The DAC Panthers, the Queens & Long Island NFL Flag champions visited New York Jets training camp this past Tuesday, all as a way to prepare for the NFL Flag Football World Championship (FFWC) in Cologne, Germany.

A week after meeting with Jet players and coaches, the team will travel to Germany for the big FFWC tournament.

Among the DAC Panthers star players is Nicholas Athanasopoulos of Roslyn.

Nicholas, his teammates and Coach Jimmy Gavalas will meet with Jets first year Head Coach Eric Mangini and Jets players to receive a message of good luck and tips on how to take on the world.

Once in Cologne they will face teams from Canada, China, Germany, Holland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and Thailand at the city's Leichtathletik Stadium from August 22 to 26.

"I hope they can show me how to become a better quarterback so that one day I can play for the Jets like Chad Pennington," said Panthers signal caller Yanni Gavalas, in advance of the meeting. "We're all very excited to be going to Jets camp and then to Germany for the world championships."

The Panthers are in the middle of a preseason training camp of their own, in preparation for their shot at the world title. The team will practice at Cunningham Park in Fresh Meadows on August 17, 18 and 19 at 5:30 p.m. to perfect their game plan.

The flag champions are Kostas Akoumianakis (Holliswood, Queens), Eddie Roscigno (Astoria, Queens), Brian Kruger (Bayside, Queens), Anthony Libroia (Flushing, Queens), Yianni Gavalas (Manhasset) and Nicholas Athanasopoulos.

The squad won the NFL Flag National Tournament of Champions title at the Disney Wide World Of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL in November. Every year more than 100,000 children throughout the United States play in NFL FLAG football leagues.

The Panthers' progress can be followed at the website www.NFL-Flag.com, which will be updated from Cologne with news, photos, quotes, results and statistics. A daily blog will begin at Jets camp on Tuesday and run for the duration of the FFWC.

The champions of Japan and Korea became the final two teams to qualify for the FFWC, completing the tournament's ten team line up. Suri Middle School from Daegu won the right to represent Korea by winning the national finals in Seoul. The Fujitsu Junior Frontiers won the Japanese crown in front of a 6,200 home crowd in Kawasaki.