PIT TOUCH and FLAG FOOTBALL in WINNIPEG MANITOBA - FOOTBALL!

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The PIT continues to work on the history of touch football in Manitoba, to preserve what could be the richest history in Canada! PIT Football has worked to identify the previous champions and record holders from defunct leagues. We once again thank Darrell Mazur for the information contained in the MFL (Mazur Football League), which we believe is the first ever indoor touch football association in Canada!

The MFL started as an indoor tournament in 1996. The tournament was won by an upstart Nomads team (who later became Hall of Famers) who knocked off some of the top elite teams in the province in the new 5 on 5 format! The success of the tournament led to the creation of an indoor league. First just a winter league, then both fall and winter as the popularity of the indoor game increased. For those of us old enough to remember, the original Golfdome league was played on Astroturf over concrete which lead to some gnarly cuts and scars! The league was moved for a few years to Gateway who put in a "less injurious" form of turf closer to what we play on today. The downside? Well there were boards surrounding the field! Players took their lives into their hands whenever they ran a streak or an out pattern. In fact, rules dictated that if you had one foot on the ground, you could "lean" into the boards to make a catch. Going head first into the boards occurred with decent regularity! Finally, the Golf Dome re-turfed their fields and the MFL moved back to play in a somewhat safer environment as long as you played on the near field with lights. If you were banished to the far field, good luck seeing a football thrown your way!

The MFL was the Wild West, the MFL was fun, the MFL was revolutionary, the MFL paved the way for our current game of indoor. The Mazur Football League was the longest running indoor touch football league, continuously organized from 1996 to 2013, a remarkable 17 year run!

Anyone who can identify any missing information to make the history more complete, please contact us! There are a few seasons where we don't have a score, or statistical leader. Once we get our next season up and running we can see about getting some prizes for those that have some of the historical information we are looking for.

A big thanks to Darrell Mazur, who meticulously collected the majority of information found for the MFL.

Here is a link to the WTFL historical data: https://pit.redzoneleagues.com/menu/mfl-history-stats

You can also find the link under our newest heading on the sidebar "Touch Football History"

The PIT Crew