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 17th
v
Spain 10am
v
Germany 4.30pm
Friday September 18th
v
Israel 10am
v
Austria 6pm
Saturday September 19th
v
Italy 10am
v
Switzerland 1pm
v
Denmark 6pm
Playoffs
dependant on final group position, and will be played on Sunday September 20th.
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.