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HONOLULU (KHON2) — The 6U 808 Local Vibez flag football team from Salt Lake in Honolulu put Hawaii’s youth flag football programs on the map by winning the FFWCT Tampa World Championship in Florida.
Local Vibez showed up to the event on Jan. 22 and 23 as a walk-on team consisting of one head coach, three assistant coaches and nine players. They were accompanied by 18 parents and 30 extended family members in the unfamiliar, cold weather.
The five on five youth tournament took place at the Tampa Sportsplex on Columbus Drive in Florida. There was a boys’ division for ages six to 18 and a girls’ division for ages 11 to 17.
“These boys and coaches, Abe Spencer and Chris Pablo, worked tirelessly for this tournament,” said Corday Paragas, a parent of a player. “For two days they played in 55-57 degree weather, in wind and rain, but they were humble and fought hard. They definitely left a piece of their hearts on that field and brought home the win. I believe this story would bring hope to many youth flag football players in Hawaii.”
Defense Coach Chris Pablo agreed with Paragas.
“I felt excited and happy for the kids, parents, other coaches (Jaedon Pablo & Jay-R Mariano) and, especially, for our Head Coach Abe Spencer. All the hard work, dedication, discipline from the players, coaches, parents and God’s blessings made us champions,” explained Defense Coach Chris Pablo.
The excitement of becoming national champions inspired one 8-year-old player, Izen Jaze Mangoma from Kalei’opu’u Elementary School, who is walking a little taller these days.
“(I feel) hyped and happy,” Mangoma said. “We won against the big boys.”
Prizes included trophies, medals and a full paid bid to the 2022 Arlington Nationals if there are 10 or more teams. If there is less than nine teams, the winners will receive half a bid to nationals.
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The fun factor about this win is that Local Vibez can order championship rings to celebrate this win.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
