The Revive Roswell Flag Football tournament organized by Glory Days 4on4 had a successful outing at the Cielo Grande Recreation Area during Memorial Day weekend.
Glory Days 4on4 Operations Director Brandon Williams said over 70 teams registered.
“I helped with registration, and I saw from the sidelines how things went,” Williams said. “I’d be lying to you if I say it was easy. It was tough and challenging, but nothing good comes easy. We are starting from ground zero.”
Williams was involved with Hike It and Spike It flag football tournament before its cancellation was announced in 2021. Williams said they are not there to “reinvent the wheel,” but to have a contest that can run as smoothly.
“We just try to get as many previously involved people back,” Williams said. “I wanted to respect everybody, talk to all the old people involved, try to get them back to re-engage with the community, and play some flag football again.”
Organizing the talent of over 70 teams is one of the tournament’s issues.
“There are gaps in talent levels, especially with the men, but we did our best,” Williams said. “We did our round robin on Saturday. We have to categorize the men into undefeated teams, middle-of-the-road teams, and beginners, or maybe they had an unfortunate ride at the round-robin. If you are an experienced group, you get to play with other individuals on the same level.”
For some of the athletes who participated, it was a big deal that a flag football tournament was coming back to Roswell.
Trenton Warren Armstrong has played in the 4-on-4 tournaments since he was 12 years old. He is part of the co-ed team Run Like the Winded.
“I hadn’t missed a year until COVID hit, and they decided to stay away from the tournaments,” Armstrong said. “Bring back the tournament was kind of nostalgic. It was good to see the town get together, have that community feel and see old faces that had played for years. It was fun. It was a little hot and windy, but it was worth getting out there.”
Armstrong said that the Revive tournament was not a duplicate of Hike It and Spike It.
“It gave you a taste of what Hike It used to be, but it wasn’t quite there,” Armstrong said. “It has the right feel and direction going forward, so if people from the community focus on it, the tournament could be at the same level as Hike It and Spike It.
Since the end of the tournament, Williams said that the community had responded well to flag football’s return to town.
“It’s been a good and awesome ride,” Williams said. “It got super stressful when everything got going, but it went off without a hitch and nobody got severely hurt.”
The tournament being an annual event is still not guaranteed, but Williams said the community interest is there.
Williams said, “The community still wants it, and I heard praises from a lot of people saying thank you for bringing this back.”
Among the competition’s champion teams were: Venom, for the eight and under division; NM Tru for the 10 and under; 12 and under champions were Next; Predators won the 15 and under division; Nutter Gutter won the 16-17 division; in the field 1 men’s bracket, team WTG was the winner; in the field 2 men’s bracket, team PVP was the winner; in the field 3 men’s bracket, team FTP was the winner; for the women’s bracket, team Hot Flashes won; and the co-ed division winners were Run Like the Winded.
Sports reporter Blynn Juliano Beltran can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 304, or sports@rdrnews.com.
