On December 1st, another round of tickets will be released for the Croke Park Classic, taking place on 30th August 2014 between the UCF Knights and Penn State. As the collegiate American football season heads into its final weekend of games state side, UCF just need one win to clinch a share of the American Conference title. The Knights have had just one loss this season and continue to rise in the ratings poll ranking #17 going into their final games. This is the highest ranking ever for the UCF Knights at this stage of the season.

UCF and Penn State will open their 2014 campaigns August 30 when they meet in the inaugural Croke Park Classic in Dublin, led by two of the most highly regarded college coaches. George O’Leary and Bill O’Brien have previously worked on the same staff at Georgia Tech.

Coach O’Leary has his squad playing at its highest level ever. He took over the program ten years ago and has rebuilt it from the ground up. The Knights’ two signature victories of the season were against previously undefeated and #8 ranked Louisville, which followed on the heels of their win in Beaver Stadium in September over the Penn State Nittany Lions. Coach O’Leary has his team headed toward their most outstanding season in history.

Coach Bill O’Brien got his Penn State team back on track earlier this month by dominating the Purdue University Boilermakers 45-21 in front of more than 96,000 fans at home in Happy Valley. PSU, playing in the Big 10 Conference currently has a record of 6-5, including their four-overtime cliff hanger win over Michigan in mid-October. Their final game is against Wisconsin on 30 November, as the young squad focuses on finishing strong.

So not only will the 2014 Croke Park Classic feature the O’Leary-O’Brien matchup, but also the on-field passing combinations of Hackenberg to Robinson for Penn State vs Bortles to Worton for Central Florida. It’s shaping up to be a great battle of these two giants of American College Football in Dublin next year. This big season opener will also be the first time that UCF and Penn State have played outside the United States.

From December 1st, you can pick up tickets from ticketmaster.ie and tickets.ie with prices starting from €20. For more information about the Croke Park Classic, check out www.crokeparkclassic.ie, follow the event on twitter @CrokePkClassic and facebook.com/crokeparkclassic for news and updates. You can also follow us on twitter @iafaireland and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/iafaireland

Notice of Irish American Football Association AGM – 2014

The Annual General Meeting of the Irish American Football Association (IAFA) will take place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Northwood, Santry, Dublin 9 on Sunday 8^th December 2013 commencing at 11am.

Any proposals for inclusion on the Agenda should be forwarded by Sunday 24^th November 2013 to commissioner@americanfootball.ie or by post to 19 Castle Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.

Agenda and list of candidates will be circulated 1 week in advance of the AGM.

Elections

The AGM will include elections to the following positions on the IAFA Board:

• 3 Board Members – serving until Q4 2016 (3 year term). [Positions currently occupied by John Judge, Greg Loughran and Tony Rivers – note that John Judge and Tony Rivers hold the Director of Coaching and Director of Officiating roles independently from their Board positions – the positions up for election are generic Board positions].

Candidates interested in standing for election should forward the Candidate for Election Form (attached below) by 24^th November 2013 – to commissioner@americanfootball.ie or by post to 19 Castle Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.

Candidate for Election 2014 IAFA Board Member

A meeting of the new Board will take place immediately after the AGM.

Audits

IAFL team audits will take place over the weekend of 30^th November/1^st December. Each team will be contacted re: time/location (locations will vary this year) within the next few days.

Cillian Smith

Commissioner

Irish American Football Association

The Irish sporting community is stunned following the Government announcement that funding to domestic sport is being cut by 8% in the 2014 Budget.

This cut, which is well in excess of the average cut across public expenditure, is considered very bad form considering the significant financial contribution that sport has made to the exchequer over the past couple of years. In 2013, many voluntary sporting bodies got behind the idea of The Gathering and were responsible for bringing in 100,000s of extra tourism bed nights to the country [Note: the IAFA, which is one of the smaller NGBs in Ireland brought in in excess of 1,000 bed-nights for it’s The Gathering events]. 19% of all The Gathering events were run by local sports organisations. This follows on from 1012 when, according to the Department, sporting events such as the Emerald Isle Classic added an extra €100m to the Irish economy. The expectation within sporting circles was that the Government would reward sport for the additional tourism income it has generated by increasing funding in 2014. It was also expected that Minister would fulfill his moral obligation to ‘put something back’ for the extra income generated for the Irish economy by sport. Sadly, not only has this not happened, but the Government has targetted sport for additional cuts not inflicted on other sectors of expenditure.

The Federation of Irish Sport has requested an urgent meeting with Minister Varadkar on this issue.

Below is a statement issued by Federation of Irish Sport CEO Sarah O’Connor on the matter.

Federation of Irish Sport Statement

We are extremely disappointed with today’s announcement which sees a further 8% reduction in current funding for Irish Sport with funding to the Irish Sports Council believed to be in the region of €40 million for next year – a reduction of approximately €3 million on 2013. This is the funding that enables over 100 Irish Sports organisations to run sports development programmes essential to delivering sporting opportunities to all, provide much needed support to grassroots clubs and volunteers as well as providing assistance to our international athletes.

This is the sixth year in a row for cuts – investment in sport already having fallen by some 25% – and now sees Irish Sport back to 2006 levels of support. This is particularly damaging given that consistent government investment in sport only commenced in a meaningful way in 1999 and broke the €30 million barrier for the first time in 2004.

Funding for sport through the Irish Sports Council now amounts to a spend of just €8.73 per citizen. This latest reduction is particularly disappointing given the fact that investment in sport today is likely to have a significant impact in reducing the health spend in future years – a budget line that has caused continuous difficulty for the Government not just in the run up to this budget but over the last number of years.

The overall investment in sport at €40 million for 2014 represents just 0.3% of the €13.3 billion projected health spend.

We are also disappointed that our pre-budget submission in which we set out a proposal where an investment of just €1 per citizen could create 150 jobs immediately seems to have received little or no consideration. These were jobs which Irish Sport felt would be become self-sustaining over a two to three year period and for which, 2,000 graduates with sport specific training are qualifying every year.

That the potential of this proposal has not been grasped is all the more disappointing given the Government’s insistence that job creation is the way out of our current economic troubles.

Cuts to sports funding are at odds with wider government policies and counter intuitive as sporting events have proven to be key drivers in boosting tourism figures during the Gathering. As we slowly emerge from recession it is short sighted and unnecessary to target one of the performing sectors in the economy which has the potential to further create sustainable, indigenous employment and economic growth. The cuts come at a time of increasing market volatility affecting the funding models of many of our leading sporting organisations further jeopardising the future of sports development in Ireland.

We urgently request a meeting with the Minister and his officials to address our concerns and propose alternative innovative ways forward.

Sarah O’ Connor, CEO,

 The Junior Blitz 2013 marks the first step in creating a thriving and active junior (under 19s) full-contact American football league in Ireland.  Taking place on Sunday October 13th, and hosted by the Carrickfergus Knights at the Carrickfergus Rugby Club, this Blitz sees four junior teams compete to earn the title of Junior Blitz 2013 Champion.

This is the first in what everyone hopes will be regular tournaments for players in the 16-19 year old category. Games will be played using the DV8s format (kitted 8-a-side rules), with some timing adjustments to accommodate multiple games for each team.

Taking part in this Blitz will be junior teams from the Drogheda Lightning, Carrickfergus Knights, South Kildare Soldiers and Craigavon Cowboys.  The schedule for the event is as follows:

13:00 – Drogheda Lightning vs Carrickfergus Knights

14:00 – South Kildare Soldiers vs Craigavon Cowboys 

15:15 – 3rd/4th Place Game

16:15 – Championship Game 

 The Carrickfergus RFC are also providing food after the Championship game, so fans and spectators are very welcome to avail of this.

 We hope to see as many people there as possible to mark this momentous event in the Irish American football calendar. All are welcome so please share this with your friends and family!

The 1^st October application deadline for new or formative teams seeking to play competitive football in 2014 has now passed. The Irish American Football Association is pleased to announce that it has received five applications as follows: 

Cork Admirals (reconstituted club)

Dundalk Mavericks

Galway Warriors

South Kildare Soldiers

Tyrone Titans

Each of these teams will now move onto the next stage of the application process which will involve the IAFA auditing their applications and meeting with their administration and coaches. Clubs who successfully come through the application process will be recommended for inclusion in the 2014 league structure.

Dundalk, Galway and South Kildare were all formative teams in 2013. Tyrone is a new applicant and the Cork Admirals are a reconstituted club seeking to re-establish league football in Cork following the withdrawal of the previous Cork team earlier this year.

A spokesman for the IAFA noted “It’s great to see that there is a lot of interest in establishing new teams, particularly in places which have never had league football. Its looks like the number of clubs playing competitive league football will increase again in 2014”. 

The IAFA also received a formative application from the University of Ulster Coleraine , who hope to commence training in 2014.

The Irish American Football Association is now accepting applications for membership from new teams for the 2014 season.

The deadline for applications is 1st October 2013. All applicants must submit a completed application form, which can be obtained from the Commissioner (email address on contacts page of this website).

Face to face meetings with all new applicants will be held later in October.

The funeral of our friend and esteemed colleague Terry Lynch will be held this Tuesday 3rd September.

Lifting from his home at 10:00am (129 Larkfield Meadow, Craigavon).

11:00am service in St. Anthony’s Chapel, Legahory, Craigavon.

The family welcomes anyone attending that wishes to wear their respective Team colours as a mark of respect to Terry.

More details to follow.

It is with great sadness that we hear that our friend and colleague Terry Lynch passed away last night. He will be sorely missed by everyone in IAFA and our deepest condolences go out to his family. As a mark of respect to Terry’s football legacy, he will be honoured before the game tonight.

The game between the Greendell Falcons and Bristol Academy is attracting a lot of interest in the South Dublin area. Following the public launch of the game by GAA legend Jason Sherlock, there has been plenty of coverage in the local media. The two biggest local newspaper groups are running articles on the game in this weeks editions.

The Echo, which has a large circulation in South Dublin covered the game in its Thursday 22^nd August edition.

The newsgroup, which has the largest circulation of any free newspaper in South West Dublin is also covering the game in its Tallaght, Clondalkin and Lucan News publications.

The Luas will be carrying some advertisements and the game has been discussed on Dublin City FM radio. There has also been some International interest with the European Federation website publishing a feature on the game.

Players from the IAFL will also be publicising the game locally, including in The Square Shopping Centre, over the coming weekend.

The Greendell Falcons will be arriving in Dublin over the coming weekend and will be practicing in Garda RFC Westmanstown between 9am and noon on both the 27^th and 30^th of August. Bristol arrives in Dublin on Friday. The IAFA U20 selection will be training over the coming weekend, also at Garda RFC.

The Gathering Bowl:

The Gathering Bowl, which is the main event of the week, will take place on Saturday 31^st August at Tallaght Stadium, kick-off 7pm. It will feature the Greendell Falcons and the Bristol Academy Pride. The Falcons play in the Winnepeg Major Football League and the Pride in the European US High School league. Both teams will feature top class high school and college aged players. Tickets are free and can be booked via the advert on this site.

The Gathering Challenge:

The Gathering Challenge will take place at Garda RFC, Westmanstown on Wednesday 28^th August, kick-off 6pm. The game will feature 40 of the best young players (under 20s) in the Irish American Football League coming together to play as an IAFA U20 selection, versus the Greendell Falcons.

The North Kildare Reapers became IAFL-1’s first Champions with a 32-14 victory over Drogheda Lightning in the final league game on Sunday 18^th August. The win moved them to 6-2 overall, which was enough to seal the title.

The IAFL-1 division has been one of the big successes of 2013. It has delivered the closest title race in the history of the sport in Ireland with three teams – North Kildare, Dublin Dragons and Waterford – all finishing with identical 6-2 records. 50% of all games played in the division were settled by less than one score. The Reapers claimed the title by virtue of their head to head victories over the other two clubs.

Everyone in the IAFA would like to congratulate the Reapers on their victory.

Match Report by Jimmy English of the Dublin Dragons

Westmanstown Sports Ground was the Venue as the Lightning entered the Dragon’s Lair for what would be the Home team’s final game of the season. The teams ran out to blustery conditions, with the sunny sky threatening to break at any minute. Drogheda won the toss and elected to receive the ball. A 20-yard return by Oisin Dowling saw the Lightning Offense open the game. A combination of QB running and RB Mick O’Shea moved the ball well to the outside, but found nothing but a solid wall of defenders through the middle. They advanced the ball well, but a great turnover from their opponents saw the Dragons Offense take to the pitch.

The Dragons had plenty of previous success with their offense, and this game was no different. RB Dave Edwards made huge yardage on the ground, with a lot of help from his O Line. Edwards got the ball the entire way to the 2-yard line, where after two unsuccessful pass attempts, QB Conor Murphy slammed it through the Defense into the End Zone. Mick Duncan’s PAT made it 7-0 to the Dragons.

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The Lightning started to feel the heat from the defense early in the 2nd. Veteran Linebacker John Durrad and D Tackle Gus Zigmantavicius got closer and closer to sacking Drogheda QB Dan Finnamore. Finnamore was lacking options at WR and was hunted every time he rolled out to pass. Hit after hit was put on the young QB, and at one stage it looked like he didn’t want to get back up off the ground. Defensive tackle Anto Burke was one of the many Dragons players who got to Finnamore through the middle. The pressure paid off big time when Dragons LB Aidan Waters intercepted a pick and ran it back for 6,helped on his way by a fantastic block from Defensive End SJ McKell. The Dragons Defense were flawless in their inside penetration. In fact the only yards that Drogheda picked up were to the outside of the line. The second Quarter was completed when QB Conor Murphy completed a superb pass to WR Mick Duncan, who hauled it in the end zone for the score. At the half the Dragons led 21-0.

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The third Quarter saw a slightly shaky start from the O Line, who became porous and allowed inside blitzes from Drogheda’s defenders. This culminated in a blocked field goal, which denied the Dragons another 3 points. A swift talking to from Coach John Collins fixed this problem and they were soon back to their excellent form. Mid way through the third they sprang RB Dave Edwards free, allowing him to blaze forty yards down the field for his 7th TD of the season. The defense continued to show why they are a force to be reckoned with, providing two fumble recoveries from Gus Zigmantavicius and a pick each for Aidan Waters and DE Boris Sellak, the former robbing Aidan of his fourth pick in a very acrobatic fashion.

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Drogheda’s backfield made them plenty of yards to the outside in the fourth quarter, eventually getting them to the goal line. Dan Finnamore eventually punched it through after two strong Defensive stops. The score stood then at 28-6 to the Dragons, as Drogheda failed to convert on their two point try. Dragon’s rookie Running Back Jamie Falloon looked impressive on Offense when he came in to give Dave Edwards a breather. He held on to the ball well, despite some big hits from Drogheda defenders.

The game finished 28-6 to the Dragons, although this score does not represent the hard fought battle that took place .The Lightning never gave up, and showed grit and heart to give the Dragons a hell of a game. The Dragons will look to build on this season’s success and move forward to the next one. They are now eagerly awaiting the score from Drogheda’s next fixture against Kildare, and must rely on Drogheda to beat the Reapers next Sunday. A win for Drogheda will see the Dragons take the title. Regardless of the outcome of that game, this has been a turnaround season for the West Dublin team and marks the start of a new era in Dragon’s History.

Courtesy of Greg Barrett of the Waterford Wolves

Waterford arrived at North Kildare Rugby Club knowing that a win or draw was all it would take to put the final cherry on their fairy-tale rookie season. This game was considered to be the Championship game for IAFL 1 and it was going to be a battle royal. The Reapers themselves very much part of the title race and were not going to be a statistic against this Wolves juggernaut.

North Kildare won the toss, opted to receive and started slowly with a three and out, as the Wolves offence started to head back towards the Reapers end zone. The Reapers stood firm though eventually stopping the Wolves. Deep in their redzone, the Reapers offense took to the field only to fumble the ball and have it recovered on the 8yd line by #6 Eoin Reinhardt playing at Linebacker today. The Wolves took full advantage with #21 Kevin Butler punching in for the 6 points and #37 Aaron Walsh connecting with #12 David Kelly for the subsequent 2 point conversion. The 1^st quarter finished with the Wolves leading 8 to 0.

The 2^nd quarter began with #6 Eoin Reinhardt sacking North Kildare’s Quarterback and things seemed to be going well for Waterford. The Reapers weren’t going to lie down and take it though and fought back. #28 Matthew Kavanagh breaking through the Wolves defence for 6 points with seven and a half minutes left in the half. The game went tit for tat again until just before the two minute warning #72 Michéal O Coinn got a hand to the ball which Frankie Tchifo then took for his first interception of the season and took it agonisingly close to give Waterford another six points. The half finished with Waterford leading 8 to 6.

The third quarter was a tense affair but The Reapers offence pushed hard against the Wolves defence, with the Reapers eventually getting into the Wolves endzone again through a quarterback sneak, Luke Bailey getting the score and taking a 8 to 14 lead after the subsequent two point conversion was successful. The Reapers started the fourth quarter with their tails up and again and again pressed the Waterford defence with Vitaly Levdonski finally getting into the endzone again to increase their lead and following another 2pt. conversion the Reapers were now in a commanding 8 to 22 lead.

Things were grim for the Wolves, but they didn’t quit, they fought back and with seven minutes left on the clock #25 Brian Sullivan broke through the North Kildare defensive line to give the Deise Men a glimmer of hope. This was quickly extinguished by the Reapers running back #28 Kavanagh, who to be fair had an excellent game as he took the ball back into the Waterford endzone inside the last two minutes of the game.  The score gave North Kildare a 28 to 14 lead and effectively ended Waterfords hopes at the IAFL championship.

The game finished with Waterford losing 28 to 14, and with it their fairy-tale ending. North Kildare aren’t champions yet though and still have to beat Drogheda Lightning in a match that had to be rescheduled. A win will give them promotion, but a loss will bring the Dublin Dragons into the picture for the coveted promotion place.

On Saturday 10th August, the IAFA Board approved an application for Formative Status from the Tyrone Titans. The team intends to submit an application to play in IAFL-1 in 2014.

Any players and coaches interested in joining the team can contact them at:

titans@americanfootball.ie

Following the huge achievement of completing the Great Limerick Run in full American Football kit and raising over €1,000 for their club and Milford Hospice, the UL Vikings have organised a community fun-day for all called the Live Every Moment Festival to be part of the Limerick Gathering 2013 celebrations.

The Festival will be held on the University Arena Sport’s Grounds on the 24th of August 2013 with the aims of raising funds for the club, promoting American Football and raising well-needed funds for various local charities that support children with special needs. Full details can be accessed on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LiveEveryMomentUlVikingsFestival and discounted early bird tickets are available by emailing liveeverymoment2013@gmail.com.

The entire event was inspired by one of their coaches’ family. His youngest son has autism and was recently diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer. The Live Every Moment Festival will benefit local charities that have helped the Viking’s coaches’ family. They all are fantastic charities which provide their services free of charge. They are: Dochas (Help for People with Autism) in Limerick, Clare Crusaders in Clare, Healing Horse Equine Assisted Learning in Laois, and a new charity for children who have been victims of bullying, which is currently in the application stage

The Viking’s have organised a fun-filled day for 3 main groups; adults, kids and families with special needs.

• For adults, they have Flag Football tournament, zumbathons, Dress-up-in-Drag Races (yes, dressing up in women’s clothes and racing each other through obstacles for charity!), evening entertainment and much more.
• For kids, there will be flag football camps, zumabthons, bouncy castles, art competitions and more. All of the children’s LEM events are suitable for kids with special needs to participate along with other kids who may or may not have special needs. It will be a day where children can just be children and won’t be branded by their disability
• For parents of children with special needs, there will be seminars and workshops on free services and support systems which are available to them. These seminars/workshops may give parents valuable information and training which could help them for years to come.

Support for the Viking’s Live Every moment Festival so far has been phenomenal. Zumba instructors, reffing officials, local business (the list goes on) have gotten on board for the Live Every Moment Festival– all of them happy to help out for some great causes.

The event is featured on The Gathering Website, Limerick.ie and www.ilovelimerick.com. Radio interviews have been organised with Spin SW, Clare FM and Limerick’s Live 95fm.

On the day promotions will include Limerick’s Live 95fm broadcasting live from the event and celebrity appearances from members of the Triple Crown and Grand Slam winning Irish Women’s Rugby team. The Vikings will continue to promote the Live Every Moment Festival in their community, by submitting full press releases to local newspapers, poster distributions and launching events being the next steps forward.

The Belfast Trojans won their second consecutive Shamrock Bowl with a convincing 48-18 win over the Dublin Rebels at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday 20^th July.

A good crowd was on hand to watch the contest, which was played in unusually hot weather, with temperatures in the high 20s. Trojans running back Ian Montgomery was named American Food & More Store MVP.

The Trojans running game, featuring a trio of running backs – Colvin, Newton and Montgomery, running behind an offensive line led by former All-ACC and NFL Europe starter Jeroen Egge dominated the contest, moving the ball efficiently on most of the Trojans possessions.

Belfast’s opening possession of the game set the tone for the afternoon with Dave Colvin scoring the games first touchdown before the Rebels even touched the ball. The Rebels attempted to go deep on their first possession and were unlucky not to connect. QB Andy Dennehy hit receiver Chris Purdy on third down to move the chains. However, the Rebels fumbled the ball shortly afterwards to give the Trojans the ball in Rebel’s territory. Alex Newton and Ian Montgomery converted the turnover into eight points with a touchdown and two point conversion. The Rebels failed to move the ball on their next possession, and after punting, the Trojans moved the ball effectively with Montgomery scoring their third touchdown mid way through the second quarter to make it 20-0.

On their next offensive series, the Rebels started to move the ball. Dennehy had a key 4^th down pass to Gary Sommerville and a 20 yard run by Sam Hodgins put them in the Trojans red zone. Dennehy then connected with Purdy for an 11 yard touchdown pass to make it 20-6. The Rebels defence then stepped up, stopping the Trojans. With less than a minute remaining in the half, the Rebels got the ball deep inside their own half. However, they gambled on throwing the ball and it backfired when Gary Carr picked off a Rebels pass and returned it to the end zone to make the score 26-6 at halftime.

 The Rebels got the ball deep in their own territory following the second half kick-off. The Trojans defence was solid and forced them to punt on 4^th down. However, the snap was too high and the Trojans tackled the punter on the five yard line as he attempted to recover the errant ball. Trojans QB James McKelvey then connected with Dave Richardson to make it 32-6.

 The Rebels went to the air on their next possession in an effort to chase the game. QB Dennehy had had some success, including a 30 yard pass to Sommerville and it looked like they might score again. However they were stopped by a Scott Fischaber interception.

The Trojans next score came late in the third quarter when QB McKelvey was flushed out of the pocket by the Rebels defense and forced to scramble. After breaking a couple of tackles, he took the ball down the left sideline for a score, which was also converted. The Trojans final score came early in the fourth quarter, when following a botched punt; Marty Devlin took the ball into the end zone to make it 48-6.

 However, the Rebels didn’t give up. The managed to move the ball effectively on their next possession which ended with a touchdown run by Sam Hodgins. They stopped the Trojans again, and after moving the ball downfield capped off a good quarter with a touchdown run by Simon Mackey to close the gap to 48-18. The Trojans then recovered a Rebels onside kick, but had a 46 yard field goal attempted blocked by the Rebels.

 The Trojans were presented with the Shamrock Bowl trophy by Deputy Mayor Eamon Tuffy and recently crowned World Junior Tae Kwon Do Champion, Donna O’Mahoney.

The promotion of Shamrock Bowl XXVII went into full swing over the weekend with some high profile appearances in the South Dublin area.

 Players from both the Dublin Rebels and Belfast Trojans made appearances in The Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght last Saturday where some promotional tickets were available to local fans. The level of interest was extremely high with over 900 people availing of the tickets.

 Meanwhile, the Dublin Dragons, who are the resident IAFL team in South Dublin, helped promote the game at Baseball Ireland’s The Gathering Dublin International tournament held in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin.

The level of interest in this years game is very high, possibly due to the game featuring teams from the island’s two biggest cities and because this will be the first time that the Trojans and Rebels have faced each other in the final. The Belfast Trojans recent success in the EFAF Atlantic Cup has also helped.

Shamrock Bowl XXVII will kick off at 2pm on Saturday 20th July at Tallaght Stadium in South Dublin. Tickets are available via the link on the right hand side of this page. IAFL fans who use the following promotional code when ordering tickets will receive a €3 discount on all adult tickets: sb27_iafl

Please note that kids tickets are all at a special price of €2 and kids go free on the Luas this weekend when accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket.

Some Youth Kitted blitzs are being arranged for September/October of this year. DV8s rules will be used. The current age limits for this level of football (U19) are as follows:

Players born in the calander years 1995 to 1998.

Interested teams should contact commissioner@americanfootball.ie

Note that Youth Kitted teams use adult standard equipment.

Defending Champions, Belfast Trojans will play the Dublin Rebels in Shamrock Bowl XXVII after both teams won their semi-final match-ups at Garda RFC today. While both teams have Shamrock Bowl experience, this will be the first time they’ve met each other in Ireland’s premier game.

The Trojans defeated the University of Limerick Vikings 14-0 in a close game which was tied until into the 4th quarter.

The Rebels had a convincing 43-14 win against SBC South Champions, Trinity College Dublin in the second game.

Shamrock Bowl XXVII will take place on Saturday 20th July at Tallaght Stadium.

Semi-Final Results:

UL Vikings 0-14 Belfast Trojans

Dublin Rebels 43-14 Trinity College Dublin