Photo By William Epperson | Portsmouth, Va. (Nov. 26, 2025) Navy Medicine Readiness Training Command (NMRTC)...... read more read more
NMRTC’s Tidewater Classic Flag Football Game Brings Communities Together in Unprecedented Joint-Military Event
Story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Thomas Boatright
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (November 26, 2025) There are many ways to bring a community together, but nothing builds comradery like a friendly challenge. Navy Medicine Readiness Training Command (NMRTC) Portsmouth held its inaugural Tidewater Classic Flag Football Challenge on Nov. 22 bringing together medical personnel from units across the Tidewater area. Despite inclement weather conditions, over 500 service members and families attended the event.
The event pitted Sailors and Marines from NMRTC Portsmouth against Soldiers and Airmen from Joint Base Langley-Eustis in a friendly flag football game held at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP). The event aimed to foster comradery between commands and boost morale for commands in the area.
“I love events like this; the holiday times can be hard for some people, so to have an event like this is just an amazing morale booster,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Charles Nallie, the offensive captain for NMRTC Portsmouth’s flag football team, “Forged”, and vice president of the Tidewater Classic Association. “It allows people to be competitive, bring their families and enjoy an event. That doesn’t happen too often.”
Nallie said his team would meet up for two hours every Tuesday and Thursday to practice for the game, with an occasional Saturday practice when possible. They would practice plays, do drills and skirmish against each other. He is looking forward to future events like this and hopes that the event will be kept as a tradition long after he leaves the command.
“This [game] served as an amazing opportunity to bring the medical treatment facilities in the Tidewater area together,” said Lt. William Ferguson, head coach of Team Forged, and advisor to the planning committee for the event. “We collectively made history that Saturday; the regional impact from this joint military event is unprecedented here at NMRTC Portsmouth. If not for the rain, I think we could have had 700 - 800 people in attendance for the game.”
After bringing the game to overtime, Eustis-Langley’s team “Falcon” came out victorious with a final score of 12-6, and their head coach, Airman 1st Class Quincy Owens, catching the winning pass.
“I feel like we did a great job despite the amount of practice time and rain,” said Owens. “I also feel like our togetherness is what held us strong through the rain showers, which ultimately lead us to the win.”
NMRTC Portsmouth is the premier readiness and training platform that provides superior medical training for military medical service members at the U.S. military’s oldest, continuously operating military hospital, since 1830. NMCP, a nationally acclaimed state-of-the-art military treatment facility, along with the area's 10 branch health and TRICARE Prime Clinics and provides medical care for warfighters and their families. It also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for combat operations and public health crises.
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.26.2025 14:38 |
| Story ID: | 552504 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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