‘Dem One Dudes’ make some history in flag football

Hoisting the trophy at the end of the day is a division-one flag football team’s ultimate goal. But for some students, just going out on the field and playing the game with their friends means more than \nfirst place.\nFreshmen in the GROUPS program are given an opportunity each year to participate in IU Recreational Sports, thanks to the support from Program Director of Intramural and Club Sports Stacey Hall \nand her staff.\n“We have worked closely with the GROUPS program for years.” Hall said. “Each year, when the GROUPS program begins in June, we meet with students interested in working out and playing sports. Based on their interests, intramural sports competitions are scheduled. Often times, students continue playing intramural sports during the academic year, and some will also work as \nofficials too.”\nIU’s Recreational Sports flag football program has provided 11 freshmen the opportunity to succeed while \nworking together.\n“The students in our program come to IU in the summer after they graduate from high school. They live in the dorms together, have classes with each other, and meet with advisors together,” said Associate Director of Student Support for GROUPS Roger Gildersleeve. “The teamwork in the classroom provides the students success in other activities, such as sports outside of the classroom.”\nThe fun and games all started this summer, long before most students moved in for the 2007-2008 school year. Because of the impact the Recreational Sports department had on the GROUPS students, the freshmen became instant stars during the summer. After the summer season came to a close, a group of athletes, many of whom were high school standouts in football and basketball, formed a team to compete in the highly competitive fall division-one flag football league.\nThe name for this dynamic squad was Dem One Dudes, led by team captain William Jones. Full of personality and the desire to play 110 percent until the final whistle blew, Jones said, the team knew how to work well together.\nEven though Dem One Dudes went undefeated during the regular season, they eventually lost in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. But the loss turned out to be a footnote in the long run.\nAs it turned out, Dem One Dudes are the first all-freshmen team to advance to the division-one flag football elite eight.\n“Even though we lost, we made history, had fun and met a lot of new people,” team member Bernard Mickle said. “It was challenging and a great learning experience.”