This weekend marked the University of Notre Dame Air Force’s 39th annual Flyin’ Irish Invitational Tournament. According to the event's website, over 600 players from over 50 schools with ROTC programs typically travel to compete against their future joint colleagues and comrades-in-arms in the basketball tournament.
The tournament ran from 5 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Sunday, with 14 hours of playing time occurring on Saturday. Each team was guaranteed three regular games in the tournament. These games ran six at a time, round-robin style, until Saturday night when the top teams began battling it out in the playoffs.
“We love coming out here. It’s a great environment. The sportsmanship is unlike any other place we’ve been,” Sidney Fredericks, a senior from Virginia Tech, said.
The tournament culminated in heated men’s and women’s finals Sunday morning. Washington University Army won against Virginia Tech to secure the men’s bracket champion title, and Virginia Tech beat out Notre Dame Army for the women’s title.
Five Notre Dame teams played in the tournament: men's Air Force, men's Army, men's Navy, women's Air Force/Navy and women's Army.
Notre Dame’s men’s Army and Air Force teams both made it to the first round of playoffs, and the men’s Navy team made it to the semifinals, where they lost to Washington University.
“The community building — that’s why we come all the way to South Bend. Moving forward, 20 years down the road, we’re going to remember the memories we made with this team, not necessarily our win,” Washington University senior Andrew Rudolph said.
Col. David McCann Woods started the tournament in 1985 with the purpose of community-building in mind. The tournament has grown immensely since its birth and is now the largest cadet-run event in the United States, according to senior and Notre Dame Air Force ROTC cadet Meghan Lehane.
Woods died two months ago at the age of 87. He served 28 years in the U.S. Air Force, which included two combat tours in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. His life and character were honored with the first-ever addition of the Sportsmanship Award to the Flyin’ Irish Invitational Tournament.
The award went to the St. Louis University Detachment 207 team, which was mercy-ruled, or had a scoring deficit of over 30 points, for all three of their games. Despite this, they had unwavering positivity on and off the court, according to junior and Flyin’ Irish Tournament commander Collin Noon.
After applying for and securing his position in August, Noon began tackling the logistics of the tournament by reaching out to home detachments across the country. Noon’s position is the only year-long Air Force Detachment position.
While Noon handled much of the planning, he noted the event was a team operation. Every Air Force cadet was required to work a scorekeeping shift, but many cadets contributed further by joining the official tournament staff. Six staff teams were in charge of scheduling, supply, concessions, website and public affairs, scorekeeping and organizing the referees.
Beyond the tournament's games and community, highlights also include Notre Dame men’s Navy team winning 74-11 against Indiana State, Utah Valley University Army flying all the way from Utah and 38-year-old E-7 Sgt. 1st Class cadet Rasheem Watson playing for Washington University.
“This tournament is about more than just wins and losses — it’s about perseverance, teamwork and the values we carry with us as future leaders,” Noon said.
