The two vacancies on the IAFL Board have been filled via supplimental elections which concluded last Friday. Mark Ryan, who previously was IAFL Liaison Officer will fill one of the positions. Russell Kerley, who is one of the founder members of the new team in Drogheda will fill the other position. A total of 4 candidates contested the elections.

They now join Terry Lynch, Cillian Smith & Barry Bolton on the IAFL Board. The IAFL runs the senior kitted football league in Ireland.

A relentlessy sunny day in Castleknock College played host to the West Dublin Rhinos home season opener versus the Cork Admirals. These two sides last met in the 2010 IAFL playoffs when the Rhinos travelled to Cork and pulled out an upset victory in a game separated by just one score. This time Cork were on the road but they had their eyes set on revenge.

The Rhinos took to the field with good field position early in the game after a squib kick by Cork on the opening kick off was collected by Alex McGuirk on the Rhinos front line. The Rhinos offense immediately started to move the ball methodically both through the air and on the ground, tight end Ross Carrick and running back Sean Power helped move the chains a number of times before an untimely fumble halted the drive just as the Rhinos had neared the red zone.

The Admirals came out on offense throwing the ball, but the Rhinos defense stood firm, forcing the Admirals to punt the ball back to the Rhinos offense for another drive. The Rhinos again moved the ball well both on the ground through Sean Power and through the air with quarterback Stephen Macken connecting with all of his receivers on the day. However this drive ended with an interception from the Cork Admirals. The Rhinos defense however again forced Cork to punt the ball back to the Rhinos, with linebacker Brent Trull making a number of key tackles as he did through all four quarters. The Rhinos again moved the ball and the chains against Corks defense only for another drive to end with a turnover, the second fumble of the day.

The Rhinos got the ball back again thanks to another stellar performance of the defense, this time the Rhinos made it count. Stephen Macken wound up and launched a pass towards the Cork sideline where wide receiver Kieran Brady managed to haul in a spectacular catch while surrounded by Cork Admirals, this 30+ yard gain put the Rhinos in the red zone and ready to punch the ball into the endzone. Full back Paul O’Toole took a handoff and ploughed his way up the middle of the Cork defense right up to the goal line. With running back Sean Power temporarily out of the game with a knee injury back up running back Robert Pops took a handoff from Stephen Macken and plunged into the endzone for the go ahead score. 6-0 Rhinos. The extra point attempt took a deflection from the hands of a Cork lineman and sailed harmlessly wide of the posts.

Half time came and went with the Rhinos still on top 6-0. The Rhinos defense holding firm for the entire first half continued that trend in the second half, linebacker Brent Trull stopped Corks wide receivers from gaining any yards after the catch on a number of occasions while defensive backs John Keegan and Dan Breslin helped to break up a number of would be completions. Cork had started to find their footing in the second half completing a number of passes throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters, putting up a challenge to the Rhinos defense who had been solid all game.

The 3rd quarter saw the Rhinos continue to move the ball, tight end Ross Carrick pulled in a short completion from Stephen Macken and turned it into a first down dragging two Cork Admirals with him. Alex McQuirk also managed to snag a high pass from QB Macken, jumping at full stretch to bring it down. But the Cork Admirals defense stiffened when the Rhinos got close to the endzone and would not allow the Rhinos back in for another score on the day. The Admirals offense was held at bay until the final drive of the 4th quarter.

Going into the 4th quarter and only one score separating both sides, it was as tense as could be. None of the spectators were leaving early in this game. Punts were exchanged early in the 4th with Rhinos punter Stephen Mooney pinning the Admirals on their own 2 yard line, leading to Cork having to punt from their own endzone giving the Rhinos good field postion to put together another solid drive stringing together a number of first downs and taking the ball into the Cork red zone again. The Admirals defense stepped up though, forcing the Rhinos to make a choice on 4th down. The Rhinos went for it and the Admirals forced an incompletion from the Rhinos to give them the ball back with less than 2 minutes remaining. Cork had burned up all their time outs in stopping the Rhinos last drive and had to turn to a hurry up offense.

The Admirals stuck to what they did best on the day, passing the ball. Admirals QB David Lomasney connected with a number of different receivers leading his side into Rhinos territory, completion after completion. The chain crew could not keep up with the rate at which the Admirals were picking up first downs, but the clock was still ticking. On 2nd & 10 just inside the home sides half, the Admirals QB lofted a perfectly thrown pass to the back of the endzone where it was caught by an Admirals wide receiver for what looked to be the game tying score only for it to be called back due to a penalty for an ineligible receiver down the field. Now 3rd & long, an incomplete pass put the Admirals on 4th & long with less than 30 seconds to go in the game, a real nail biter. A completion to another Cork wide receiver would be Corks last play of the game as it was short of the first down marker. The Rhinos took a knee to finish the game the victors 6-0.

Just as in their last encounter, the Rhinos and Admirals clashed in a close contest with only a single score separating the sides. The Rhinos move to 1-0 in the IAFL now with their next game against the Dublin Rebels at home again in Castleknock College 2pm, April 10th. Hope to see you there.

A welcome addition back to the Rhinos sidelines today was Coach Derek Ward, joining Coach Andrews and Coach Lawless in spurring on their players to win the game.

More photos of the game can be found here.

Trinity College 59-14 Dublin Dragons

(Photos by Martin Connolly)

Report to follow…..

 

The Irish American Football Association (IAFA) has been awarded an Educational Development Programme (EDP) grant by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).  Grants have been awarded to 15 of IFAF’s c.50 members worldwide.  The aim of the EDP is to develop youth and junior football throughout the world and it is primarily funded by the NFL.

The IAFA plans to use the EDP funding, along with grant aid received from the Irish Sports Council, to significantly expand the schools flag football programme, which has been piloted in the Midlands over the past couple of years. It is anticipated that the programme will be scaled up for the 2011/2012 school year.

A copy of IFAF’s official press release is below:

  Press Release

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has provided grants to 15 member federations spanning four continents to benefit youth and junior American Football development through the IFAF Education Development Program.

Educating coaches, officials, administrators, development personnel and players at junior (19-and-under) and youth (15-and-under) levels is a primary focus for IFAF, the international governing body of American football worldwide.  The cornerstone is the IFAF Education Development Program (EDP), which encompasses an evolving series of initiatives in order to benefit all IFAF members on multiple levels.  By creating meaningful and sustainable initiatives, IFAF ensures a strong foundation is in place to support future growth and development.  

IFAF member federations submitted EDP applications requesting almost $200,000 USD in funding.  Those whose applications were successful are: Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Nigeria, PAFAF (Pan American Federation of American Football), Poland and Spain.

“We were impressed by the wide range of initiatives that were proposed and encouraged by the anticipated outcomes, which will further our goal of developing the sport of American football internationally within our member federations,” said IFAF President TOMMY WIKING.  “I am confident that youth and junior players and the volunteers and coaches who help them progress as players and as representatives of the sport will benefit greatly from this funding.”

 The EDP initiatives are available to IFAF federations both national and continental level as a result of funding IFAF receives from the NFL Youth Football Fund.  IFAF has four continental federations (Asia, Europe, Oceania and Pan-America) and 59 national federations.

Photos by Jessica Packenham-Money

Trinity Football opened the season in style against rivals UCD today at Belfield.  The game from start to finish. This game was a tale of two halves. Trinity found early form and capitilised on errors by the UCD’s Defense. Trinity got an early lead when on 4th down, and on 4th UCD’s center snapped over the head of the Punter and the result of the play was a safety putting Trinity up 2-0.

Trinity took to the field again on offense, and after some nice running by Garrett Dargan, QB Canepa found his way into the endzone. On the two point attempt UCD’s Defense led by Nick Hal held strong and they managed to shut down the two point attempt. 8-0 TCD.

QB Canepa found open men with a couple of his few completions on the day and Trinity found themselves on the march downfield, but UCD’s solid defense held firm and shut down the long drive. Early in the 2nd quarter, with a mistake made in the UCD Secondary, Canepa capitilised and found Rob McDowell wide open for his first touchdown of the season, as he reeled in a beautiful catch. UCD again held firm on the 2 pt…14-0 Trinity.

Richie Whelan OLB and Nick Hall and Kevin McFadden rallied UCD’s Defense for the remainder of the 1^st half and shut Trinity’s offense down. 14-0 Trinity going into the half.

Coach John Collins fired up his men during the interval and UCD came out firing in the 2nd half. With UCD’s O-line led by Patrick Buttner and Niall Daniell making solid blocks UCD started marching down the field with success. 2^nd Year QB Colin O’Meara who on the day had over 200 yards on the day found the room and time he needed and began to march his offense downfield. O’Meara Found WR Dave Bennett in the endzone and he leapt above the CB and pulled in the football Touchdown UCD, Bennett also had a spectacular catch on the day leaping above two Trinity DBs to pull in the Football for 30 yards. The two point conversion was successful O’Meara finding Conor Redmond in the Endzone. 14-7.

 

On the next drive Trinity put Rob McDowell in and he ran 70 yards yet again for another Touchdown…or so he thought, as the line judge judged him to have slightly stepped out of bounds.UCD received a huge lift and held firm.

UCD rallied once more and some more great blocking by his O-line including Chris Scollard and Ben McLarney and Jonny Cosgrove helped O’Meara make some excellent completions. Shane Kenny a 3 year WR had a huge day and helped march UCD downfield yet again making some key catches. Kenny got the ball and made his way to the endzone for a bringing this game back to a 14-14 tie. UCD then completed again O’Meara finding Redmond in the Endzone.  Coach Collins and UCD performing a solid comeback.

UCD’s lead was short lived and on the following Kick Off Trinity’s Special Teams Coach David McGrath sent on his starting kick return team and with good result…some solid blocks by Amir Alsaffar and Conor Bates saw McDowell speed 80 yards into the endzone. The ensuing 2pt conversion failed and UCD Defense stood strong knowing they could still win this game. Colin Harper and Brian Leonard making some important stops on the day.

UCD’s Defense held firm for the remainder of the game and pinned their faith on O’Meara and unfortunately for UCD Trinity’s defense found the necessary vigor to stop UCD’s Offense. The game went to the final minutes with UCD found Kenny once more but some crucial plays by Fionn Chen and Hunter Inman forced UCD to go for it on 4th down, O’Meara fired over top to the outside and found Geraghty one and one with Trinity’s DB. Unfortunately Geraghty couldn’t find the stride to catch the ball and UCD turned the ball over. With just over a minute remaining in the game, Trinity came on one last time, and rookie RB Garrett Dargan drove the ball on several carries from the midfield to the 1 yard line as time expired

 

The IAFL will be holding Supplemental Elections to the IAFL Board on Friday 25th March 2011. The purpose of these elections is to fill two vacancies on the IAFL Board – the first vacancy being the vacant position identified at the AGM, the second vacancy being due to a Board member having to resign due to work/study commitments.

The IAFL Board would like to encourage any IAFL members, who are interested in serving on the Board, to put themselves forward for election. Given that the sport is undergoing rapid expansion and has established itself as one of the better run small sports in Ireland, this is an exciting and rewarding time to be involved in the sport at a national level. Interested candidates do not necessarily have to be in officers or committee members of a member club. However, it would be an asset to have some organisational, promotion or development experience gained through voluntary/committee work (not necessarily within the sport) or arising from the candidates employment and/or education.

If possible, the IAFL Board would like candidates who would be interested in undertaking one of the following roles on the Board:

1. IAFL Development Officer – duties include liaising with new teams and coordinating the DV8s development league.

2. Promotions/Events – assisting with the running of events e.g. Shamrock Bowl, and media/promotional opportunities.

Interested candidates should complete the attached Candidate for Election form and email it to cillian@americanfootball.ie by close of business on Friday 18th March 2011. These forms are circulated to all full member clubs who will submit votes by Friday 25th March 2011. Members of the Craigavon Cowboys and West Dublin Rhinos are ineligible for election as each of these two clubs already has a member serving on the IAFL Board.

Candidate for Election Form IAFL

 

Sun March 6th at 1pm sees the 2011 IAFL season kick off with an eagerly anticipated college rivalry,or Colours game.

Trinity College Dublin,the 2010 CUSAI College Champions, travel to Belfield to face a UCD team out to start the season with a big win.

UCD head into the 2011 season with only 10 returning players from the 2010 season. With a mix of experienced recruits and rookie recruits from this years recruitment drive, Coach Collins looks to improve on last years 2-6 record. Some of his Key returnees include Offensive Linemen Paddy Buttner and Niall Daniell, Quarterback Colin O’Meara who had an excellent first year as a rookie and is looking forward to leading UCD’s Offense for the 2011 season. In the backfield with O’Meara is 2nd year Runningback Dave Murphy, Murphy twilighted as a RB and returner last year but was primarily a DB. With Larry Doyle gone Murphy steps up at number one. Safety Kevin McFadden and second year man Nick Hall at Linebacker look to lead the defensive pack with the help of other key players like CB Brian Leonard, LB Vitaly Levdonski and LB Richie Whelan.

Trinity have come into the season off the back of prestigious victory over the University of Limerick Vikings in the 2010 Intervarsities, and hope to build on that great performance. Coach Darrin O’Toole has worked diligently this off season to build a program based on NCAA D1 powerhouse teams. Coach O’Toole travelled to Dallas, Texas to be a keynote speaker at the AFCA convention in January,but either side of that date has been busy assembling a coaching staff of legends. Ex Dublin Tornado Danny O’Callaghan joins the team as Defensive Coordinator, with fellow ex Tornadoes Dave Mc Grath and Steve Collins joining him at Trinity,as Special Teams Coach and Defensive Line Coach respectively. Ex Rebel legend Ken Hudson joins the team as Defensive Backs Coach. On the offensive side of the ball ex DCU Saint John Heffernan has joined the staff as Wide Receivers Coach. Overall,Coach O’Toole has built a juggernaut of a coaching staff, but ultimately it will be the students who will decide the contest this sunday.

Sophomore Texan QB Alex Canepa takes the reins of Coach O’Toole’s Run and Shoot inspired offense. Rookie sensation Rob McDowell returns to continue shattering IAFL records with big runs. Wide Receiver David Corcoran enters his senior year on the back of a disappointing campaign last year,and has worked hard to ensure a big improvement. Tight End Andrew Harvey will see plenty of the ball as will Matt Sheehan. Rookies Daniel Murphy and Andrew Walsh will also see time at receiver,and can expect the ball will come their way frequently over the course of the season.Promising receiver Craig Marron is injured for the UCD so Lorcan Smullen will seize the opportunity.

On the Offensive Line, Bashar Hassani has moved to Center, and is joined by David Kane(returning from a year long injury),Neale Young, Tom Gonzalez and Finlay Dargan amongst others who will fight for starting spots.

Defensively Trinity has seen a huge upgrade in personnel. Junior MLB Stephen “Red” Carton made a big impression in the College Championship game, but will find it hard to repeat that performance against UCD. Leadership will also be provided by Texas A&M Postgrad LB Hunter Inman and Zaid Foty will look to cause UCD problems alongside DE Yousef Abdul Wahab.Cornerbacks Brian O’Driscoll,Fionn Chen and Brendan O’Sullivan all have an eye for the ball.

Sunday promises to be an exciting rivalry game,with the victors gaining an early advantage in the hunt for the Shamrock Bowl. Kickoff is 1pm at UCD and admission is free.