Results and chat about the BAFL which kicked off on sunday past

the team I play for, Highland Wildcats, was only accepted this year so it's our first full competitive season.

Couldn't have asked for a more difficult start to BAFL Div2 Scottish Conference. Away to Clyde Valley Blackhawks.

a 64-0 loss was the result. This looks like a heavy loss, but for us it marked some major improvements in our game plan, as well as the team attitude. Not only that but I received 4 passes for approx 20yds (not NFL numbers but a PB which i obviously hope to surpass as the season goes on)

We also caused Clyde Valley some problems and they didn't have everything they're own way. Again an improvement for us, compared to last time we played them.

If anyone is interested you can see photos taken at the game here

http://www.imacimages.co.uk/cart/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=2046

PLEASE NOTE - If the link is not there then I have inadvertently broken forum rules and apologise. I am not affiliated to the photographer, but having seen the pics thought they were very good quality, and are free to browse. I do actually appear in a couple too

But as the numbers are not easily seen there is no point in tryin to point myself out.

The BAFL website is down atm so if anyone know any results from the other games played then post them here, I will keep this thread up to date for our overseas friends who may be interested. Anyone who knows of links to photos from others games please let me know as i ouwld be intersted in seeing them.

Sparcy what number are you?

Zster008 wrote: Sparcy what number are you?

Squad number 17, but you can't see it clearly in any pics.

If you really must insist on knowing which ones I am in then here they are

Page 1 _BAF7556 - I'm on the right of the photo with my hands on another guys shoulders. Black and white gloves.

Page 2 _BAF7622 - I'm the guy closest to the camera, with #48 white pulling at my hips. that was an intercepted pass.

Page 3 _BAF7699 - This was taken just after a snap, and from the look of the line I was running either a slant or hitch route. Funnily enough my wife likes this one as she thinks it's a good picture of my butt.

texasaggies wrote: I'm intrigued about this league. What kind of level are you guys at? Is it mostly Brits or any Americans? Is it people that played at some level of college, or just a bunch of "weekend warrior" types that are interested in the game?

There has been american football in some capacity in the UK since the 80's when the oil industry boomed. One of our most famous players is a certain Sean Payton (Head Coach of Saints). He played at QB for the Leicester Panthers I believe.

At the moment it is open to anyone residing near enough to a team to train and play. We're called the Highland wildcast and have people who are registered to play for us from over 100 miles away. They can't make every game or training session but they make as many as they can.

The league consists of a fair number of teams, the majority of which are from England, with only 7 being from Scotland.

the BAFL do actually have a website, which at the moment is down but it's worth a look.

There are also College and Flag leagues in UK too.

My local academy Inverness Blitz runs teams in Junior Kitted, Junior Flag, Youth Kitted, Youth Flag and Senior Kitted. A senior flag team may yet materailise but at the moment all our efforts are going into the senior kitted debut in the league. Up until joining the league we relied on people travelling to play us, which not many people wanted to do as we're 3.5 hrs drive away from our nearest team. Before joining the league my playing record in 8 years was 5 games!!

The academy has been going for 10 years this year and I've been part of it either coaching or playing or both for all but 2 of those years. With our entry into the Senior league we hope that will help us expand the lower divisions as they now have something to play for.

The league is completly amateur, all players pay to play. Equipement is supplied by the academy, and all arrangements are made by them but this season is costing in the region of £400-£500 ($700 - $900) per player which they have to fund themselves. We do fundraising when we can but it's not easy. It's also difficult recruiting for something that is considered a minority sport over here.

Anyone interested in us can look at www.invernessblitz.co.uk

We didn't have anyone at our last match taking photos as it was away. our next fixture is home vs Lancashire wolverines a week sunday.

Highland Wildcats next game is on sunday vs Lancashire Wolverines. They won their first game 44-0 so this one is going to be a bruiser. We had to promote most of our youth squad to our senior squad as both teams were below the league minimum for squad numbers. Unfortunately we don't have any seniors that could have helped the youth squad out. This mean we have 5 youth players who cannot play for the entire season as they are not old enough to play in senior league.