Efforts being made to introduce flag football to more women

CYBERJAYA: The governing body of Malaysia's latest past time sport, flag football, hopes to introduce the game to more women in the near future.
"We are introducing the game to women where we have about 50 members (out of 200) currently. This will give the players an advantage to play in a non-contact sport and gauge their abilities," said Malaysian Flag Football Association (Mafa) president Muhamad Zairulnizam at its second major tournament called "Merdeka Bowl" held here today.
"Our goal is to have an all-women and men Malaysia team next year. We're also conducting tryouts in the meantime. We're gearing towards playing at the international level that's organised by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF)," Muhamad said.
Muhamad, who is known as Chum among his friends, is no stranger to the game as he has been playing American football, which the flag football is modelled after, since he was 13.
He added that Mafa is also attempting to harness interest for the game at grassroots levels, including in Sabah.
For oil and gas manager Iris Teo, who started playing two years ago, it has been an exciting experience given that she is still new.
"I've been with the team for four to six weeks, and all my learning has been on the field. It's fun because it involves strategies; your size doesn't matter. It's all about speed," the Thunder Eagles player said.
After being introduced to the sport two years ago and recruited into Curtin University's team, Sabahan Nixon Norman Teo has continued to train with a team at Kota Damansara by commuting from Johor on a weekly basis.
An ex-rugby player, he explained the sport's rules were not much different.
"At the end, the entire sport's experience brings people in a common interest," he said.
There are three major tournaments played in a year – May (Labour Day), August (Merdeka Bowl), and the Monsoon Bowl in December.
At today's event, Subang Trident beat Thunder Eagles 26-12 to win the Merdeka Bowl.