History 2003
The kitted team lost most of its squad at the end of 2002. Some of the team moved up to the Lancashire Wolverines Colts, the local 16s-19s team. Four of the players stayed down, to join seven of the flag team who moved up to form the nucleus of the 2003 kitted squad. The cadet team also started to pay off dividends, with a couple of the team moving up to junior flag for 2003. Geoff Leigh moved to coach the Lancashire Wolverines Colts, the local 16s-19s team.
2003 Cadet Flag
At the start of 2003, the cadet flag had just a handful of players, and had to recruit heavily to form a team. In March, Ian Nicolson and Paul Mather held some taster sessions at St. Bedes, a primary school in Clayton-le-Woods. There 50 youngsters learned the basics of flag football, and through it, 2 players were recruited to boost numbers. The team took part in its first tournament of the year in May at Sheffield, and managed to win a game against the Birmingham Young Bulls. Peter Simpson and Joe Eastham continued to coach the teams, even though they were both only 16 years old!
The team also participated in tournaments in August, and two in October. In October, the team won the Cadet Flag Division of Harmony Bowl 2, and were runners-up in the NFL Kick-off Tournament Cadet Flag Division.
2003 Cadet Flag Roster
Players
Dean Mattinson
Matthew Mattinson
Rachel Hull
Lawrence Quinn
Robbie Marshall
Mark Balcombe
Michael Graysmark
Kirsty Foster
Shanice Foster
Coaches
Peter Simpson Head Coach
Joe Eastham Assistant Coach
Paul Mather Club Manager
 |
2003 Junior Flag
Numbers struggled for the team for most of the year, up until the beginning of August. Responding to a plea from a group of children from Bolton, who advertised their need for a coach in the Bolton Evening News. The only competition the Chorley group of players got in the beginning of the year was in May when several of the younger players from the Kitted team who were eligible joined forces to play in a tournament in Sheffield.
From August onwards however, the team had 9 players, and participated in two tournaments in October as a brand new team under Coach Ian Nicolson. Team Captain Dominik Gough, who had represented his country the year previous, once again proved what a talented and determined youngster he is by represented England against Scotland in the Junior Flag. There were other international honours as well, as Ian Nicolson was Junior Flag Defensive Coordinator for Great Britain in the 2003 Euroflag Tournament in Bologna, his defense conceding the fewest points in the whole tournament.
2003 Junior Flag Roster
Players
Dominik Gough
Danny Fitzgerald
Robbie Marshall
James Hull
Shazhad Hussain
Anthony Foster
Wesley Foster
Andrew Kearsley
Matthew Holstead
Coaches
Ian Nicolson Head Coach
Paul Mather Club Manager
 |
2003 Junior Kitted
With 2002 Head Coach Geoff Leigh moving on to coach the Colts, and Paul Mather choosing to coach the kitted team, the team barely resembled last year’s side. In addition, 9 of the 13 players had never played kitted football before. The teams first competition came in March when the team took part in the NFLE Kickoff tournament. The team competed against the St. Peters Pumas and Don Valley Vipers, losing twice to the Pumas, and beating the Vipers. The Pumas were one of two sides to beat the Bucs in the year, with the majority of the side moving on to 16s-19s Youth Kitted that month.
The team licked its wounds and competed three months later in July and started a 10-game winning streak over four tournaments! The streak came to an end when in October they lost to the Milton Keynes Pathfinders at the NFL Kick off tournament. However, they replayed them in the final of the same tournament and beat the Pathfinders to take the tournament, winning their fourth Tournament Championship of the year.
2003 Junior Kitted Roster
Players
James Mather
Joe Eastham
Peter Simpson
Richard English
Nik Haywood
Lewis Grady
Dean Banks
Sam Dunn
Adam Taylor
Michael Stephens
Oliver Whaite
Ben Powell
Sean Livingston
Coaches
Paul Mather Head Coach
Alex Dunn Defensive Coach
Mark Greally Assistant Coach
Michael Rich Assistant Coach
 |
|
|
Last Updated on Monday, 10 August 2009 15:11 |
