Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Four more to join BAFANL
The British American Football community got a little bit bigger this weekend with the announcement that four more teams will potentially be joining the National League for the 2014 season.
Teams from Aberdeen, Leeds, Sandwell and Torbay satisfied the league's initial assessment to become associate teams, meaning that they are likely to become full members of the league next season.
As with most decisions made by BAFANL, the news has split opinions across Britball, particularly with many teams struggling to keep their heads above water. Aberdeen and Torbay have a unique market to target - both play over 60 miles from the nearest team - but Leeds and Sandwell are situated in already saturated markets (Yorkshire and the West Midlands), so it will be very interesting to see how they will conjure up new players and if they end up poaching players from other teams.
The debate that will follow the entry of these teams will likely be a microcosm of the grander issues around the sport's development in the UK. Adding more teams without getting more coaches qualified to BAFCA Level Two (Lead Coach) level is likely to mean that player education suffers, and will only serve to dilute an already disparate talent pool.
We really do wish the four new teams the best of luck for getting into the league in 2014, but the debate about how best to develop the National Leagues is likely to rumble on for much longer than that.
Teams from Aberdeen, Leeds, Sandwell and Torbay satisfied the league's initial assessment to become associate teams, meaning that they are likely to become full members of the league next season.
As with most decisions made by BAFANL, the news has split opinions across Britball, particularly with many teams struggling to keep their heads above water. Aberdeen and Torbay have a unique market to target - both play over 60 miles from the nearest team - but Leeds and Sandwell are situated in already saturated markets (Yorkshire and the West Midlands), so it will be very interesting to see how they will conjure up new players and if they end up poaching players from other teams.
The debate that will follow the entry of these teams will likely be a microcosm of the grander issues around the sport's development in the UK. Adding more teams without getting more coaches qualified to BAFCA Level Two (Lead Coach) level is likely to mean that player education suffers, and will only serve to dilute an already disparate talent pool.
We really do wish the four new teams the best of luck for getting into the league in 2014, but the debate about how best to develop the National Leagues is likely to rumble on for much longer than that.
Irish Football Round-Up
Firstly an apology for the lack of an Irish football preview this weekend past on Double Coverage. However it was still a great weekend of football in the Shamrock Bowl Conference and IAFL-1 and another division champion was crowned, without a match even being played in that division.
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| Photo by Nathan James Sharrocks |
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