Womens Flag Team GB looking to emulate their kitted colleagues

 

Hot on the heels of the succesful Womens full kitted Silver medal campaign last month, it’s the turn of their colleagues in the Flag Europeean Championships.

The tem flew out on Tuesday and after a nice settling in period and a light but smart training session, they are getting close to their opening game on Thursday morning.

The team is quietly confident they can make an impact, and maybe match if not better the second place the tackle team had.

Recently weve managed to speak with both the Head Coach http://bafaflag.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/q-with-andrew-gambrill-great-britain.html and the team captain http://bafaflag.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/q-with-louise-lee-presidentplayer-of.html about what it means to be part of the Flag setup.

In this update you will find the list of players that carry our hopes, as well as the schedule, and a few words from the Offesive coordinator, James Wilford.

 

Players

The team was selected by a basis of an open trial date, at this open trial date a number of the players were put through their paces in a number of skill based stations. Finishing with a number of games. After this date 36 individuals were invited to the final round of trials. This trial involved numerous games to test the players on their ability to react and work as a team. After this trial date 15 ladies were then selected by the coaches for the Great Britain squad. We have only had opportunity to have 3 practices as a full squad before heading to Pinto.

 

Photo courtesy of Garry Charles Photography

 

Name                                                                  Squad No.             Team

Louise Nicola Lee (Team/Defence Captain)          1              Warwick Wolverines

Kellie Barrett                                                                2            Coventry Cougars

Amelia Emily Barrett                                                  3             Coventry Cougars

Tanya Paige Boyes (QB)                                            4              Sheffield Hallam Women Warriors

Tendai Rosemary Mushauri Chieza                        5               Coventry Jets

 Jennifer Anne Cooper                                            6                Warwick Wolverines

Angelie De La Cruz (QB) (Offence Captain)           7              Solent/Icini

Rebecca Hazel Haw                                                    8             Coventry Cougars

April Heath                                                                  9             Gloucester Centurions

Sophie Rhian Louise Jones                                      10             Coventry Cougars

Jennifer Jane Macchia                                            11              Warwick Wolverines

Hannah Smith                                                           12               Northampton Titans

Lucille Mary Stewart                                                13              London Warrioirs

Sarah Elizabeth Wakelin                                          14             Coventry Cougars

Stephanie Jane Warren                                          15              University of Nottingham

 

Staff

Staff                                                                Position    

Andrew Gambrill                                           Head Coach          

James Anthony Wilford                                Offensive Coordinator    Gloucester Centurions

André Nicholas Phillip Clarke                     Defensive Coordinator    London Warriors

Danika Louise Scargill                                  Team Manager                  Manchester Titans

Naomi Helen Maycock                                Sports Therapist                Gloucester Centurions

 

Tournament Schedule

Thursday September 17^th

v Spain 10am

v Germany 4.30pm

Friday September 18^th

v Israel 10am

v Austria 6pm

Saturday September 19^th

v Italy 10am

v Switzerland 1pm

v Denmark 6pm

Playoffs dependant on final group position, and will be played on Sunday September 20^th.

James Wilford is Head Coach for the Gloucester Centurions Mixed Flag team and University of Gloucestershire Gladiators, he is also the Great Britain Women’s Flag teams newly appointed Offensive Coordinator, who, at present, is with the rest of the team in Pinto, Spain for IFAF’s 2015 European Flag Championships.

Having helped out with BAFA’s Opal Series and Topaz events last year GB Head Coach Andrew Gambrill liked what he saw and in appointing James he can confidently ensure attacking flare is brought to his offense. “Andrew has been great at supporting me through this whole process [of readying the team] and as such we will be a unit that loves competition; we aim to play fast and aggressively, and as a result of the players working hard over the last few weeks and months the unit has progressed well.”

Marrying a defense that shares the same attributes, Wilford is anticipating best efforts from his offense: “…my hopes are that we compete and perform to the best of our ability in each and every game. We face some big challenges along way, including the heat and climate and how we adapt to it, and the volume of games in such a short space of time but this will affect all participants so we just need to go out, focus on ourselves and try and do everything we can to win the Championship.”

 

May we take this time to wish them all the success in achieving their goals and consider the state of women’s American Football in Britain a very exciting and positive affair right now…and long may this continue.