Ireland had 2 teams competing in the European Junior Flag Football Championships in Lelystad, the Netherlands. The other qualifying nations included the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Austria.
The Irish teams were U15 and U13 – mixed boys and girls. The players on each of these teams were selected from the children participating in the Schools Flag Football Programme running in the midlands. The majority of the players would not have played the sport prior to being introduced to it by the schools programme.
The tournament format is a league stage played over 2 days followed by a final and 3rd place playoff on Sunday evening.
Netherlands defeated Germany in both the U13 and U15 finals – with only one score between the teams in both games. Italy was 3rd in U13 and Switzerland 3rd in U15.
The Irish team finished in 5th place in the U13 competition, and picked up the Fair Play award as the most sporting team. They also finished in 5th in the U15 competition.
Euroflag Juniors, Lelystad, Netherlands
U13 League Table:
Netherlands 4 – 1 – 0
Germany 4 – 1 – 0
Austria 3 – 2 – 0
Italy 3 – 2 – 0
Ireland 1 – 4 – 0
Switzerland 0 – 5 – 0
Final
Netherlands 32 Germany 31
3rd Place Play-0ff
Italy 26 Austria 14
Fair Play Trophy
Ireland
U13 MVP
Netherlands #87 Corne Van Erk
U15 League Table
Netherlands 6 – 0 – 0
Germany 4 – 1 – 1
Switzerland 4 – 2 – 0
Russia 4 – 1 – 1
Ireland 2 – 4 – 0
Italy 1 – 5 – 0
Austria 0 – 6 – 0
Final:
Netherlands 51 Germany 45
3rd Place Play-off
Switzerland 44 Russia 25
Fair play Trophy : Switzerland
U15 MVP
Netherlands # 36 Edyon Batta
