Two Southlake Teams Take Home the Title at Under Armour National Tournament

Three Southlake teams who competed in the City of Southlake’s spring flag football season traveled to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to compete against teams from California, Louisiana, Florida, Colorado, and North Carolina.

The Southlake teams clearly dominated the National Tournament hosted by UCLA from August 2-4. The K – 2nd-grade division was won by the Hawaii Warriors.

“There is no question the level of competition in the Southlake, TX league is stronger than most other leagues around the country. Each week of the season there is an opportunity for any team to win against one another and it only makes the teams stronger as they move on at the national level. Knowing that a win is never guaranteed each week, develops players’ mental toughness to know that you won’t always win every game, but if they can win and lose with good sportsmanship and learn from those games to only make them stronger for the next opportunity,” says Shawn Mackey, the coach for Hawaii Warriors.

The 3rd – 4th-grade title match was played by two Southlake teams, The Texas A&M Aggies and the Hawaii Warriors. While it was a great match, the Texas A&M Aggies came out on top.

The opportunity to play at the national level was a real confidence boost for our kids. We honestly weren’t sure how we would do on that stage but considered ourselves blessed and honored to be invited. Under Armour did an amazing job organizing the tournament and UCLA is a pretty incredible venue to play at. Now that we’re back and it’s had a minute to sink in, our boys are fired up about the experience and anxious for the fall season to start!” said Ryan Smith, the coach for the A&M Aggies.

Under the Lights is a national youth flag football league for kids in 1st-8th grade, with the emphasis on promoting a competitive, confidence building, non-contact experience for both boys and girls of all skill levels.

“It has been a terrific partnership as we have seen the league grow from 200 kids to a consistent 400+ kids for both fall and spring,” says John Kaleo, owner, and COO of Under Armour Sports. He continues to speak to Southlake, the largest program in the league, saying, “We were very excited that we finally had some Southlake teams participate in our National Tournament because we knew that it was a competitive league. And with two teams winning the Nationals, we hope this paves the way for more Southlake teams participating in our tournament series.”