Federal Triangles Soccer Club

Federal Triangles
Full name Federal Triangles Soccer Club
Nickname(s) The Feds
Founded 1990 (1990)
Website Club home page

Federal Triangles Soccer Club, commonly called Federal Triangles or just FTSC, is a coed soccer club founded in 1990 by J. C. Cummings under the umbrella of the DC Sports Association which was the GLBT sports group of the time for the Washington, D.C. area. The club runs both a summer league and multiple teams in local fall and spring leagues, as well as organizes regular pickup games, multiple tournaments, and other events throughout the year, including the Rehoboth Beach Classic, United Night Out (UNO, DC United's Pride night), and a Turkey Bowl & Thanksgiving Potluck. FTSC is a member locally of Team DC[1] and internationally of the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA)[2] and has nearly 200 paying member players of its own.

FTSC are the reigning North American and World IGLFA champions.

History

1990-1995: The Beginning

Shortly after founding, many other GLBT+ soccer clubs (including the New York Ramblers, the Philadelphia Falcons, and the Atlanta Heat) reached out to the as-of-yet-unnamed FTSC to participate in a large upcoming tournament hosted by Atlanta. The club pulled together a coed team for the 1991 tournament; they did not win any medals at the tournament, but earned a highlight 1-0 win over Atlanta's "B team" on a goal by Glenn Auve with a brilliant assist by Heather Milton. Members of the clubs participating in that tournament, including JC Cummings and Heather Milton from FTSC, would ultimately join together to found the IGLFA the following year. FTSC has participated in all major IGLFA tournaments, though after the 1994 Gay Games a large number of women in the club started their own efforts, leaving FTSC as primarily male for several years.

1996-2000: Tournament Hosts

New leadership at the club pushed FTSC in a more professional direction in the middle of the decade, officially adding a team into the Washington International Soccer League (WISC), founding the tournament that would evolve into the current Turkey Bowl, founding the Rehoboth Beach Classic (1999), and bidding to host the 1997 edition of IGLFA's annual tournament. FTSC won the bid with a group that had experience with the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 Summer Olympics as well as support from DC United, the DC mayor's office, and the DC city council. The 1997 IGLFA tournament was the largest to date, and included a women's tournament for the first time outside of the Gay Games.

2001-2006: Growth and Renewal

Women returned in numbers to FTSC allowing the club to enter multiple teams in local women's leagues by Spring of 2005, helping the club more than double in size between the 1998 and 2006 Gay Games. Growth also occurred on the men's side, with FTSC sending two teams of their own to the annual IGLFA tournament for the first time in 2005, the division 1 team fully FTSC member while the division 2 team included several members from other US-based GLBT clubs.

2007-Present: A Mature Club Thrives

FTSC continued its strong growth, breaking past 100 members in 2007. The number of women's teams expanded from 2 in 2006 to 5 by 2011, and the number of men's teams increased to 5 as of 2012. The Summer of Freedom league, host fully by and for FTSC members, was founded in 2010.

FTSC bid to host the IGLFA annual tournament once again for the 2009 tournament and again won the bid.

Recently, FTSC has earned major tournament success, winning the 2015 North American division 1 championships and following that up with a division 1 title at the 2016 IGLFA World Championship in Portland.

Honors

Name and logos

When the club was founded in 1990, it had no name, simply existing as the soccer branch of DC Sports. FTSC's invitation to the 1991 Atlanta tournament forced the founding members to come up with an identity. The name "Federal Triangles" was chosen for the dual reasons of the club playing their early games near Federal Triangle and of the fact that pink triangles are a common LGBT symbol. FTSC's original logo was thus a soccer ball imposed on top of a pink or fuchsia triangle. The founding members also decided on the nickname of "The Feds" because "everyone is afraid of the Feds!"

Friends and rivals

The Philadelphia Falcons were founded one year before FTSC was, and the two clubs established a close bond very early on. Three FTSC members attended a small tournament hosted by the Falcons in the spring of 1991 and highly enjoyed the experience, returning the favor later that year (but before the Atlanta tournament). The two clubs have sent joint teams to several IGLFA tournaments over the years, especially to those hosted outside the United States.

References

  1. ↑ Team DC
  2. ↑ International Gay and Lesbian Football Association
  3. ↑ FTSC Wins IGLFA Championship!

External links

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