Strike Eagle flag football team brings home city championship

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Marissa Tucker
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  The Strike Eagle football team proved why the 4th Fighter Wing is "Fourth but First" by winning the flag football city championship for the Goldsboro, N.C., park district for the first time, at Mina Weil Park, Oct. 17.

A close win for the Strike Eagles, who defeated the YMCA football team 7-6, came as no surprise for many of the players, as the team holds a record of 7-1. Many players attributed their success to team work.

"The concept of teamwork we built on the field will become second nature to the younger players," said Staff Sgt. Bradley Mustipher, assistant coach for the team. "Every game we played was for the wing and nothing was getting in our way of bringing the championship back home!"

The team began practicing for the season during the hot North Carolina summer months to ensure they were a cohesive unit before the actual games began. In the beginning, they did not have a large turn-out because many people did not know the base had a football team, said Tech Sgt. Drew Carson, head coach for the team.

"Soon the news started to spread and before we knew it we had about 25 solid players. We ended up with 25 of the best athletes and football minds that the base has to offer," Carson said.

For some of the players, this was their first experience playing on an Air Force sports team, but through practices and team building techniques, they began to play as if they had been on the same team for years, Mustipher said.

"The team was a good opportunity for the base to showcase Airman's talent," said Airman 1st Class Matthew Woods, a receiver on the team. "There's no better feeling than winning a championship for the base."

The close-knit group had the ambition to bring the championship home from day one. Through every practice, the coaches instilled the goal in the team, and in return, the players gave their all at every game, the coaches agreed.

With both Airmen and civilians from the base, the team dominated the season, holding the best record for the district. They will go on to compete in local tournaments and also in the 41st Annual U.S. Flag and Touch Football League National Flag Football Championships in Kissimmee, Fla., Jan. 13-15, 2012, which they will begin practice for next month.

Although the regular season is over, the team remains a close group and hopes to bring more titles to Seymour Johnson in the coming months.

"I am thankful to have been able to meet and play alongside these guys. It was a pleasure to hang out with and go to war with them every night on the football field," Carson said.