pre game talk
A GRIDIRON team based in Dunfermline hope more youngsters will be encouraged to give American football a go after next month’s Superbowl.
The Forth Valley Fusion team, who play their games at Duloch, enjoyed a fine debut season with four of their players picked for Great Britain.
And they’re hoping their initial success, plus a resurgence of interest in the US ‘pigskin’ game on these shores, will help them attract more players and sponsors.
One of the coaches, Alan Watterston (40) of Braemar Gardens in Dunfermline, explained, “I played 10-15 years ago as a cornerback and safety in the seniors, for the Fife 49ers, and there was a proper British league with 40-50 teams.
“It’s not at that stage but you have to start at youth level to grow it again, which is what we’re doing.
“They’ve had American teams coming over to play at Wembley the last couple of years, which has helped re-kindle interest in the game, but at that age there are a lot of sports kids want to get involved in and American football is not often top of their priorities.”
He continued, “We’ve managed to get a few lads from other teams and some that played rugby brought a few of their mates along too.
“There are players that do both – the basics are pretty much the same – but the big thing is we have our own kit, helmets and pads etc.
“As long as they have a pair of football boots and a gum shield, they can take part.
“From that point of view, it’s not an expensive sport to try and means they don’t have to shell out a lot of money, only to find they don’t like it.”
Fusion, there’s a clue in the name, came together after the merger of three junior teams with players primarily from Dundee, the Dunfermline area and Edinburgh.
They enjoyed a fine debut season but, as Scotland’s only representative in the British League, they had to travel long distances to England for away games.
Alan said, “The players are aged 16 to 19 and we play in the British League so the furthest south we could travel is London.
“They at least tried to work it out that we played teams a bit nearer, so we faced up to the likes of Sheffield, Gateshead and Lancashire.
“Our budget last year was £5000 as we had some sponsorship but we really need to raise our profile to attract in more players and more sponsors.
“The players already pay subs on a weekly basis and there’s only so long you can approach kids, effectively their parents, and ask for money for buses etc.”
He added, “We’ve done well so far. Four of the boys made it into the GB team that played Poland in October which was just fantastic for our first season.
“We also made it to the quarter- finals, only to lose to Lancashire Wolverines.
“A lot of that is down to our head coach, Don Edmonston, who played for Great Britain some years back and won a gold medal in the European Championships.
“There’s not a lot he doesn’t know about the sport.”
To the newcomer, American football seems complicated and extremely tough but Alan said, “It’s very technical but you can pick it up quite easily.
“The boys will basically play defence or attack so they only have to learn one part.
“It’s a dangerous sport but we don’t put kids at risk just to make up the numbers.
“We wouldn’t throw someone into a game if we didn’t think they were capable of playing.
“Touch wood, we’ve had no serious injuries, only broken fingers, things like that.”
Interest in the game in the USA soars at this time of the year as the best teams progress through a knockout stage before only two are left standing for the Superbowl in Miami on 7th February.
Alan, a Minnesota Vikings fan, said, “I hope we’ll do it this year but it’s more hope than expectation.
“All the lads watch the games and it gives them something to talk about as they all support different teams.”
Headlines | HC Don | 
February 26, 2010 13:22 | 
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January 24th at 10am.
The Forth Valley Fusion are using the off season to good effect at the Pitreavie Performance Centre, Dunfermline, as they complete week 4 of their 15 week off season Strength & Conditioning program.
Members from the Fife Fire Junior team joined us in a joint fundraiser on Wednesday night 18th March to raise funds to help with the increasing travel costs involved in playing away games. Over 40 members all had a good night and raised money at the same time and we’d like to thank Graham Campbell and his team at Bowlplex for making us welcome and allowing us the opportunity to use their excellent complex.
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