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Dundalk Mavericks are keen to encourage any Newry people that would be interested in playing for them to give it a try. The 'Mavericks are a new American Football Team set up in November.
The Club currently has up to 25 guys at training every week, and are looking for about 20 more! Commenting on the recruitment a spokesperson said "This sport has room for so many people, in that you have 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense and 11 guys who make up special teams. And you need different types of people for different types of scenarios on the field. And subs. So all in all the true motto of the sport is the more the merrier.
"The type of people we would be looking for is nearly unlimited. Big, tall, large small, tiny, wiry, built, from athletes to someone who has never played a sport and thought they never could, american football has a place for so many. From little guys to incredible hulk size guys. Its an all encompassing game, one of the few in the country.
"At the moment we are recruiting over 18 years of age players and you'd be surprised how many people in their 40's and even 50's are kitting out for teams across the country. If we can be successful in establishing this senior team and making it a permanent fixture, then there is great potential in the future for things such as a youth team, a women's flag team and so forth. The possibilities will be endless for us in the future."
The idea for the club came from local players experience with Drogheda Lightning American Football Club who won the league. "One of the players was in Dundalk college and we were chatting about what potential there was for a team given Dundalks fantastic sporting tradition. So we struck while the iron was hot and myself and a few close friends took our experience and decided to set up in Dundalk. A huge advantage was also the massive catchment area, stretching up as far as Newry and its surrounding towns as well as down to Dunleer, Castlebellingham etc We have a great area to recruit in"
With the definition of Maverick as "Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence" it was a perfect name.
No doubt helping this independence the Club has enlisted Head Coach Sarah Matthews, the only female Head Coach of American Football in Ireland.
Dundalk is a thriving and industrious town with a fantastic history for supporting community sports cubs. American football is a very unique game for Ireland and naturally brings with it plenty of glamour and razzmatazz where ever it goes. We would hope that from small businesses to large multi-national corporations would not only see the chance to get behind something so unique, but see the potential for its impact on quite large stage.
Last year Navy vs Notre Dame in the Aviva was a super event for the country, not to mention the GIFT programme bringing many high school teams from America and Canada to Ireland for matches that took place in both Navan and Dublin. This year the Atlantic Cup, which is European American Football Competition takes place in Dublin and IAFL Shamrock Bowl winners Belfast Trojans will be competing in the tournament. These kinds of events are growing in size and notoriety and if we can get the support now in our initial stages as a club from the local community, there is no reason why great events like this couldn't eventually be taking place in Dundalk with the whole town behind them
We also have a flag team established which anyone can participate in. The session takes place on Thursday nights from 7-9 in the DKIT sports grounds.
We have a facebook page that everyone is free to go and check out its just facebook.com/dundalkmavericks and there you'll find the contact details for the club or you can email us at dundalkmavericks@gmail.com
