News Release | Success, Community
The UTRGV men’s flag football intramural team, the Ravens, won the 2018 NIRSA National Flag Football Championship title in Pensacola, Fla. in early January. The team defeated Georgia College in a 40-26 game to bring home the national title. (Courtesy Photo)
Friday, January 18, 2019
By Priscilla Ramirez
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – For the men’s intramural flag football team at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, there was no better way to ring in the New Year than by winning the national title.
Avid “Game of Throne” fans, the UTRGV team call themselves “Ravens.”
They earned the 2018 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Flag Football Championship title during a national tournament held in Pensacola, Fla., Jan. 3-6.
UTRGV defeated Georgia College, 40-26, in the men’s division championship game.
Leading the charge was Armando “AJ” Garza, a UTRGV graduate student, the team captain and the squad’s coach/organizer.
The team is based on camaraderie and an enjoyment of competition, he said.
“Playing is easy for all of us. We play against each other in different McAllen leagues and it just so happens that we go to the same school, so we got together and decided to compete for UTRGV,” he said.
The Ravens had an excellent record heading into the nationals competition, finishing second at the NIRSA Men’s Region IV Championships in Austin in early November.
Texas is one of the biggest competitive states in the sport, Garza said, and once you compete there, “you can compete anywhere.”
The team also took home National All-Tournament honors for three individuals who exceled in the sport: Diego Chrysler, Salvador Martinez and Garza.
Garza also was recognized as Most Valuable Player in the men’s division.
“Everyone there was doubting us because we don’t look that impressive,” he said. “Other teams were drilling their warmups, had coaches on the sidelines. And there we were, running laps or just stretching before a game.”
With the season over and most of his teammates graduating, Garza said the future of the Ravens will depend on people’s interest, but UTRGV always has a future in competitive intramurals.
“There are a lot of sports for people to try out,” he said. “I recommend that anyone who has time go to the UREC and sign up.”
The national championship team includes:
For more information on intramural sports at UTRGV, visit the University Recreation Intramural Sports page or email urec@utrgv.edu.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.