The Wolf Bowl Preview

The Elite take the field in Marlow on Saturday 23^rd for their first ever tournament against Marlow A and B teams and the .

The Elite are a women’s flag team made up of the UK’s best players led by Head Coach Andrew Gambrill and his staff at The Elite Women Project (EWP). The EWP was set up to help develop the women’s game and although not a part of the National Programme they work closely with BUAFL, BAFA and the Great Britain Lions.

This particular landmark comes around 9 months into the programme and will be a good indicator as to where the women’s game is at.

In such a new team, experience is in short supply and will come from players like Coventry Jets Defensive Back, Tendai Chieza. Chieza originally from Zimbabwe enters her 4^th season and is widely regarded as The Elite’s finest. When asked about the knowledge the older players bring to the team Chieza responded in typical fashion “Yes we have more responsibility because we have to lead by example in our conduct and our abilities. But we can't forget that it's a competition and we intend to win.”

At the opposite end of the scale is Royal Holloway’s Chloe Baton. The QB only has a handful of games behind her, but has already established herself as the starter. Talking of her meteoric rise she said “I feel a bit overwhelmed with the process of being picked, it was quite a shock to have everything happen so fast”. Baton concluded that she just wants to be “able to end the day believing I've done a good job.”

The final word should go to the captain, Louise Lee of Warwick Wolverines, who sits somewhere in between Chieza and Baton with regards to years in the game and is probably a typical squad member whom has played for around 2 years with a background of playing many sports but has fallen in love with the game of flag football

“I’m very proud of the EWP and I want to ensure that everyone else sees what the Elite are capable of, and how hard everyone involved is working to make it successful. Being given captain was truly overwhelming as well as a big surprise.” This was quite apparent in the photo taken just as her Elite captaincy was announced after training.

Clearly relishing the role, Lee continued “I’m really looking forward to having all of the responsibilities that go along with being captain.

As with all those involved at The Elite Women Project she brings the conversation to an end by making clear her ultimate aim. “I hope that this game will raise the profile of Women's flag football and help us on our way to getting GB status.”

No doubt these three athletes will be mentioned many times on the twitter feed and match report on March 23^rd and hopefully reporters will be talking about Lee lifting The Elite’s first ever trophy.