Last weekend was good for two of San Diego’s GLBT sporting organizations, the San Diego Tennis Federation (SDTF) and the San Diego American Flag Football League (SDAFFL).

At the Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma, Team San Diego won the Cal Cup, a tri-city tournament that also includes teams from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

According to SDTF President Allen Sanchez, it had been 18 years since San Diego hoisted the cup in victory. But, thanks to the efforts of a talented group of players, the host city was able to upset Team Los Angeles by a slim two-game margin and bring the cup back to the city where the tournament originated.

In an earlier interview, one of the team’s co-captains, Scott Williford, said, “Los Angeles is favored to win the tournament.” But, he added, “Sometimes the team with the loudest fans win.”

Perhaps the local fans were the loudest. With 14 wins at the end of the 36 singles matches on Saturday, San Diego held a two-point lead over Los Angeles and a four-point lead over San Francisco. But it would be tough to make those two points hold up, and everyone knew it. After such tight back-and-forth competition, the Cup’s winner would have to wait to be decided until late the next afternoon, during the 36 doubles matches on Sunday.

Knowing it had ground to make up, Team L.A. set to work early, winning four matches from Team San Francisco. Then, it muscled up and took two from Team San Diego, quickly erasing the home team’s lead.

While San Francisco continued to falter into the afternoon, San Diego quickly found its footing, thanks to some heroic contributions from players – including Matt Coin and Kyle Wagner, who in addition to singles victories the day before, teamed up to win two doubles matches on Sunday.

Perhaps most impressive, however, were the contributions from Spencer Sam and Jeremy Marble. Each won singles matches on Saturday, when, just 24 hours before, they were both in Phoenix competing in the Gay Softball World Series. Though playing for different softball teams on Friday, the duo paired up for two more doubles matches on Sunday, and won both.

“I took a flight out of Phoenix on Friday and got into San Diego pretty late,” Sam said. “I was hoping for a late start time, but I played my first match at 9 a.m.” The travel schedule didn’t seem to bother the multi-sport player, as Sam won his singles match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.

While Team L.A. won 15 doubles matches on Sunday, so did Team San Diego, making its two-match lead from the day before hold up for the win.

“This [Cal-Cup] team put in lots of hard work and practice,” SDTF’s Sanchez wrote in a congratulatory email. “If you were there to watch some of the matches, you could feel the team effort and enthusiastic support. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it.”

While the tennis players were busy bringing some lost glory back to San Diego, members of the SDAFFL were busy establishing America’s Finest City as a powerhouse in the sport of flag football at Gay Superbowl 7 in New York City.

This was the sixth year in a row that a team represented San Diego, but this year marked the first time that two teams were sent, the Sharks and the Bolts.

Games started on Friday, Oct. 5, in the Big Apple, and San Diego established its dominance early.

The Bolts calmed the Phoenix Hellraisers 48-13, and rolled the South Florida Cat Five 49-6, while the Sharks bit the Michigan Panthers 40-12 and toppled the Washington Monuments, 26-14.

But during what Sharks coach Doug Komlenic called “a spectacular interception,” team MVP Jared Duncan suffered a tournament-ending injury when the player he was covering during the play fell on him and broke Duncan’s ankle.

In just six quarters of football, Duncan had amassed five interceptions to go along with a 70-yard touchdown run on what Komlenic called “a reverse punt.”

The Sharks held tough on Saturday though, stalling the L.A. Motion, 14-12, and out-running the Salt Lake City Avalanche, 42-19.

Also on Saturday, the Bolts won both of their games against teams from Atlanta and Chicago.

Because both San Diego teams were 4-0 going into Sunday, they were in line for the title, but could not earn the first round bye, as that honor went to the New York Warriors, who outscored their opponents on Saturday by a combined 70 points.

To get to the Warriors, the Bolts and Sharks would have to play each other, and the winner of that game would go to the championship game, while the loser was guaranteed at least a tie for third.

The Bolts shocked the Sharks, but fell to the Warriors 44-26.

While the New Yorkers went through the tournament undefeated, the Bolts can take pride in the 26 points they scored in the championship game, as they amassed the most points the Warriors allowed to any team all weekend.

For his part, coach Komlenic was pleased.

“San Diego made a statement finishing second and third out of 16 teams and showed the rest of the cities that played in the Super Bowl that our league is extremely competitive,” he said.

For more information about the SDTF, visit www.sdtf.org.

For more information about the SDAFFL, visit www.sdffl.org