PIT TOUCH and FLAG FOOTBALL in WINNIPEG MANITOBA - FOOTBALL!

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2020 showed us that events across the world can have an exceptionally large impact on our lives and recreational football. Covid-19 necessitated the cancellation of both our Spring and Fall seasons. We were lucky enough to complete our Winter season just before the lockdown occurred. In the Winter season, we had seventeen coed teams and thirteen WHSFL flag teams register, both record numbers for those divisions! All told, we had 157 teams register, another record! The Winter season also saw the Football Manitoba/PIT Football Winter u18 league grow to new heights. The league sold out, which laid the groundwork for the first every Fall season of u18 flag in the province. The future is bright for flag football in the province.

We were on pace to register a record number of teams in the Spring; however, the league was cancelled just prior to the season starting due to the spike of Coronavirus in the province. The lockdown prevented out summer season from starting on time in May, with the season delayed until July. Rules had to be modified, including no press coverage, socially distanced huddles, and changes to the timing of the games. Those changes turned out to be very minor and teams adapted very quickly. The summer season went off without any difficulties and zero cases of Covid-19 were reported across the league. A testament to our officials and players who adhered to the rules regarding player safety.

Despite the late start to the season 57 teams registered and battled it out for 14 championships. The divisions were split for playoffs to ensure everyone had an equitable chance to play for a title. The curse of the undefeated teams once again reared its head and almost all those undefeated teams from the regular season were upset come playoffs. Any given Sunday! During the summer season we instituted our “Friday Night Lights” at Transcona Nationals Field, with every team receiving at least one game under the lights. Always a great atmosphere to play! The players also enjoyed some great sponsorship from our sponsors at Original 16 and Four Crowns Restaurant and Lounge. Many an evening/weekend were spent (socially distanced) on the Four Crowns patio, drinking some Original 16!

Unfortunately, the end of summer brought a resurgence to the coronavirus and Fall season had to be cancelled. During that down time, the league was still able to provide its annual officials windup and induct six new players/teams into the Manitoba Touch Football Hall of Fame. The league is also working on some new additions to the website which should be ready in early 2021 and have been adding the champions of years past to our Instagram page @PITFootball to preserve for the future. We have also added our newest sponsor Capital K Distillery to our list of sponsors. More information from that sponsorship will be made available during our next season of play! The PIT Football league is working hard during the time off to ensure we continue to offer our players the best game day experience in recreational sports.

Check out each of our years in review here: https://pit.redzoneleagues.com/menu/about-the-league

The PIT Crew