Month: June 2015

Play-Off schedule announced.

It’s nearly play-off time again! The table below sets out the schedule and where teams will play. All single fixtures, except the Shamrock Bow, will kick-off at 2pm. Doubleheaders in the same venue kick-off at 1pm & 4pm.

Date Game Home Team Away Team Venue
19th July SBC Wildcard #1 SBC North 2nd SBC North 3rd or SBC South 4th SBC North 2nd
19th July SBC Wildcard #2 SBC South 2nd SBC South 3rd or SBC North 4th SBC South 2nd
19th July IAFL1 Semi IAFL1 2nd IAFL1 3rd IAFL1 2nd
26th July SBC Semi #1 SBC North 1st SBC WC #2 Harlequins, Belfast
  SBC Semi #2 SBC South 1st SBC WC #1 Harlequins, Belfast.
2nd August IAFL1 Bowl IAFL1 1st IAFL1 Semi winner Navan RFC
  IAFL2 Bowl IAFL2 1st IAFL2 2nd Navan RFC
9th August SB XXIX Semi winner Semi winner Dublin.

Shamrock Bowl XXIX will take place in Dublin on Sunday 9th August, kick-off 3pm. The game will be played in a high profile Dublin venue which will be announced shortly. Tickets will go on sale before the end of this month.

The Shamrock Bowl Semi-Finals will take place in Harlequins RFC, Belfast – current home of the Belfast Trojans. As per the AGM discussions, the intention is to move the Semi-finals to different parts of the country from year to year. They will be a doubleheader on the same date and will be run as an event. K.O. will be 1pm and 4pm – which teams play early/late will depend on travel practicalities.

IAFL1 & IAFL2 Bowl games will take place in Navan RFC – same venue as 2014. Games will be run as a doubleheader as part of the same event with kick-offs at 1pm & 4pm – which teams play early/late will depend on travel practicalities.

The 2 x 2nd placed SBC teams will host the wildcard games. Please note the By-Laws concerning the away teams in the SBC Wildcards. It is possible for a 4th placed team to qualify.

The 2nd placed IAFL1 team will host the single IAFL1 semi-final. The 1st placed team goes straight into the Bowl game. The winner of the IAFL1 Bowl will be automatically promoted to the SBC to replace SBC 10th placed team.

The top 2 teams in IAFL2 go straight through to the IAFL2 Bowl. This game is simply for the title – promotion will be determined by post-season audit and multiple teams can be promoted.

BBC TV report that American football is proving a big hit in Ireland

Last Friday, the BBC broadcasted a news article on American football in Ireland which was filmed at the recent Belfast Trojans v Dublin Rebels SBC game.

BBC reporter Matt Kerr reported on the growing popularity of the IAFA highlighting the record number of teams and players currently playing the sport and how the sport is progressing in a postive manner. The report includes interviews with IAFA President Michael Smith, IAFA Board member Matt Craig and Barry Kiel of the Belfast Trojans, accompanied by footage of the Trojans v Rebels game.

The broadcast, and the accompanying article from the BBC website can be seen at the following link:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/american-football/33016745

Boston College and Georgia Tech to come to Ireland

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The Irish American Football Association welcomes today’s announcement of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Boston College and Georgia Tech, which is scheduled for 2016. This marks the third regular season college football game to be held in Ireland in recent years.

In 2014, IAFA was an official partner of the Penn State versus University of Central Florida game. Over 20,000 people from North America travelled to Ireland to watch the game and as well as bringing significant tourism to Ireland, it also helped to highlight the sport in this country.

Commenting at today’s announcement, IAFA Commissioner Cillian Smith said “Having major American football fixtures in Ireland helps to not only shine a light on the massive growth the sport is currently experiencing in Ireland, but it also reinforces Ireland as a prime destination for sporting events of this scale. As the National Governing Body for American football in Ireland, we’re delighted to hear that Boston College and Georgia Tech, two of the top teams in college football, are considering Ireland as a location for a future fixture and we look forward to working with both of them”.