The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
NATIONALLY NOTICED
Lorain flag football team heading to Orlando for tournament
Lorain Monstars Recreational Flag Football team will be making a first appearance Jan. 18-20 at the Battle Orlando National Championship in Orlando, Florida.
The Monstars are the No. 1 seed nationally in the Flag Football World Championship Tour’s recreational football division.
The team has been around since 2009 competing in the Greater Cleveland League, but within the past year has taken their competition to nationals, according to the team’s Coach/ Owner Jun Rios.
A team made of 26 talented athletes of Lorain has worked their way to get to this level and the players are looking forward to the competition, Rios said.
“We know we have the talent and ability, it’s just that one step we’re focused on.”
— Player Markus Younkin
The team will be playing for bids in their recreational division for an entry to an international tournament in May at the Dallas Cowboy’s Football Stadium in Texas.
Rios, 31, said players on the team are looking forward to representing Lorain as the city’s only recreational flag football team in a competition full of talented players around the country.
Player Markus Younkin said the Monstars are also planning to face off in a rematch against a Pennsylvania-based team who beat them in a previous tournament this year.
“We know we have the talent and ability, it’s just that one step we’re focused on,” Younkin, 27, said.
Player Zeno Inchaurregui, Younkin and Rios said the team’s main focus is playing for a former teammate, friend and brother they lost to an asthma attack in June 2017, Desmine Burton.
Burton passed away at the age of 28.
Inchaurregui, 28, said the team has developed much since their start in 2009.
They’ve won over 17 local tournaments during that time, but they wanted to play harder and challenge themselves for their former teammate.
Taking their talents to a national level has already provided them with a number of opportunities, one leading them to Orlando.
The players wear Burton’s No. 3 on their uniforms, which are colored in purple for asthma awareness.
“2019 we’re not playing,” Rios said. “We’re ready to do more for Desmine and for our team.”
Younkin said after each game or tournament, the team visits Burton’s grave to celebrate his impact on them.
He said they have always been known as a family, but the loss of their teammate brought them closer.
The team hopes to bring him home a championship win after the tournament is over, he added.
Rios said the team has grown.
He said his initial goal was to give talented athletes or those seeking a positive outlet, an opportunity to develop with others.
“That’s the crazy part about our team, we’re a mosh-pit of players who don’t have D-1 experience, but at the same time, we’re competing with D-1, D-2 college athletes or ex-professional players,” Younkin said. “It really means a lot to us to see the growth from where we’ve come from a team that was just having fun, to a team that really is excelling against top-notch talent.”
Younkin said himself and other players have excelled as players and have grown with good competition.
“It shows we were a practice team, basically, to now be known as a team that is nationally known, “he said. “We did it and now we just have to make one more step.”
Rios said with their growth, he’s noticed a need to give back to the city’s youth and create opportunities for all ages to play.
He and the team said they are in the works of making those opportunities happen.
“That’s the crazy part about our team, we’re a mosh-pit of players who don’t have D-1 experience, but at the same time, we’re competing with D-1, D-2 college athletes or exprofessional players.”
— Player Markus Younkin