Summer 2022 Summary
After several years of necessarily low activity, FTSC came back with a flourish this summer with one of their single busiest seasons in the club's history. From international glory to rebrands to Pride nights at Audi Field, here's a rundown of everything that's gone down in DC:
IGLFA Success
FTSC hosted the 7s half of the 24th IGLFA World Championships in early June, capping off nearly a year of intense planning after the IGLFA Championships were surprisingly dropped from the 2022 Gay Games program. Nearly 300 players, some coming from as far away as England and Australia, gathered for three days of games at the Fields at RFK followed by four finals at Garrison Elementary as the annual Capital Pride Parade circled the neighborhood. FTSC fielded ten of the 26 participating teams and ultimately came through with both the all-gender D1 and all-gender D2 gold medals, doubling FTSC's total IGLFA gold medal count (the previous two being the 2015 North American D1 gold and 2016 World Championships D1 gold). The 11s half of the 24th IGLFA World Championships will be held in Sydney, Australia this coming February during WorldPride 2023.
Summer of Freedom is BACK
After two years off due to the pandemic, FTSC's signature league returned with a new commissioner, several new sponsors, and plenty of all-new players. The undisputed champions of the 2022 Summer of Freedom were team Extreme Pizza, who stormed through the regular season with six straight wins and then a clean sheet draw in the last game before playing through the playoffs to the trophy. Thanks again to everyone who helped make the return of this event a huge success!
Soccer Pride in DC
Whether it be having a booth at the return of the Capital Pride festival, being recognized at halftime at United Night Out, or taking over the Heineken rooftop at the Spirit Pride celebration, FTSC has been quite active making their presence known.
A New League Matures
FTSC created a new casual all-skill league earlier this year, in the same style as Fruity Fives, and this summer season marked the second iteration of the new Sassy Sevens league. Four teams (down one from the five that played in spring) fought it out to an incredibly tight table, with only four points separating the top and bottom teams after eight rounds. At the pinnacle was "Better Headers" - special shout-out to former FTSC president Michael Ledford for leading both his Sassy Sevens and Summer of Freedom teams to titles this summer! Sassy Sevens is back up to five teams for the upcoming fall season.
Looking Forward to Fall
FTSC's top women's team, the defending DCPL champions, are returning for the DCPL fall season with a new name, rebranding as Box 2 Box for their title defense. Go follow them on Instagram and cheer them to another DCPL title! Also returning to play for the fall are FTSC's top men's team, the Rainbow Unicorns in DCPL's men's D2, and FTSC's second women's team, Victorious Secret.
Three FTSC events that our members can look forward to this fall (in addition to our monthly Friday Night Lights, which saw near-record attendance in August) are the annual ExDRAGaganza game the weekend of October 21st, a fall new player scrimmage in early November, and the annual Turkey Bowl tournament & potluck in late November.