FLAG FOOTBALL. For the “Leoas” of Porto Alegre, the goal in the 2023 women’s Gauchão is consolidation in the elite

By Pedro Pereira

The representatives of the capital face the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, once again. Lions Flag Football, from Porto Alegre, is one of the four teams that compete in the women’s Gaucho Championship of the modality. Last year, they rose from 4th to 3rd place between Gauchão and Copa RS. Now, the goal is to consolidate among the first places.

Adriano Souza Jr, head coach of the “Leoes”, defines the maintenance of the athletes during the season as one of the main factors for the evolution of the first half of 2022, to the second. At other times, the defeats would make the players give up participating in the team and, consequently, the cast would be almost completely depleted, needing to restructure.

Results of the Lions women’s division, last year: 4th place in the Campeonato Gaúcho, in the first semester; and 3rd place in Copa RS, in the second. In the last half of the season, the Lionesses managed to defeat teams that, according to the coach, seemed to be on a distant level from the squad in terms of game level.

Despite the bad results, the experience was very useful to form the sportsman character of Porto Alegre, according to Souza. “We were able to expose the players to situations in which they were forced to evaluate the technical aspects on the field. Today, the team is permeated with athletes capable of analyzing executions and devising solutions for all the particularities of a game”.

For this season, the head coach sees many qualities in opponents. In addition to the evolution of “CROWNED” and the consistency of Carlos Barbosa Ximangos, the captain of the Porto Alegre squad mentions the return of quarterback do Santa Maria Soldiers, Edward Santi, as an interesting restructuring for Gauchão. In any case, the expectation of the Lionesses is high. “We already had our championships with the objective of learning, 2023 is the year of consolidation. No results matter, except title”.

Lions Flag Football debuts for the first stage of the Campeonato Gaúcho, held in Erechim, this Sunday (21), against Soldiers, at 9:30 am. Afterwards, the team faces Ximangos at 1:30 pm and, at 3:30 pm, the hosts of Erechim Coroados.

To view the full tournament guide, click HERE.