Thailand Is World Champion!

[sriracha john]

Thailand ousts USA for NFL Flag Football world championship

(Aug. 21, 2005) -- The Bangmod Wittaya Middle School lived up to its billing as the tournament's team to watch with a thrilling 25-19 victory over the Michael Ann-Russell Jewish Community Center (MAR JCC) to win the NFL Flag Football World Championship (FFWC) for Thailand.

Building on a 13-0 halftime lead, Thailand bounced back after being tied at 19-19 and survived a turbulent last 38 seconds, forcing the MAR JCC to turn the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line as time ran out.

It is the first time the title has been won by an Asian team after Australia, Mexico and three teams from the USA had won the previous five competitions. The NFL is proud to partner with Motorola, Reebok, EA and Gatorade and promote this prestigious tournament, which motivates boys and girls to participate in a fun and safe sport.

"We are delighted and honored to be world champions," said Thailand coach Chanphen Nitiyanan, who played for the team in Vancouver in 2004. "The school has practiced very hard since last year when they only finished seventh and all that effort has paid off. We are all very happy."

USA Head Coach David Fried admitted: "Thailand is the best team in the tournament and they had the two best players here, which I've been saying all week. It's tough to lose, especially because of all the hard work we've put in and it's hard on everyone. We know how it feels to win a world championship, but it's harder to lose one."

Alex Ciklik, who scored all three USA touchdowns in the final, added: "You don't expect a team from somewhere like Thailand to win at an American sport, but they deserved it. Some things went against us and we should have played better in the first half. We outscored them in the second half, but it was too late by then."

Both teams in action during the championship.

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Congratulations are in order for Thailand!.... WELL DONE!

[Jai Dee]

Congratulations Thailand.

It's great to read news like this.

[dekestone]

Cool!!

Anybody know anything about this school? How did they get to be so good?

(Personally I always hated playing flag football in school. It's easier to tackle a guy than to grab that <deleted>' flag!! )

[sriracha john]

Cool!!

Anybody know anything about this school?  How did they get to be so good?

(Personally I always hated playing flag football in school. It's easier to tackle a guy than to grab that <deleted>' flag!!  )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Spoken like a true lineman...

Flag football is definitely more suited for the fleet of foot and requires more speed and finesse than tackle football. Brute strength and size are secondary in this form of football, which is why perhaps the Thais did well.

Haven't been able to find ANYTHING else about the school, OTHER than their football program. Three pages of google hits were ALL about their football team??

official logo for the the 2005 World Championships

THE Chinese capital of Beijing hosted the sixth annual NFL Flag Football World Championship (FFWC) August 16 - 20 when 12 to 14-year-olds from 10 nations and three continents compete for the title of world champions.

More than 1,500 youngsters from 16 countries competed in national competitions for the right to represent their country at the FFWC.

Bangmod Wittaya Middle School from Bangkok won the Thailand Final Championship, which was keenly contested by eight teams.

Previous tournaments have been held in Toronto, Berlin, Mexico City, Tokyo and Vancouver.

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Once again, great going Thailand!