Lincoln Colonials American Football Team
The Lincoln Colonials 1 are the American Football team for the University of Lincoln 2, in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. The team has been in existence for 3 years and it is hoped that the Colonials will be inducted into the British Collegiate American Football League(BCAFL) for the start of the 2007/08 academic year.3 The Lincoln Colonials began back in 2003, when a small group of friends decided that the University lacked an American Football team. Of those original founders, two remain: offensive captain Harry Clayson, and one of the current defensive coaches: Gary Capindale.
However, the Colonials' first year wasn't very successful. The team had problems with financial applications and ended up in almost the same position as they had been to begin with. Fortunately, university financing came through, and by the end of the year the team had a full complement of shoulder pads. The Colonial's blue jerseys and yellow pants also were ordered. Fundraising also hit new heights as the team got its first official sponsor.
By the start of the academic year 2005/2006, spirits were higher than ever. Some changes were made to the structure of team, with Mike Stevens stepping down as president to take on the role of head coach, having became a BCAFL level one coach. Shane Gostelow took over the presidency and a new committee was elected.
Recruitment at the Freshers fayre brought in more players than ever before. After a few initial setbacks, finances came through for the new year and the rest of the kit was ordered; helmets, face masks and pad inserts.
On January 2006, the Lincoln Colonials played their first game against the playoff reaching Sheffield Hallam Sabres. It was not to be as the Sabres beat the Colonials 42-0, however, over 100 fans turned up to see the game even though no transport was provided. The defeat was not as one sided as it first seems, with 70% of the Colonials team having only taken up American Football the previous September. The match was widely reported in the local media with an article in the Lincolnshire Echo 4. Hopes are high as the Lincoln Colonials wish to play more games to gain experience before their debut year in the BCAFL.
The new committe came into force in early 2006 with Mike Cuthell as president with other team members helping him. This was just after a second match with another local Lincoln Team. The game was another defeat but all round jerk Jason Russell scored the colonials first ever points by way of a field goal. The Colonials first touchdown came just minutes after. This match allowed the team to be full members of the BCAFL league. This did bring up another problem however as the teams kit would have to change. At the time of writing the team had not yet decided what their new kit would look like. A further problem the team faced was that their official training ground, located just outside of the Architecture Building of Lincoln University was to be turned into a pond. This forced the team to begin training on the universitys astro-turf pitch and on sundays training at a local sports centre.
The team is looking forward to a new year, in which many new rookies will be signed up before their debut BCAFL game.