Local flag football coaches, players to compete at USA Football’s Junior International Cup
USA Football, the sport’s governing body and a member of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), announced the final 12-athlete rosters for the 2024 15U and 17U U.S. Boys’ Junior Flag Football National Teams.
The Junior National Teams will travel to Los Angeles from July 9-12 to compete in the third edition of USA Football’s annual Junior International Cup of flag football.
Broward and Miami-Dade counties are represented with 10 players (nine from Miami and one from Fort Lauderdale) and two coaches (both Miami).
They are:
U15: Players: Britton Bayag, WR/DB, Miami (Westminster Christian); Jeffrey O’Neal Jr., WR/DB, Fort Lauderdale (Dillard); Gabriel Reina, RSH, Miami (Florida Christian School); Anthony Vera, QB, Miami (Westminster Christian).
U17: Players: Luc Carroll, WR, Miami (Gulliver Prep); Eric Costa, DB, Miami (Hialeah-Miami Lakes); Samuel “Champ” Smith, DB, Miami (Gulliver Prep). Alternates: Jordan Lleo, QB, Miami (Doral Academy); Joshua Lleo, C, Miami (Doral Academy); Colton Smith, RSH, Miami (Ransom Everglades). Head Coach: Johan Betancourt (Gulliver Prep/RYAN Football). Assistant Coach: Andy Baca (RYAN Football).
%20and%20Andy%20Baca%20July%202024.jpg "USA Flag Football Coaches Johan Betancourt (left) and Andy Baca July 2024.jpg")
Betancourt said: “This is my third year working with USA Football.”
He’s coached Team USA in U17 boys’ flag football team those three years, and his teams have won USA Football’s annual Junior International Cup the past two times (2022 in Michigan, 2023 in North Carolina). He is looking for a three-peat.
“As the sport grows and everybody [around the world] is getting the hang of it, I don’t underestimate anyone,” he noted.
As for Team USA, “We have the most dominant players in the world, and I’m confident of that.”
To make Team USA, there is a two-round process. This year at the University of Charlotte in North Carolina. They went from 45 players to 18 players in the first round of tryouts. Then from there, the final 12 comprise the roster with the other six as alternates.
Betancourt said: “[USA Football] is helping the sport [flag football] grow. I grew up playing it. I still play it [in men’s leagues].”
Luc Carroll, a receiver from Gulliver Prep, is part of Team USA U17 boys’ group under the direction of Betancourt, his high school coach. Carroll was a member of last season’s winning Team USA U15 boys’ squad in North Carolina.
Betancourt said: “I look for kids who dominate the game, listen, are willing to learn and are amazing leaders.”
The Junior National Teams will follow Olympic and international-style five-on-five rules when they compete against teams from Canada, Japan, Mexico and Panama this summer. In 2023, when Charlotte hosted the Junior International Cup, the U.S. teams swept the gold medal podiums, while Japan swept the silver medals.
The Junior National Teams are part of USA Football’s High Performance Pathway, which provides athletes with opportunities to develop and compete at an elite level from youth through adulthood.
Flag football was already one of the world’s fastest growing sports when the International Olympic Committee announced in October that the sport will be included in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The decision has served as rocket fuel for flag football at the national and international levels.
USA Football research shows the number of boys and girls, age 6-17, playing flag football increased 38.2-percent from 2014-23, reaching a peak of more than 1.6 million in 2023. Additionally, participation among girls, ages 6-12, has increased 222-percent during that time.
Flag football’s inclusivity is creating a pathway for girls to play a leading role in the sport’s growth. It’s now sanctioned as a varsity sport in 11 states, and many more have pilot programs. Girls and young women have chances to earn college scholarships and compete for a championship in flag football at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) levels.
Golf
Barry University golfer Giuliana Gomez (Doral Academy alum) was named to the 2023-24 All-American Scholar Team by the Women’s Golf Collegiate Coaches Association (WGCA).
In order to be under consideration for the All-American Scholar Team, an individual must have an overall cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher, be an amateur and on the team’s roster through the conclusion of the team’s season and have played in 50-percent of the college’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year nominated through the team’s conference championship.
Gomez earned that distinction for the second consecutive season.
The Buccaneers, based in Miami Shores, concluded the 2023-24 season in the NCAA Division II Women’s Championship for the 20th time in program history.
Basketball camps
The Miami Heat offers youth basketball camp in Broward and Miami-Dade counties from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. throughout the Summer break.
Jr. HEAT Camps are for boys and girls, ages 7-17, of all abilities and skill levels. Camps focus on improving individual basketball skills and off the court character development. Campers will participate in a variety of competitions, fundamental drills and games.
About the camp
On the first day of camp, the campers will be split into teams of about 8-10 kids and assigned a coach. They will be on that same team for the entire camp unless they make a trade to make the teams fair. They will play two; full court, 5-on-5 games each day, and will learn various basketball skills. One day out of the week, a current HEAT player or HEAT legend visits the camp, takes photos and signs autographs with the kids. Lunch is included, and the campers will receive giveaways daily.
July 8-12: SLAM Miami High School.
July 8-12: Cooper City High School.
July 15-19: SLAM Miami High School
July 15-19: Cooper City High School
July 22-26: SLAM Miami High School
July 22-26: Cooper City High School
July 29-Aug. 2: SLAM Miami High School
Email Santi Echavarria at SEchavarria@HEAT.com.
Submit summer sports info
If you have summer sports results with local top performers (with stats) for high school or middle school-aged athletes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
New athletic directors, coaches
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have new sports administration and/or coaching hires to announce, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
