National Gay Flag Football League

Now that we are less than two months away from the big tournament in Denver this year, our member cities’ thoughts have turned to practice and getting prepared for the 2012 Gay Bowl.

The NGFFL member cities adopted a host of rule changes that become effective with this tournament.  I’m going to attempt to hit the highlights:

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Every year, the NGFFL sweeps its rulebook for instances where the rules are either inconsistent, in conflict, or silent on scenarios that occurred or could arise during play at Gay Bowl.  The Board also uses this time to solicit proposals from anyone pertaining to potential changes to the rules of play.

After consideration and deliberation of all submitted proposals, the Board submits the proposed changes it deems meritorious to Member Organizations (the cities) for a final vote.  Ultimately, Member Organizations set the rules of play for Gay Bowl.

Earlier this month, Member Organizations considered 11 proposed changes to the rules of play for Gay Bowl.  The vast majority were technical in nature and resolved instances where the rules were inconsistent, in conflict, or silent on scenarios that could arise during play.

One proposal, however, suggested instituting a three-point Try from the 20-yard line following a touchdown.  This element is a feature of NIRSA’s rules of play, one of a few national governing bodies of amateur sports in the US.

Twelve Member Organizations voted on the changes put forth by the Board.  All the changes passed save one, the three-point Try, which fell by a vote of 4-8.

For an explanation of each rule change, as well as the final vote total for each proposal, please visit here.

This month, the Board approved the recommendations of the Gay Bowl Progress & Evolution Task Force introducing divisional play and a new seeding structure for the annual championship tournament.  The goals of the Task Force and the Board are to:

• Deliver an elegant balance of competition and opportunity across all games
• Provide a more welcoming entry into the tournament for new cities and teams
• Increase the level of excitement and suspense for all players and fans; and
• Provide a format that appropriately reflects the growth and evolution of the tournament and sport overall

The Board also agreed on a number of minor changes to the Rules to put before City Leaders for approval, including a suggestion for a three-point Try from the 20 yard line.

For your reading pleasure…

For those interested, here is the draft agenda for the September 2011 regular monthly meeting of the NGFFL board.

New local-league toolkit, draft 5-year vision, and potential rules-of-play changes top this month’s NGFFL month’s e-news. Check out The 2-Minute Drill here: http://bit.ly/mvUKfY