Month: May 2013

2013 EFAF Atlantic Cup draw announced.

 The draw for the 2013 Atlantic Cup was announced by the European Federation of American Football yesterday evening. The tournament is being staged at Tallaght Stadium, Dublin over the weekend of 29/30th June as part of The Gathering Dublin.

 Semi-Finals – Saturday 29th June:

12:00   Amersfoort Untouchables (NL) v Belfast Trojans (IAFL). 

15:30   Trinity College Dublin (IAFL) v Brussels Tigers (Bel).

The Final and third place play-off will take place on Sunday 30th June.

This is the 5th edition of the annual tournament, which is the official European Championship for purely amateur teams in Western Europe.

For the first time ever, the event will feature two teams from the IAFL. Northern Ireland’s Belfast Trojans secured their entry by winning the Shamrock Bowl, which is Ireland’s all-island National Championship in 2012. At present, they are leading the Shamrock Bowl Conference (SBC) North with an unbeaten record. The team was unbeaten in 2012.

Amersfoort Untouchables finished last season with an impressive 8-3 record overall in the Dutch league. The team enters the tournament with the added pressure of having to defend the title on behalf of the Netherlands American football federation – Lelystad Commanders won last year.

Amersfoort in action (black uniforms).

Brussels Tigers are the dominant team in Belgium right now. They gained entry to the tournament with an impressive 46-6 victory over Antwerp Diamonds in last years Belgian Bowl. To date, they are unbeaten this season in the Belgian championship.

Trinity College Dublin is one of the rising stars of the IAFL. At present the team has the best record of the six SBC teams based south of the border and is leading SBC South with a 5-2 record. The team adds some local interest to the tournament.

Details of how to obtain tickets for each day’s action will be announced soon.

Brussels Tigers

Dragons win at Waterford.

Mick Duncan (#12) makes a vital catch for the Dragons.

Dublin Dragons 14 – 2 Waterford Wolves

 26 May ’13 Kickoff 2pm, Waterford Regional Sports Centre

Photograher – Gerry O’Mahony

Report from Dragons reporter.

This past weekend saw the Lucan based, Dublin Dragons win out over the  IAFL-1 table toppers the Waterford Wolves. The pitch at Waterford Regional Sports Centre was immaculate and a good crowd of fans came out to watch the game.

 Neither team had success on their opening drives and when the Wolves regained possession on the 30 yard line, Quarterback Eoin Reihardt connected with Running Back Ger O’ Keffe for a 1st down. The Wolves then conceded a penalty, there was a turnover after the Quarterback was sacked on a 3rd down by Augustas Zigmantavicius. This would be one of six sacks Zigmantavicius would have in the game. The Dragons kept possession of the ball for the remainder of the first quarter. Dragons’Quarterback Conor Murphy ran 5 yards for a 1st down and on the next play he connected with Wide Receiver Mick Duncan for a 12 yard gain. The Dragons managed a 1st down, thanks to a QB run up the middle. The quarter ended with the Dragons still in possession.

 The second quarter had the Waterford supporters cheering, when the Dragons’ 4th Down pass was intercepted by Linebacker Micheál O’Coinn for a turnover. The Wolves made some gains with Running Back Kevin Butler, but they couldn’t capitalise and their Quarterback was sacked again. The Dragons didn’t fare much better in their next series of plays and saw their own Quarterback sacked by Defensive Back Cian Reinhardt. When the Dragons did get the ball back, they conceded a penalty on a 1st down and this pushed them dangerously close to their own line. The Wolves’ defense hit hard and forced the Dragons’ Quarterback into his own endzone and they conceded the 2 point safety. The Wolves’ Quarterback was again sacked and they failed to gain a 1st down. The final play of the quarter was a catch by Dragons’ Receiver Mick Duncan, giving them a 1st down.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the Dragons lost possession of the ball on a 2nd down. The wolves returned the favour on the very next play and this was a key turning point in the game. The Dragons dominated the third quarter, marching the ball up the field and found themselves on the Wolves’ goal line. Running Back Dave Edwards ran in the Touchdown and Receiver Owen Dunne converted the 2 extra points. The Wolves gained some short yards, only to have a pass intercepted by Dragons’ TK Fowler with some strong defensive play by Niall Burke.

The fourth quarter saw Wolves’ Defensive Back Tomas Kirik intercept a Dragons’ pass and he ran 30 yards down the field. A backward pass saw possession return back to the Dragons and they took full advantage.  Some great rushing yards from Half Back Peter Worthington brought the Dragons within scoring distance again. Fullback Jimmy English punched in the Dragons’ second Touchdown of the game for 6 points. The Wolves desperately needed to score and Running Back Kevin Butler weaved through the Dragons’ defense for one last charge. The Dragons held   strong though and finished the game 14 – 02.

 The Dragons’ next game is away to the Drogheda Lightning on June 16th  at 2pm and the Wolves play the Tullamore Phoenix in Tullamore on June   9th at 2pm.

 

IAFA Board News: FIS Conference and Board meeting

Delegates from IAFA, attended the Federation of Irish Sport Conference on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st May at the Guinness Store House in Dublin. (and no, the black stuff was not free). Over sixty Irish sporting organisations were present and the speakers included Sir Keith Mills, the CEO of the London Olympics, Alistair Gray of Renaissance (producer of the FAI “Genesis Report”) and FIS CEO Sarah O’Connor. The Federation of Irish Sport unvailed its new 4 year Strategic Plan at the Conference.

Link to report on the Conference including conference materials and video presentations.

http://irishsport.ie/wpress/index.php/2013/05/federation-of-irish-sport-conference-2013-21st-may-guinness-storehouse/

The IAFA board also met prior to the conference to dicuss current issues and planning for the remainder of this seasons events.

Two points that were raised relating to IAFL1, that seem to be topical at the moment, were promotion and special teams.

To outline briefly…Promotion will still be at this point only open to one team who fulfill audit criteria to be promoted and all existing and joining teams for 2014 will be required to introduce special teams to their games as agreed at the past AGM.

It was agreed unanimously at the meeting, that a strategic plan for the next four years (2014-17) under the new IAFA set up, be implemented and that the Associations Board will be proposing and opening, plenary / forum sessions with all sections of the game to unify, develop and work to resolve all issues within each section of the Association, finally coming together across the game at all levels and building towards best practice for all to promote and improve standards.

Boardmatch Ireland is currently in the process of recruiting an external member for the IAFA Board, who is expected to join over the summer months.

A progress update was also given regarding the IAFA’s summer events programme which includes the Altantic Cup in late June, the SBC Semi-Finals and Shamrock Bowl in July and The Gathering Bowl in late August – all taking place in Tallaght Stadium.

Finally, the Board discussed the introduction of Youth Kitted Football and agreed to schedule a series of blitz tournaments during the autumn months.

Irish Referee in charge of International Challenge Bowl – Eurosport, 18th May 2013

IAFL Referee, Michael Smith has been chosen to referee the International Challenge Bowl, due to take place in Dusseldorf, Germany on Saturday May 2013. The game, which is regarded as as the “world club championship” of American football is being contested by the Dusseldorf Panthers (Germany) and Obic Seagulls (Japan). Michael is regarded as one of the most accumplished International Officials in the sport and regularly officiates high profie games across Europe.

The game is being broadcast on Eurosport 2, with coverage starting at 7:30pm Irish time.

Preview (from GFL press release):
Kickoff for International Challenge Bowl II at the Paul-Janes-Stadion at Düsseldorf will be at 7 p.m. on Whitsun Saturday. The game will be aired live on Eurosport 2 throughout Europe, as the German federation AFVD continues its partnership with the Paris-based broadcasting group and brings the next American football game onto European television.

The Seagulls already had been to Europe in May 2012, when they defeated the Dresden Monarchs by 29-17. So Europe still is waiting for a first victory against a Japanese side, the Düsseldorf Panther are eager to try their best at accomplishing this task. The Panther organisation is the oldest existing football club in Europe (established in 1978), has already produced the first European-trained player on a skill position to be drafted to the NFL in Sebastian Vollmer, was Germany’s first-ever Eurobowl champion back in 1995, so it would be quite fitting for the team to manage a first-ever win for an European team against an opponent from Japan.

However this will be a serious challenge: American football is played in Japan since the 1930s, Japan’s educational system after the Second World War was reformed according to the U.S. model, which lifted American football into the curriculum in Japanese schools. Japan’s national team won the two first world championships and lost another World Cup final only in overtime against the United States.

The Obic Seagulls from Narashino near Tokyo this year just celebrate their 20-year club anniversary, but have won a record seven X League titles and six Japanese Championships, which is played for by the X-League champion and the Japanese college champion annually in January in the Rice Bowl. Since 2010, the Seagulls won the national title three times in a row and again will not only be favoured for the next Japanese season but also for the game at Düsseldorf.

JSI Mediation – successful outcome for IAFA

The sanctioning of an upcoming fixture between UCD American Football Club and Ohio Northern University was referred to Just Sport Ireland last week. The matter was mediated upon last Friday.

A successful outcome for all parties was achieved which is consistent with IAFA sanctioning rules and policies and which delivers real benefits for both UCD and the IAFA. The game will proceed on 15th May at Belfield as a joint UCD/IAFA event.

Waterford wins in Drogheda

Waterford Wolves 6-0 Drogheda Lightning

IAFL-1 newcomers, the Waterford Wolves record their second victory in a row at Drogheda Lighting on 5th May.

The Wolves are recovering this week after a hard fought win up in Drogheda on Sunday 5/05/2013 .It was a cagey first half with both defenses on top and both offenses trying to find some rhythm. Things began to change in the second half with the Wolves offense beginning to make some plays and the defense continuing to hold out in a tough physical game. The hard work finally paid off with a great pass and catch in the end zone which was the only score in the game.

The Wolves focus now turns to their next game at their home venue in the RSC, where we take on the Dublin Dragons on the 26/05/2013, promising to be another very tough encounter. Waterford will be looking for a big performance at home.

Report based on Wolves report.