Flag football is quickly gaining in popularity in San Diego, with more than 80 people currently involved in the growing league and weekly practices and scrimmages held every Saturday at 12:00 noon. Beginning this week, the league will be making a move from Balboa Park to new fields in Normal Heights, at the corner of Adams Ave. and 35th St. They will also be welcoming some friends to town.

“The San Diego Flag Football League has been growing so fast,” said Ivan Solis, the league’s founder. “We are in the process of bidding for the 2004 Super Bowl to be here in San Diego, and over 20 players from San Diego will be going to Boston for Super Bowl III [this fall].”

Members of the Los Angeles Motion flag football team will be coming down to mix things up with players in the newly formed San Diego league. Members of San Diego’s league who played with the Bourbon Street Hurricanes in the Gay Flag Football Super Bowl earlier this year faced the Motion in the opening game of the tournament, where they lost, 49-19. In the Super Bowl, the Hurricanes struggled, going 0-3, while the undefeated Motion won the tournament for the second time in a row, defeating Chicago in a 54-24 game.

This weekend’s meeting is what is commonly referred to as “friendly,” where the teams won’t square off against one another, but will mix players, giving San Diego the opportunity to pick up some tips and possibly a few plays from the reigning flag football champs.

“I think it’s terrific that San Diego has a team and it shows the growth that is occurring in gay flag football,” said Jim Buzinski, one of the founders of the Motion and the Gay Flag Football Super Bowl. “From three teams in 2002 to six in San Francisco and seven or eight a few months later is pretty awesome. San Diego seems well-organized and they, along with San Francisco and Los Angeles, make California the hotbed as far as states go.”

For more information on the San Diego Flag Football League, contact Ivan Solis at (619) 804-9000 or watch them play at 35th and Adams on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 12:00 noon.