YOUNG American Football enthusiasts from across the country will take the first steps on the road to the World Five-on-Five Flag Football Championships and a possible visit to Canada when they contest the English Flag Championships in Sheffield on March 25. Mixed teams of 12 to 14-year-olds will do battle for the English crown in the non-contact version of American football at the Sheffield Tigers Rugby Club at Dove Moor, Sheffield with a trip to play the Scottish champions for the UK title the reward for the winning team. The UK Bowl champions will then go on to represent Britain in the European 5-on-5 Flag Bowl to be played in Amsterdam on May 13 with the winners of that competition progressing to the World 5-on-5 Flag Championships which will be held in Toronto, Canada from August 16-21. Teams from London, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Lancashire, Teeside, Norfolk, Newcastle and Northumberland will converge on Sheffield later this month to determine the English champion. Awaiting them north of the border is Cumbernauld’s St. Maurice’s High School Rams, who became the first winners of the Claymores Bowl when they defeated Craigmount High School, from Edinburgh, 38-0 in the Scottish final at Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium on Sunday. The 14 teams competing in Sheffield are the products of the NFL’s grassroots initiative that has introduced Flag Football into schools and youth groups throughout the UK. Previous tournaments include the NFL Kickoff Carnival and the Pre Super Bowl Tournament, which proved popular with players and fans alike. “This is a wonderful opportunity for young players to not only prove themselves on the field, but also to make the trip of a lifetime to compete on a world stage,” said NFL Football Development Officer GERRY ANDERSON. “It will be exciting enough for the winning English team to take on the Scots before a Claymores game, but to then have a trip to Amsterdam and Canada as a further incentive is thrilling. more…. “The players and coaches have all worked very hard at their game since we introduced them to Flag Football and while it was nice for some of them to lift a trophy at previous tournaments, they now have a fantastic goal for which to aim.” Winners of previous NFL tournaments the Young Bulls, coached by former Birmingham Bulls amateur player, wide receiver PAUL SINCLAIR, are among the teams bidding for success and also representing the Midlands are Leicester Junior Eagles and two teams from Denbigh School in Milton Keynes. The East Anglian flag will be flown by Wayland Community High School; Our Lady & St Bede RC School and Blakeston School Rams and Broncos represent Stockton-on-Tees and St Peters Catholic High School carry the hopes of Wigan. Prudhoe Community High School Panthers and Buffaloes from Northumberland and Forest Hill Boys School of London complete the line up. The English finals are open to spectators at Sheffield Tigers Rogby Club, Dove Moor, Hathersage Road, Sheffield and entrance is free. The action kicks off at 10:00 a.m. and the national champions will be crowned and handed their ticket to take on the Scottish winners by 4:00 p.m. The UK final will take place at Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 1:30 p.m. before the Scottish Claymores take on the Amsterdam Admirals on the opening weekend of the 2000 NFL Europe League season. The UK/Netherlands decider kicks off before the Amsterdam Admirals meet the Berlin Thunder in Week 5 of the NFLEL season. The overall winners will fly out along with the winner of the German Bowl, played between representatives of Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, to the World Finals in Canada, where the champions of the USA, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Australia, and the host nation will join them. For further information please contact Mike Preston or David Tossel prestonm@nflp.co.uk or tosselld@globalnet.co.uk Tel: 44-(0)171 225 3070 / Fax: 44(0)171 376 5070 All releases and breaking news will be posted on www.NFLeurope.com