2009 Let-It-Fly Nationals Wrap-up (from FlagPlayer.com)
James Gallagher - 5/28/2009

Let It Fly held their annual National Championships in Daytona Beach May 23-24 and several Tampa area teams participated including GCP, Tampa4on4.com, 3rd String and Flagplayer.com. Each team had a respectable showing and made it to the playoffs on Sunday. In the Top Gun division, GCP came back from a rough start to run off 5 straight wins on their way to the semifinals. In the semis they matched up with Sik Wit It, one of the best young 4on4 teams you’ll see, and came up a little short. The guys from CGP all played hard and represented themselves, and Tampa, well. They showed at this tournament why they not only are the best team in Tampa, but one of the best in the state. In the Competitive division, Flagplayer.com was represented by James Gallagher, Bert Rich, Glenn Harshbarger, Hector Vega, Earl Kulp and Scott Beynon. The team started strong and secured the #1 seed going into the playoffs. In the semifinals, after beating a tough but exhausted Do Work team, Flagplayer was matched up with Thrown Together. In a battle of offenses, this one came down to who got to 28 points first. Thrown Together got the ball first, scored, and the race was on. Defense was hard to come by in this game and when the dust settled, Thrown Together had hit 28 points and come out on top.  They went on to face All Out in the all-Miami finals and lost. In the recreational division, Tampa4on4.com made it all the way to the finals where they were beaten by an always tough ESS team from MIami. Shawn Millard came back to play QB for Tampa and played very well despite having not played tournament ball in a while. Congratulations to Shawn, Jason Rice, Chris, Glenn and the rest of the team for a job well done. 3rd String had a tougher time and because of some inconsistent play didn’t make it out of the quarterfinals. This is still a team laden with talent and I hope they can pull it together for the next tournament. They definitely have the potential to make some noise. 3rd String also fielded a co-ed team, where they finished 2nd.

Overall, this was another great tournament experience. There were over 180 teams there from all over the country ranging in age from 6 all the way up to the 35+ division. The field location was originally going to be at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach but due to heavy rain it was moved to Dewey Boster Park in Deltona. This couldn’t have worked out better, though, because the fields were beautiful. Credit must be given to Jay Brennan and his staff for pulling this one off at the last minute.

Even better than that was the comraderie and support the Tampa teams showed for one another. Everyone had a good time and rooted hard for one another. In the future it’d be nice to go to these tournaments with an even stronger contingent from Tampa. We’ve got some great players and teams up here and it’s important that we build upon that.

Again, great job everyone. See you at the next tournament!