“We’re famous!” Bad Rabbits 14U shine on national stage
Girls flag football team with players from Calexico and Mexicali win NFL Flag Football Championship in Canton, Ohio.
CANTON, Ohio (KYMA, KECY) - According to assistant head coach Emanuel Ramirez, the Bad Rabbits girls 14U team was just recently cobbled together.
"To qualify, we won a regional tournament in Las Vegas," Ramirez said. "That opened up our opportunity to qualify and participate in the NFL Flag nationals."
By winning the Las Vegas Tournament, the Bad Rabbits in turn would represent the Las Vegas Raiders at the national tournament in Canton, Ohio.
"It was kind of hard," Ramirez said. "This is basically a new team because most of the girls we had on the team moved up to the 17U team."
With fresh faces, Ramirez, who is the team's defensive coordinator along with head coach Guillermo Castro guided the young team through unchartered waters.
"It was very cool," Ramirez said. "The environment, the stage, the cameras, all the people. I didn't even know that there in Ohio, we're famous!"
While members of the 17U team were a little more used to the big stage and the hoopla that goes with it, for this 14U squad, it was a new experience for most of the girls.
"These girls, they are small, they are little," Ramirez said. "They don't even know how it all works."
The Bad Rabbits 14U team is made up of Azul Trujillo, Jessica ManrÃquez, Valentina López, MarÃa SofÃa González, Fernanda Caballero, Analà Rico, SofÃa González and Shunashi MarÃn.
"They're so good because they trust the process, trust each other and trust us, the coaches," Ramirez said. "Just do your work, trust the other girls to make the team right."
Ramirez says one of the hardest things he encountered as a coach while on the national stage was the lack of motivation his team showed at times.
"It was hard," Ramirez said. "They had a lot of drops, a lot of picks. It's hard to watch because they know they are good. I know they're good but they were not making it right."
Somehow and someway the Bad Rabbits made it to the championship game against the team against Pirate Bay Krewe Red, a team representing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The coaching staff felt now was the time for a much needed motivational speech.
"One or two hours before the game, the only thing we said was, why are you not having fun?" Ramirez said. "Why are you in, 'I don't care' mode. I think that meeting was everything."
The Bad Rabbits, in the championship game, on national television, had fun and performed the way their coaches knew they could en route to a national championship title.
"It's not about us or the coaching, it's about the girls," Ramirez said. "The girls are the most important and maybe above that is the parents, because without the parents we wouldn't be here."
