The first-ever Sea to Sky Touch Football Classic attracted nine teams from the Sea to Sky Corridor, Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, as well as one member of the B.C. Lions.
Wide receiver Korey Williams took to the turf at Quest University field and helped his Purple Cobras take home the inaugural championship by defeating Abbostsford鈥檚 TMT team.
Williams, who made his debut in the CFL last season, said it was a good time on the hill for himself and his teammates.
鈥淢y girlfriend and her friend told me to come out and play with them and of course I said yes 鈥� it鈥檚 football. I can never turn that down,鈥� he said.
He admitted that the Purple Cobras started off slowly but then rode a wave of momentum to the championship.
鈥淲e all play in another flag league together and we sort of played on the fly at first because we came in and didn鈥檛 really know the rules,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淲e only scored once in our first game, but when we learned the rules, we put it all together on the fly and made it work.鈥�
Williams, who played college football at Northwest Oklahoma State and the Indoor Football League before joining the Lions, said the level of play was strong, but his team is glad to take home the $500 winner鈥檚 purse.
鈥淭he teams were a lot more competitive than I thought they would be 鈥� it was a lot of fun,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to buy some new jerseys with our money and then just split the rest.鈥�
Local teams competing at the event included two squads made up of current Howe Sound Sounders and one Sounders alumnus, as well as three teams consisting of players from Quest University.
Event organizer Dylan Kular said he was happy with how the day went and said it will return next year with a few tweaks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time we鈥檝e had this, so there鈥檚 lots of things to fix for next year, but for the turnout and how smoothly it went, I think it went awesome,鈥� he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 really looking forward to next year. I think everyone was pretty happy and it was intense football.
Next year we鈥檇 like to spread it out over two days and maybe use more fields.鈥�
Kular added that the event raised $1,000 for Right to Play programs and thanked all his referees for all their hard work in the hot sun. 聽
