How did you first get into American Football?
I’ve been involved in the sport for over ten years now and it’s all as a result of my Dad coming back from a trip in the US with a Brian Urlacher Jersey. I had no idea what it was or why he got it for me, but I did my research, started watching a game or two and fell in love with the sport. I was so keen to play after school that I gave up rugby and chose my university (University of Leeds) in part because they had a successful American football team.
Why did you choose to join the London blitz?
There has always been a strong pipeline between the Leeds Celtics and the London Blitz and when I came down to London I really didn’t have a choice but to look them up. I was quite intimidated as they seemed to be so far beyond the quality of what I was used to both at Leeds and playing at the Yorkshire Rams, but that didn’t put me off and I have never regretted committing myself completely to the Blitz.
There will be a lot of new faces on the London Blitz committee next year; how do you think that will impact the club?
That’s the nature of this sport, there’s always going to be turnover. I don’t see this as anything other than positive though. Ed Morgan and Mark Moss have laid a rock solid foundation of quality and a team ethos that we can build on. We have a new collection of committee members, players and coaches with fresh ideas and a really strong passion for the sport and for the team. I see change as positive and feel it will impact the club for the better.
What would you like the team to achieve this season?
There are plenty of things that we want to work on this year, the B team was a great success in its first year and we want to work on developing that. We’re determined to build a really cohesive team, from A team, to B team, Juniors, Youth, Flag and throughout, we’re all part of the same family. The core priority for me and for the A team is regaining the national championship. We’ve had some fantastic opportunities to play throughout Europe in fantastic competitions the last few years but our priority remains on the domestic trophy which we have not laid hands on for three years, which is not good enough. We’ve all got a lot of work to do to get there and anything other than that will be seen as a failure.
What do you think about the current state of American football in the UK?
It’s a complex subject, but as chairman of this club I just want to be at the forefront of showing other teams across the league how it can be done, to learn from what other teams do, and try to better our situation as much as possible. If we can win games and have people watching and getting excited by what we do, then that’s a great success.
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