclaim the throne."

In the men's division, the teams participating from the BFFL are the Orry J. Sands Spartans, the Finlandia Predators, the Essential Services Avengers, the Strongback Rams and the RBC Lions. In the women's division, the Johnson's Trucking Lady Spartans, the Essential Service Lady Avengers, the Bommer G. Bobcats, the Coyotes and the RBC Lady Lions will represent the BFFL.

"We are really excited about this year's tournament and intrigued by what type of play we will see out on the field," said BFFL Public Relations Officer Bianca Lee. "We feel like the tournament will grow again next year, and even though we have a cap, we hope that can grow as well with the new field coming on line. These are really some exciting times for us in flag football."

Action kicks off at noon on Saturday. Admission will be $2 for anyone over the age of 12.

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