Written by LARRY MOKO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR Sunday, 07 February 2010 13:50

Canadian Team wins USA National Title

Miami,FL-Hamilton,Ontario City girls win NFL flag football title.

The kid knows his stuff. That's the impression Alex Hill, of Stoney Creek, left with many of the participants at the NFL Flag Football National Tournament of Champions in Miami. With 16-year-old Hill as the head coach, Hamilton Lions won the girls' title of the 12-to-14 age group. The event final was held just outside Sun Life Stadium hours before Sunday's Pro Bowl. "The other coaches were surprised," said Hill, a Grade 11 student at Cardinal Newman. "A lot of them were 40-plus dads who ran football programs in their cities. They saw me, a 16-year-old kid, and thought, 'what the heck is going on?' "There was a boys' division there and everyone was asking me if I was a player. I said 'no, I'm a coach.'" In 2007, Hill was the quarterback of a 13-to-14 Steeltown Steelers mixed flag football team - coached by his older brother Matt - that won Canadian and world championships in Winnipeg and New Orleans, respectively. Hill said a writer from the NFL website was aware of the Hamilton team's history and, in the hotel lobby, said to him: 'You guys have an amazing story. We've heard about how you won the worlds before.'" Lions received a berth into this year's eight-team divisional competition by winning a regional qualifier in Detroit last September. The Hamilton squad defeated the Oakland Raiders 6-0 in the final on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Michaela Ionni to Jenna Woodworth with seven minutes remaining. On the play before, a deep pass from Ionni to Kristen Farkas moved the Lions into the red zone. Other members of the team were Marissa Ico, Alisa Van Veen, Faith Gallant, Francesca Cutulle, Alexia Tam and Breanne Stramenga. Flag football is 5-on-5 with three downs to gain 20 yards. Lions were seeded 5th. After a 20-0 round-robin victory over the Arizona Cardinals, the Lions lost 14-12 to the New York Jets and 19-0 to the Oakland Raiders. In the playoff round, however, the Lions came to life, blanking both the Jets 12-0 in a quarter-final and top-seeded Dallas Cowboys 6-0 in the semifinal. "I was amazed how the girls came through," Hill said. "After going 1-2, they gave their heads a shake and fought with everything they had. We didn't give up a point in any of our playoff games. Defence was our strong point. Offensively, we played conservatively, keep it short." Farkas and Gallant made four and three interceptions, respectively, for the the Lions in the final three games. "We barely gave up any first downs and the girls didn't miss a flag all tournament long. I had a coach approach me and ask what I did with my defence." Hill was awed by the magnitude of the championship. Starting with the specially-built elevated turf field in the stadium parking lot. "It was cool," Hill said. "They had the end zones painted and everything. We got new jerseys, too. We were the NFC and the other team was the AFC." According to Hill, TV cameras and microphones followed the players' every move - even during timeouts and huddles. There was also Monday-Night-Football-like individual player introductions. "We had NFL Films at every game. It's going to be aired on ESPN. When it's that big, you really know you're in the States." Hill said each of the Lions, who got free tickets to the Pro Bowl, will also receive a commemorative life-size football helmet that indicates 2010 Champions. "They were too big for all of us to bring back in our suitcases, so the NFL is going to be shipping them to me." The Ontario and Detroit regional champion Hamilton Steelers - a 9-to-11 year old boys team - also took part in the tournament. Hill said his team appreciates the sponsorship it received from Phase IV Dental Group, Robert Ico and Apogee Engineered Ceramics. The Hills plan to continue coaching flag football when the Canadian U-17 boys' and girls' divisions are launched in March. "Everything I've learned about coaching is from him (Matt). We'll also have an U-15 co-ed team. So we'll be quite busy with all of that." NFL Flag Football was started in 1996 for boys and girls 5-17.

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