Sport

UNLEASH THE FURY

By Alex King ⋅ February 4, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

LX NEWS MEETS THE TEAM BRINGING AMERICAN FOOTBALL TO MERSEYSIDE

October’s NFL match at Wembley heralded the growing popularity of American Football in this country, with the event dubbed as a huge success when half of the 90,000 tickets were sold within two hours of going on sale. As well as being watched fervently across the country, the sport is increasingly being played at a competitive level nationwide, particularly within the student population.

The British Universities American Football League (formerly the BCAFL), set up in 1985, has never been stronger, with over forty teams competing in the current season including long-running, hugely successful teams such as the Leeds Celtics, the Loughborough Aces and the Lancaster Bombers. It was whilst travelling to play for the Bombers that two LJMU students decided that the Liverpool universities needed an American Football team of their own.

Joe Black and Duvalle Merchant shared a love for the sport and wished to bring it to one of the only major university cities without a team, an idea which came to fulfillment in 2006 as recruitment began for their proposed team, the Liverpool Fury.

With over three hundred freshmen signing up to try out for the team this year, the squad has never looked better as the Fury prepare to enter the BUAFL for the 2008/2009 season. Both the offensive and defensive sides of the squad have strengthened remarkably in the last year, with quarterback Ben Thomas and halfback Carlo Covello providing the attacking threat while linebacker Scott Thorley-Kancy and safety Rick Keir form an equally formidable defense.

As well as a constantly improving squad of players, the Fury have also bolstered their back-room staff, with the acquisition of six new coaches to bring a wealth of experience to the highly-qualified original coaching team. The Fury’s founder and head coach, Joe Black, having played for four BUAFL teams and even the national side, the GB Bulldogs, recently had the opportunity to coach at the NFL’s JPD camp, which involved coaching alongside some of NFL Europa’s finest professional American Football stars.

This season has seen the Fury take huge steps towards entering the BUAFL by being accepted by the league for Associate status, which means the team will play a number of friendly fixtures against respected opponents to see if they have the quality to be fully accepted into the league. The first of these fixtures comes against Birkenhead-based Merseyside Nighthawks at IM Marsh on February 10th, followed by a trip down to Buckinghamshire to face the BCUC Buccaneers.

Social Secretary Andrew Jones believes such scrimmages will provide the Fury with worthy challenges which they will rise to. “The upcoming matches are highly important as they will determine whether or not we have enough ability and experience to compete with some of the best teams in the league,” says Jones. “Any support for the team at IM Marsh would be gratefully received.”

The Fury are scheduled to be fully competitive in the BUAFL’s Northern Conference from September 2008, and players and coaches alike are predicting a successful inaugural season for the men from IM Marsh.