Pierre Trochet, President of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), has expressed his admiration for the remarkable progress of high-performance flag football in Europe.
This comes following the successful conclusion of the three-day IFAF European Flag Football Championships held in Limerick, Ireland on Sunday, 20 August.
The tournament marked its 10th edition, making it the largest one to date, with the Great Britain women's team achieving a historic victory by clinching their first-ever continental title - triumphing over the reigning champions, Spain, with a score of 26-19.
Game recap: Great Britain 26 Spain 19 in the IFAF European Flag Football Championships Gold Medal Game.https://t.co/0jSGKNKc1i
Photos @ianhumes pic.twitter.com/DfA9exQzIn— Int’l Fed of American Football (@IFAFMedia) August 20, 2023
A record number of 33 teams from 20 different countries participated in this year's championships, with a significant 38% increase in entries.
Teams from Belgium, Cameroon, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine all participated at the tournament in Limerick.
This was also the first time that Ireland had an all-women's team, the Irish Wolfhounds, participate in the tournament. Coach Alan Barnewell expressed much pride for the team's resilience at their first international tournament: "While we lost our games, we had the best experience. We were up against the best teams in Europe and we scored the first-ever Irish Women’s touchdown against then reigning champs Spain! It was the highlight of the tournament and all of the national coaches were so impressed with the athletes."
"The team fought for each other against the odds and did us all proud. American flag football in Ireland is definitely going in the right direction."
Limerick provided a wonderful backdrop to the @IFAFMedia European Championships.
Aside from the great facilities on campus the warmth of the people and the beautiful location made this an extra special event. https://t.co/aSXSN4RLoK— Andy Fuller (@AndySFuller) August 21, 2023
Irish Wolfhounds player Jenny Kavanagh reiterated Barnewell's pride for the team and Ireland's success at hosting the prestigious tournament: "It was absolutely incredible to be on that international stage and see the level of talent from all the other countries was incredible. It gave the whole team something to aspire towards."
"The resilience that the athletes showed was just something else and that is a big lesson for us going forward - knowing that we can do it and we can show other teams we'll never give up no matter the score."
"A goal for me going into the tournament was to show teams that we were going to be a hard team, no matter what, and I think we proved that and showed elite mentality."
To learn more about American flag football in Ireland, watch our exclusive Her Sport Show interview with Jenny Kavanagh.
