By Haydn Cobb (picture by Helen Diplock)
University of Brighton student Emeka Ezenwoye (pictured) has been selected in the first Great Britain Student American Football squad.
The Aeronautical Engineering student, who is on the university's sports scholarship programme, was one of 360 players that entered the trials last month at Loughborough University. 66 students from Universities across Britain have been selected to train together in preparation for a match against Sweden during Easter.
It will be the first ever American Football match played by a British student team which is recognised by the IFAF, the international governing body for American Football. The squad will independently train at Loughborough under Head Coach Wayne Hill.
Coach Hill said, “The Great Britain coaching staff were impressed by the talent on view at the Loughborough trials and the decision-making process was difficult. That said, we believe we have selected a great group of athletes who will represent British student football well when we travel to Sweden.”
The squad will have a final trim and those selected will travel to Sweden to play. The current squad has been left at 66 players so that Coach Hill and his staff can continue to evaluate the players to ensure the highest calibre of players are chosen.
Ezenwoye plays for the University’s American Football team called Brighton Tsunami. American Football became part of the wider BUCS sport programme just this season. Currently Brighton Tsunami are second in their BUCS league, having won all of their games this season.
You can see the University of Brighton team, the Brighton Tsunami, for yourself. Catch one of their upcoming home matches at the Falmer Campus artificial turf pitch. Matches start at 1pm on the following dates:
Sunday, 27 January 2013
University of Brighton Men’s 1st vs University of Portsmouth Men’s 1st
Sunday, 03 February 2013
University of Brighton Men’s 1st vs University of Southampton Men’s 1st
Sunday, 10 February 2013
University of Brighton Men’s 1st vs Buckinghamshire New University Men’s 1st
You can follow the team via their Facebook and Twitter accounts.