The southernmost country in the world will be proudly represented at the 2023 IFAF Americas Championships in North Carolina in July, as Chile continues its flag football emergence in South America.
Chile’s women got their first taste of international competition at the 2021 IFAF World Championship in Israel, and despite finishing 18th overall, took home some valuable lessons for future tournaments. A year later, the women from the “pais de los poetas” claimed third place in a South American tournament in Brazil.A major factor in their success was a player regarded as the heart of the defense, Carla Molina. The 32-year-old physical education teacher and 11-year flag football veteran was part of the team that made its debut in Israel and again leads Chile into action at the United States Performance Center and the University of North Carolina Charlotte from July 5-7.
The versatile defensive standout will captain her nation for a third time while featuring mainly as a linebacker. Among her personal honors she boasts three defensive MVP awards and back-to-back club championships.
Chile’s women play only flag football when it comes to the sport’s different disciplines, while many of the men’s team have chosen to switch codes from tackle football in pursuit of non-contact success at the IFAF Americas Championship. Chile’s flag football leagues have ten women’s and ten men’s teams and have always entered male and female teams since first entering international competition in 2021.
“All males tend to first play tackle football, and from there many of them have been transitioning to flag football,” explains Monica Saldias of the Federación Deportiva Nacional Chilena de Fútbol Americano. “But in the case of women, it's completely different. They come directly from the world of flag football and have never played any other discipline.”
At least in NFL terms, Sammis Reyes of the Jacksonville Jaguars is Chile’s highest profile male player. But the tight end, who has spent time on the rosters of the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears as part of the NFL International Player Pathway Program, did not play domestically in his home country.
A true homegrown hero is Mauricio Fernandez Carcamo, who will represent his nation outside of Chile for the first time at the IFAF Americas games. The 23-year-old university student who studies Sports Science, has starred for the Chilean champions Felinos Football. He started playing the sport in 2016, and now aims to lead Chile into medal contention in Charlotte in July.
“He is the best tackle football player in Chile, and we know he can excel in flag football as well,” says Saldias. “He has already played one year of flag football here having won nine national championships and received six MVP awards in tackle football. He is the best quarterback in Chile, and we hope he will showcase his skills in this first flag competition he will participate in.”
This summer’s three IFAF continental championships will determine which teams will travel to Lahti in Finland next year for the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championships, which will be the biggest edition of international flag football as part of IFAF’s reinforced global competition structure. The European championship will be played in Limerick, Ireland in August, and the Asian event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in October.
The July 5-7 Americas Continental Championship will feature the most successful flag programs of the past two years. The United States men’s and women’s flag national teams are reigning world champions from the 2021 IFAF World Championships. The U.S. men’s team and Mexico women’s team are The World Games 2022 gold medalists. They will be joined in Charlotte by the national teams of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Panama.
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Photo: FDNFA (Federación Deportiva Nacional Chilena de Fútbol Americano)
