Saturday 30 July saw the final Scottish youth tournament of the 2016 British American Football Association season take place at Hamilton Rugby Club.
Youth American Football is for players aged 14-17 and the conference is made up of the four teams in Scotland active at this age group – Hamilton Buccaneers, East Kilbride Pirates, Edinburgh Wolves and Highland Wildcats.
All four teams are members of Boys and Girls Clubs Scotland, and over 80 young people aged 14-16 year olds took part in the event.
After five unbeaten years, Highland Wildcats were finally unseated as Scottish youth champions. The title was taken by the East Kilbride Pirates youth team, who now head to the youth Britbowl finals event in Sheffield in September for a chance to take the national title.
Highland Wildcats finished overall second for the season, followed by Hamilton Buccaneers in third and Edinburgh Wolves fourth.
The teams play a smaller format of the game to the one you’ll see on Sky Sports on a Sunday night. Each team has five players on the pitch at any one time, there’s a smaller playing area and the games are designed to be short and played in a multi-match tournament format, but the helmets, shoulder pads and big hits are the same!
East Kilbride Pirates Chairman Amanda McDonald was delighted with the win: “We’ve been chasing the Wildcats for the last few years, and this season we’ve just managed to inch ahead. The result is down to the hard work. I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the coaches, players, staff and parents who’ve made this a fantastic season of youth football – four teams, four tournaments, all games played and a fantastic atmosphere throughout!”
You can find out more about getting involved with youth American Football on American Football page.
