5 Year Plan for Flag Football

As I mentioned in my last article the NCCS Committee began to look strategically at the next 5 years for all of the NCCS sports properties. The underlying emphasis is to bring the extramural championships to the next level by formulating a “true” national champion, and Flag Football is the first sport we tackled. Listed below is the 5 year plan for growth and development of the sport:
2009/2010 Championships - Will be an “open” format in that any colligate or military team is eligible to register and play.

2010-2011 Championships – Will be a “modified open” format, which any collegiate or military team that has participated at a NCCS Regional tournament will be eligible to register and play

2011-2012 Championships – Will shift to an qualifying tournament, which top teams in each division (up to 4) qualify from every NCCS Regional. That would allow for a 48 team tournament, (24Mens, 12Womens, 12Co-Rec or 16Mens, 16Womens, 16 Co-Rec, depending on the saturation of teams). If a qualifying team can’t attend the tournament a waiting list will be made, and replacements will be drawn from the waiting list. The waiting list can consist of NCCS regional participants only.

2012-2013 Championships - Same as 2012

2013-2014 Championships – Tournament format will stay the same as in 2012 and 2013, with the exception that the waiting list would be derived from the order of finish at each NCCS regional tournament. For instance, if the 2nd place from the Region 4 tournament was unable to attend, one of the quarter final teams would receive the invite.

The NCCS is committed to providing travel stipends for the teams that finish first, in each division, at each NCCS regional for all five years. However, as the committee continues to solve the puzzle of balancing the budget this may change positively or negatively in the years to come.
The focus of this plan is twofold, 1) increase the growth at the regional level and 2) create a quality National Championship. In this down economy when our participants and institutions are restricted with how much extra funding they may have, a regional tournament can hopefully be more affordable while still providing a great opportunity for the student participants. By moving to a format where all teams have to participate at the regional level to be eligible for Nationals, we hope to see an increase in teams at the regionals. That growth at the regional level can increase the benefits of hosting, as well as looking further into the future to seeing more regional sites added to accommodate that growth, which means more professionals and students can experience the benefits of hosting a tournament.

The second focus is to create a “true” national champion at the Championships. By qualifying through a regional, the National Championship takes on a more serious tone and provides an experience that no one else can provide to the students. The NCCS committee has been working closely with the NIRSA National Center to continue to add enhancements to the National Championships to be a truly unique event for the student participant, professional volunteer, and student volunteers.

Check the NCCS Web page for a listing of the upcoming Flag Football Regional hosts, the first one starts Oct 17. http://www.nirsa.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Sports/FlagFootball/flag_football.htm