Bulgaria

On March 4th, the development of American football in Bulgaria received a big boost.

Two members of the German 1st division team, the Assindia Cardinals, arrived in Sofia.  Martin and Sacha, both Bulgarians, live and work in Germany.  They were invited by Team Sofia, the only full contact American football team in Bulgaria, to help and provide experience during the team's practices for a week.

For the team, their presence provided some much needed professionalism, coaching experience, discipline and motivation while giving players the chance to work with athletes from one of the top championships in Europe.  During the practices, the guys from Germany showed new training techniques and drills, trained potential assistant coaches, and emphasized on the importance of good physical condition and discipline.

Martin and Sacha (pictured) have supported and kept close relations with Team Sofia since its creation.  Before leaving, they promised they would keep in touch and continue to help the development of the team.

Contact:
info@teamsofia.com, +359 898 59 69 34
wwwteamsofia.com/news.html

Israel...

The Israel Football League championship reaches its finale this Friday, April 3, at Kraft Family Stadium.

First on the bill is a consolation game between the Underdogs and Kings at 11:30 a.m.  That match, for third place, will be followed by the main event at 1:30 p.m., when the Lions and Pioneers face off in Israel Bowl II for the Israeli Football Championship.  The top-seed Dancing Camel Modi'in Pioneers were tested at home on Saturday night by the Blue Sun Music Jerusalem Kings, but managed to assert control and claim their eighth straight victory in a chippy 38-22 affair.

At exactly the same time, in the capital, the most outrageous finish in IFL history ended in ecstasy for the hosts and agony for the visitors as the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions rallied from being down by 12 with under five minutes remaining to pull out an improbable 24-22 victory over the second-seed Real Housing Haifa Underdogs and book their spot in Friday's final.

The defending champions from Jerusalem now have a chance at a repeat when they meet a red-hot Dancing Camel squad this Friday afternoon at Kraft in Israel Bowl II. The Pioneers, who continue to distance themselves from the club that finished 3-7 last season, rode solid, if not spectacular, performances from pretty much everyone on the field to jump out to a 22-0 first-half lead in their semifinal on Saturday night, an advantage which they would never seriously jeopardize.

Contact:
Uriel Sturm & David Miller
pr@ifl.co.il
http://www.ifl.co.il/52/section.aspx/133

Great Britain...   

The BUAFL National Championship Game will be held on Sunday, April 5 when the Newcastle Raiders and Birmingham Lions clash to  see which will become the nation's top university team at 3pm at the South Leeds Stadium.

The Raiders turned around a half time deficit in the Northern Inter-Conference title game against the Loughborough Aces to book their place in the Leeds showcase.

The Birmingham Lions defeated the Southampton Stags 13-7 in the Southern Inter-Conference title game.
 

Contact:
tom.evans@buafl.net
wwwbuafl.net/news.asp

Norway...

Norway's U19 junior national team will hold a training camp from April 3- 8 at the beginning of Easter in Bergen, Norway  exclusively for  invited players.

Players must have been registered by March 15.

Contact:
marie.solhaug@noaff.no
wwwamerikanskfotball.com/?articleid=207

Poland...
22 teams will kick off the new Polish American football season this weekend.

Each team in PLFA I will play seven games this year, with the top four finishers advancing to the playoffs.  The season opens with a bang on April 5 with a rematch of last year's Polish Bowl at Pomorze.  Several teams may contend for a spot in Polish Bowl IV this year.

At the bottom of the standings, it may be interesting to find out whether the newly promoted team from Bialystok can compete with the top teams from PLFA I and avoid relegation at the end of the season.

Next year, the top division will be expanded from 8 to 9 teams, with the PLFA II champion joining the league.  Additionally, a play-in game will be held at the end of the season between the PLFA II runner-up and the last-place PLFA I team, with the winner either advancing to or staying in PLFA I.  It promises to be an unpredictable season in PLFA I.

Contact:
Jedrzej Stęszewski, PZFA President
j.steszewski@pzfa.pl or +48 693 693 851

Argentina

The Argentinian NFL kicker  and 2003 Super Bowl champion, Martin Gramatica gave a press conference at the Hotel Emperador in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Gramatica explained that he has always appreciated the support received from Argentina and that his objectives are now to enjoy his children and help develop football in his home country.

"One of my goals is to grow football in Argentina. I thank the league for doing a great job for the sport in the country."

As for the local league, he said: "The Argentinian athletes are special, so the league has a great future here.  It was a project for a couple of years and nothing more, but now the league is very solid.  My intention is to help as much as possible.  I live in the United States and I want to see a  a boy from Argentina have an equally or more successful American football career than I had."

Contact:
info@faarg.com.ar
wwwfaarg.com

Russia / France... 

France's Flash de La Courneuve defeated the Moscow Patriots 28-13 in the first game of the 2009 EuroBowl on Saturday, March 28 at the Khimki Stadium in Khimki, Russia.

The Moscow Patriots were first to score as Patriot's Ronnie William went in for a touchdown.  The French team had a rough start turning the ball over twice and did not score until thirty seconds left in the half when Jermaine Allen caught the ball in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

Flash de la Courneuve took the initiative in the second half as French quarterback Medeuf Teddy scored a 10-yard touchdown.  The Patriots hit back as Russian Dmitry Sergeyey completed a pass to Ramil Hisyametdinov in the end zone but Moscow failed to convert the extra point.

The Flash increased their lead with two unanswered touchdowns to enter the fourth quarter with a 28-13 lead and that proved to be the final score despite the Patriots' efforts to mount a comeback.

The game was played in front of 2,500 spectators in the new Khimk Stadium.

Contact:
office@efaf.de 
http://www.eurobowl.info/