Koalas, Shorts-N-All Perform Well in State Tournament

Flag football provides outlet for competition

Flag football has become an outlet for competition for many Berry College students, and for the Koalas and Shorts-N-All, it also earned them a spot in Georgia’s Collegiate Flag Football Championship.

Why flag football?
Students have different reasons for joining a flag football team, but according to Ricky Williams, Berry’s Intramural Director, the students desire to have fun, be competitive, and win the championship t-shirt.

“I didn’t get to play football in high school; my parents wouldn’t let me, so now I can bring my competitive nature to the football field,” said Tristan Pierce, a running back for the Koalas.

Some participants use flag football as a way to get outside and get active.

“Flag football is a great way to exercise without going to the gym,” said Rachel White, the cornerback for the team Shorts-N-All.

The season
The flag football competition has a preseason, a season, and a day long tournament. The preseason determines what bracket the team will play in during the season, and then the winner of the upper and lower brackets is determined at the end of the tournament. The top men’s team and women’s team advance to play in the state tournament.

The top teams for the men and women, the Koalas and Shorts-N-All, got an added bonus this football season when they were asked to play in the first annual flag football tournament against Shorter College to help benefit Toys for Tots on November 1. The Shorter boys put up a fight, but lost to the Koalas 27-10. Shorts-N-All dominated The Shorter girls with a final score of 32-7.

“We kicked butt this whole season, and I hope we are going to at state,” said Pierce, as he gave a hearty laugh.

24th Annual Flag Football Tournament at Georgia Southern

Men
• Koalas 20, Backfield in Motion 12
• Koalas 26, Bluetick Hounds 13
• Koalas 0, DSGB 30

Women
• Shorts-N-All 0, Fast Break 20
• Shorts-N-All 12, Dem Gurlz 6
• Shorts-N-All 0, Fast Break 19

The Koalas and Shorts-N-All attended the 24th Annual Flag Football Tournament held at Georgia Southern University on November 16 through 18.

“This is my second time going to state, and this year my team is more cohesive, which will give us a better advantage,” said White.

The Koalas began pool play by defeating Georgia Tech’s number one team, Backfield in Motion, 20-12, then Georgia Tech’s number two team, Bluetick Hounds, 26-13. The Koalas then advanced to the final 16 in tournament play to be defeated by the University of Georgia’s DSGB 30-0.

Shorts-N-All started pool play against the University of West Georgia’s Fast Break and lost 20-0. They still continued and defeated Dem Gurlz from Armstrong Atlantic State University 12-6. Fast Break then met Shorts-N-All again in the quarterfinals to end Berry College’s flag football season 19-0. Shorts-N-All received the team sportsmanship award for the tournament that was decided by all the teams in the women’s league.

“It was a long hard day, but the team is pleased with how well we played,” said Pierce.

Intramurals at Berry

With over 200 students participating in intramural flag football during the fall 2007 season, one person out of 10 is reaching to pull the opposite teams flags.

Although flag football is the biggest intramural sport at Berry College in the number of people who play, other intramural sports, such as softball and soccer, bring in a big crowd of 100 participants according to Berry College’s intramural website. Out of all of the students on campus, about 80 percent participate in intramurals, said Williams.

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