The Broncos would like to wish five of the Grangemouth club’s starters all the best as they head for Germany to take part in one of the biggest annual Flag tournaments in Europe.
Three of the Broncos players, Fraser Thomson, Callum Woods and Kevin Woods will be playing with a Great Britain squad playing under the London Barbarians banner. This team will feature many of the players hoping for a place in the Great Britain Lions team going to the European Championships later in the year.
The other two Broncos going, Liam Fleming and Scott McKenzie will be playing with the Scotland Chieftains team.
The Barbarians players will have a long shift on day one because they play in the first set of games in the day (08:00) and in the last set (20:00). They do have three other games to play in between, so they are not likely to get bored. Luckily, on the first day, they won’t have any refereeing duties.
The Chieftains won’t have it much easier. They will still have to play five games, their first starting at 08:00 and last starting at 19:00. They will have refereeing duties after their final match of the day.
The London Barbarians first game will be against well known opposition, the Kirkcaldy Bulls. The Bulls were the most successful Flag team in the UK for 10 years, losing only once in domestic competition (to the Grangemouth Broncos). They withdrew from the league competition and now only enter tournaments like Big Bowl. While there are some of the original Bulls players, they tend to include guest players. This year, two GB players, Brian McFerrin and Julian Holburn-White, have decided to don the Bulls colours rather than join their GB team-mates, so that will be an interesting match-up. Also in the Barbarians group are Maichingen Mustangs (Ger), Wurtzburg University (Ger), Zyuzino Zombies (Rus) and Vechta Uni Fighters (Ger).
Head Coach of the London Barbarians said, “This is an opportunity for some players to prove they have the skills to play for GB. But the quality of the teams at this competition and the short game time make it really difficult to win. That will put pressure on the players, and it is how they react as a team that may have more bearing in their place in a GB team”. He admits that it would be nice to win, but a top 8 placing is his aim.
Fraser Thomson added, “I was at Big Bowl last year and it was a fantastic event. To see so many people out playing Flag Football was inspiring. The skill level at this tournament is far higher than it is in the UK. If we are to compete in international competitions, we have to learn as much as we can at these events and bring the experience home and pass it on”.
Meanwhile the Chieftains, with Offensive Captain McKenzie at Quarterback and Defensive Captain Fleming, will have to work some magic. Their group includes Allerød Armadillos (Denmark), Ljubljiana Killer Bees (Slovenia), Las Palmas Devils (Spain), ASV Badener Greifs (Ger) and Frankfurt Purple Flags (Ger). Mike Scott, Head Coach of the Chieftains said, “Our aim is no different from the Barbarians. We want to see how our players compete, because, if any of the Barbarians don’t perform, our players could be their replacements”.
This will be the eleventh time the Walldorf Wanderers club has run the Big Bowl tournament and once again the field is very impressive. There are 48 Mixed teams, which can include both male and female players, and there are 15 Ladies teams.
The teams come from all over the world to take part in this event. The mixed team competition will include teams from Germany, Holland, France, Austria, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia, Mexico, USA, England and Scotland.
The Ladies competition will include teams from Germany, Holland, Austria, Denmark, Spain, USA, Mexico, England and Scotland.
The first day, Saturday 27th May, will see 150 games being played in the group stage. The first set of games will start at 08:00 and the last set is scheduled to start at 20:00. Each game is scheduled for 12 minutes each half, so the organisers have to be pretty efficient at getting games started on time. Last year, by the end of day one they were even a little ahead of schedule, which was fortunate because of the lightning storm that did cause some games to be cancelled. This year, the weather forecast looks a little better.
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