American Football in Nicaragua: LIPFAN & More in Central America
New League formed in Nicaragua; International friendlies set up with Costa Rica
The Liga Premier de Football Americano Nicaraguense (LIPFAN) is a recently formed 1st division league in Managua, Nicaragua.The leagues founding member teams are the Leones of Managua and Minotaurs from the AFAM (Asociacion de Football Americano de Managua) as well as the Lobos and Iron Wolves from the ADEFAN (Asociacion para el Desarrollo de Football Americano en Nicaragua)
Even though the league is in it’s first year of operation, its teams have well developed rosters. Leones of Managua – 45 player roster, Lobos – 28 player roster, Iron Wolves – 30 player roster, Minotaurs – 38 player rosters.
On a recent trip to Managua I had the opportunity to meet with the committee of the LIPFAn which encompasses representatives from both the AFAM and AEFAN leagues.
LIPFAn Committee Members (left to right) Geovanny Perez – Treasurer of AFAM Juan Morales – VP of AFAM Rodrigo Pallais – President of AFAM and QB for Leones of Managua Jorge Morales – Vocal of ADEFAN and Captain of Iron Wolves Team Francisco Obando – Controller of AFAM David Morales – (absent in photo but present for meeting) President of ADEFAN and Coach/LB/FB of Lobos Team
The Leones of Managua team will be traveling to Costa Rica for a cross border friendly tournament to be held on Saturday, October 25th, in the district of Cartago just on the outskirts of the capital city, San Jose, Costa Rica. The Costa Rican host team of the tournament is the Cartago Dragons F.A.
After speaking with the representatives of the participating Nicaraguan team, it quickly became apparent that they are very keen to participate in the tournament that is honoring the 6th year anniversary of the Dragons conception.
Sport Has No Boundaries
President of the Dragons, David Quesada, expresses a warm welcome to the Nicaraguan team. “The players of the Dragons can’t wait for the tournament and the rest of the activities for this year. I know the Nicaraguan team feels the same emotions and we appreciate their support.”
On Saturday, September 6th the LIPFAN Week 6 games started at 2:30PM under a scorching hot sun whereby I witnessed the Leones of Managua beat out the Iron Wolves in the last few minutes of the game, resulting in a final score 14-12.
Leones of Managua in green; Iron Wolves in red
The second game of the day brought the Lobos, a solid team with seven years of playing history, against the Minotaurs, a new team formed this year even though the team is comprised of seasoned players from a previously folded team. The Lobos team took the win 12-6.
Minotaurs in white; Lobos in black
A few weeks later on Saturday, September 20th facing off in the championship game were the LEONES of Managua and the LOBOS teams.
LIPFAn 2014 Championship Touchdown Plays
6-0 – Rodrigo Pallais QB 30 yd TD pass to Allan Guardado WR; Rodrigo Pallais QB 2pt conversion pass to Milton Putoy TE
14-0 Rodrigo Pallais QB 15 yd run for TD; Rodrigo Pallais QB 2pt conversion pass to Ricardo Flores TE
16-6 Carlos Khoulson RB 10 yd run for TD
I asked Rodrigo Pallais, President of the LIPFAn and QB for the Leones of Managua to give me his postseason synopsis.
“Leones of Managua was faced with injury issues since mid season which affected their gameplay for the latter half of the season. This in turn helped other players realize their opportunity to step up and contribute to the teams morale. The sustained injuries to the RB core pushed the team to become more creative on offense.”
“The defense was stingy all season long, but in general, every team had very strong defense that kept the highest score all season long to be 16 points. It was a very intense first LIPFAn season due to the longstanding rivalry between the 4 teams participating.”
“The teams will now begin to focus on their international tournaments coming up versus teams from Costa Rica (Cartago Dragons v. Leones de Managua) & Guatemala (Lobos v. USAC)”
The LIPFAn 2014 Final Standings
Championship Game Video
