The inaugural season of San Diego’s gay flag football team, the Bourbon Street Hurricanes, comes to a close this weekend with their final scrimmage. An after party at Bourbon Street will include a free BBQ for team members and fans. It was just this past spring that the Hurricanes formed as a team to compete in the Gay Bowl II football tournament hosted by San Francisco in April. The team recently competed in Gay Bowl III hosted by Boston, where the Hurricanes, after struggling in the opening days of play picked up their first win at a major competition.

At Gay Bowl III the Hurricanes went 0-2 in round robin play, but came back for day two to pick up their first win in the single elimination tournament against San Francisco, 26-22. Advancing to the semi-finals, the Hurricanes lost to Chicago Spin, 38-20, to be eliminated from the tournament.

Taking it all at the tournament was a rookie team, the Washington Monuments, who went undefeated to win Gay Bowl III in rainy Boston on Columbus Day Weekend. In the semifinals, Washington dramatically held off Boston, 21-20. In the championship the Monuments defeated Chicago, 27-21, in a game that was well played despite the wet conditions.

Also notable, the Los Angeles Motion flag football dynasty came to an end at the tournament. Boston eliminated the Motion and brought an end to their 15-game winning streak.

Former All-Pro New England Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett was a special guest at the tournament, tossing the ceremonial coin. Tippett, who attended at the request of the Patriots, said he thought it was important to show solidarity with the gay community and try to help break down barriers in sports. The Patriots also donated official NFL footballs to each of the participating tournament teams.

With the 2003 season ending, team captain Ivan Solis is looking to expand the presence of gay flag football in San Diego and form a new league next year. This weekend’s scrimmage will take place in Balboa Park at the corner of Sixth and Laurel on Saturday, Nov. 8, starting at 12:00 noon. At the BBQ following the game, plans for forming the new gay flag football league will be discussed.

“We’re probably going to vote on next year’s league and how we’re going to run the league,” Solis said. “Hopefully there will be enough interest where we can start with four teams, playing with about 10 people per team.”

According to Solis the league is open to all skill levels, and for the local league the Hurricanes team will be broken up and the more experienced players distributed to the newly formed teams. New players will be selected for the league in a draft held prior to the start of next year’s season, to create balanced teams.

“The problem is there are so many different levels of play,” Solis said. “Some people are more aggressive than others, but the only way we can get to that level where we have an ‘A Division’ or a ‘B Division’ is to start where we are starting now. They need to play somebody.”

The entire community is invited to come out for the scrimmage game on Saturday to see the team in action and for the BBQ that will follow at Bourbon Street. For more information about the San Diego Flag Football League, visit this story online at gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the league’s official web site, or contact Ivan Solis at (619) 804-9000.