Mabel Park High School Student Nathanael Brain was voted the most valuable player at Australia’s first Under 14s NFL flag football competition.
Despite comprising half of the dozen teams that competed in the competition, no Logan-based schools were able to secure the ultimate victory.
Mabel Park’s team was undefeated in the five rounds leading up to the final but lost 13-14 to Benowa State High School in the grand final, earning second place.
Benowa’s prize: an all-expenses-paid trip to Ohio, USA for the international NFL Flag Summer Invitational.
Marsden State High School placed third, while Flagstone State Community College and Woodridge State Highschool filled the bottom positions on the ladder.
Flag football is a non-contact form of gridiron football that recently took Logan by storm.
Last month, local high schoolers got their first glimpse into the sport with a training session led by former NFL wide receiver Kenny Stills.
Their many weeks of hard work came to a head on Friday (21 June) with a region-wide competition.
Twelve teams from across the state’s south east, including teams from six Logan schools – Trinity College Beenleigh, Mabel Park SHS, Marsden SHS, Flagstone State Community College, Woodridge SHS, and Springwood SHS – battled it out for first prize.
After his first training session at Marsden SHS in May, Kenny Stills, who played with the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints, said the local students showed great promise.
“I was very impressed – there’s a lot of talent here, both boys and girls, and I’m looking forward to seeing them continue to progress and learning about what happens in the competition phase,” he said.
“I remember what it was like to be their age, and to have hopes and dreams of having success… so it’s an opportunity to come speak some life, but also to have some fun and to share the skillset that I’ve mastered for 25 years.”
The general manager for NFL Australia and New Zealand, Charlotte Offord, said American football was taking off in Australia.
She predicted the same for flag football.
“It’s a fun way to engage with kids and to get girls and boys playing together non-contact,” she said.
Ms Offord said Logan’s values and goals aligned with the NFL’s, making it the perfect Australian partner
