Despite the cold weather, the second annual Ravens Reborn flag football tournament took place Oct. 2 at Keith Harris Stadium.

Twelve full teams participated, shivering underneath toques and warm clothing to show their support for the return of varsity football to Carleton and to raise money for the East Africa Famine Relief fund.

The tournament wasn’t the only part of the day, as participants also got the chance to show off their talents in individual competitions.
The idea for the tournament came last year from Ryan Flannagan, Carleton’s director of student affairs.

“Football is a great thing for the university and all universities. There was talk about bringing football back last year, before the announcement. We wanted to give students a chance and a voice to show their support for varsity football,” Flannagan said.

Chris Surgeoner, Carleton’s camp and intramurals co-ordinator and the tournament’s head organizer, said he was thrilled with the tournament.
“It has gone from the Ravens ‘Return’ tournament to the Ravens ‘Reborn’ tournament,” he said.

Thomas Timlin, the recently hired manager of football operations for the new varsity team, was there to help with the festivities.
Surgeoner said he saw a lot of skill out on the field Oct. 2.

“There’s a lot of impressive talent out there. I’ve seen some outrageous catches and runs.”

The finals saw defending champions, “USC My Heisman,” taking on “Winning.” The game went back and forth and came down to the wire, but USC came out on top for the second year in a row, winning 22-21.

Rodrigo Barillas, a second-year student on USC, said he was able to run around to stay warm and had a great time.  

“The team played great, and we are hoping for three in a row next year,” he said.

“The day really went as well as [we] could have planned. Everyone showed up and had a great time, and the weather luckily held out,” said intramurals commissioner Josh Shaw, who also played in the tournament.

Over $1,000 was raised for famine relief in East Africa between the money collected from admission fees and food sold.

“Supporting the cause is great and easy to do — playing some football out here on a Sunday,” Barillas said.