Sand Wars, the premier beach flag football tournament in the Bahamas, wrapped up an action-packed weekend at the Malcolm Park beach soccer facility, culminating in a historic first for the event and the Cayman Islands.
For the first time in the tournament’s more than five-year existence, both the men’s and women’s champions were crowned from outside of Nassau, Bahamas.
The tournament, held 25-27 July, featured a lineup of ten men’s and six women’s teams, with the Cayman Islands represented by the Lynx women and Cobras men.
Cayman women, Lynx, secure historic victory
Lynx, co-captained by Christsania Parker and Ericia Burke, achieved a historic victory, defeating the Honey Badgers of the Bahamas 13-12 in an overtime finals.
This win was significant as it was a rematch of last year’s final, where the Lynx had narrowly lost to the Honey Badgers.
Additionally, this year during pool play, Lynx won two of three pool play games on Saturday. The only loss was against the Honey Badgers, which Oliver Parker, Lynx head coach and captain for Cobras, described as “a reality check” for his team.
Parker said it was a very intense and physical final game and admitted that the Honey Badgers is a “tough team” to play as they are “very fast on the sand”.
Despite Lynx taking the lead first after adding innovative and unexpected plays, Honey Badgers managed to score late, tying the game and leading to overtime.
The Honey Badgers began overtime with possession, but a strategic defensive adjustment by Lynx, introducing Maggie Ebanks, led to a crucial stop.
Lynx then moved to offence, and Kristina Seymour, playing centre, secured the win with a game-winning catch after a block-and-release.
When asked what made this year’s final game different from last year’s, Parker said, “We had a game plan,” making reference to the offensive and defensive adjustments made between him and the team’s assistant coach, Renford Barnes.
He also highlighted that Lynx’s smaller team last year led to fatigue and injuries, ultimately causing them to “run out of gas”.
This time, however, he said that he made sure they were prepared, bringing a full roster of women who trained for two months for this tournament.
Cayman men, Cobras, secure highest-ever seed finish
The men’s team, the Cobras, made their highest-ever seed finish at fifth.
Despite their showing in pool play with a record of one win, one draw and one loss, the Cobras were ultimately knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Predators, falling 14-0.
Parker reflected on the team’s performance, acknowledging the challenges of adapting to different rules.
“We’re not used to playing in this tournament [and] we play by different rules, so it’s a huge adjustment to come over from the rules we’re used to … but the guys showed out,” Parker said.
Beyond the competition on the sand, the event featured performances and music from local Bahamian talent as well as an appearance from former National Football League wide receiver Julio Jones.
