Coldham's Bowl III - Cambridge University Pythons -v- ARU Rhinos 14-15 Programme

COLDHAM’S BOWL III Coldham’s Common

Sunday 1st February 2015

KO 13:00

Cambridge University Pythons -v- Anglia Ruskin Rhinos

-V -

CREDITS EDITOR

Steve Guy

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Tom Carr, Martin Steers, Jack Tavener

PHOTOGRAPHY

Samir Hosein, Jack Tavener

DESIGN

Tom Carr & Jack Tavener

info@pythons.org.uk

/CambridgePythons

@CUPythonsAFC

/CambridgePythons

CAMBRIDGE PYTHONS SEASON 2014/15 With the support of

Welcome

from the President

Rivalries. They define great sport and heighten the sense of occasion. If a rival is local then the atmosphere is even better.

England v Scotland. Rangers v Celtic. Alabama v Auburn. In games against your closest neighbour victory tastes sweeter and defeat cuts that much deeper. Welcome to the BUAFL Rivalry Weekend. Welcome to Cambridge v Anglia Ruskin!

BUAFL cleverly schedules all of the geographically closest games to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday for maximum exposure and publicity. So as well as our own game against ARU, this weekend will see Oxford play Oxford Brookes, Leicester v De Montfort, Nottingham Trent v Nottingham and a whole host of other fiercely contested local derbies. The best thing about these games will be that many of the players and staff from both teams will then mingle in the evening, enjoying the Super Bowl along with some post game refreshment – truly our sport is a family.

Aside from a year of local bragging rights at stake, the Pythons need to win this game to keep our playoff hopes alive and well. We come into this game with two successive victories under our belt (and no points conceded in those two games). The second of those victories was one to savour in particular – a hard fought and well-earned 16-0 Varsity Bowl victory over a much-improved Oxford, featuring several top-class players in Dark Blue. Rest assured, everyone associated with the Pythons celebrated this Light Blue success proudly, but we have now put those memories to one side to focus on Anglia Ruskin. Having overcome our longest-standing rivals, we now bring that same intensity and renewed energy to overcome a Rhinos team that have been improving in every game they have played.

Post game, and speaking of enjoying the Super Bowl…we will once again be hosting The Cambridge Super Bowl Party, at the Cambridge Union for a fifth year! Come and enjoy the pinnacle of American football tonight in this beautiful and historic venue, with big screens throughout and open till late to make sure you will not miss a play. Food, drink and great company (us!) also available, as hundreds of fans pack out the entire building to watch the game, including in the prestigious debating chamber.

You do not have to be a member of the Union or a current Cambridge student to attend. Speak to us after our game about purchasing a ticket or head to CambridgeSuperBowl.com to buy online. All the proceeds from ticket sales go towards keeping the team running. Unlike many other university teams we receive no sports funding from our institution, so as well as having a great evening you would also be supporting our growing Club. We cannot wait for all this weekend’s action to get underway and look forward to you joining us.

GO PYTHONS!

Jack Tavener

President, Cambridge University Pythons

The Season so Far

Coming into the 2014-15 season the general consensus among those in the know was that the new-look East Conference (Northampton and Herts being moved to other conferences and replaced by Oxford and Oxford Brookes) would see Cambridge as favourites with the established perennial contenders of Kent and UEA snapping at their heels. With the season at the halfway mark it has not quite panned out that way…

As is always the case with college football, whether with Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin or the likes of Alabama and Notre Dame, all teams see a significant turnover of players each season as old players graduate and new players arrive. This can make predicting things a tricky task.

Cambridge achieved their best ever year of recruitment, bringing in 25 players new players to the squad. Bedding those players in quickly and converting potential to on-field performance is the key challenge for what effectively becomes a ‘1st year’ team. Despite this uncertainty, most pundits had the Conference pegged as a four-way battle for supremacy between UEA, Kent, OBU and Cambridge. So it has proved – a dogfight of epic proportions is unfolding.

Kent dramatically beat Oxford Brookes in double overtime on the opening weekend. Oxford Brookes made up for the disappointment of the Kent loss by shutting out Cambridge in a shock 10-0 victory (Cambridge’s first loss at home for almost two years). UEA beat Kent. Going into the Christmas break UEA sat unbeaten at the top with the Pythons on the edge of the leading pack, but having played fewer games so far and games against UEA and Kent still to come. The Pythons go into the game today knowing that if they win all their remaining games qualifying for the playoffs is still on the cards. All is still to play for!

PYTHONS RESULTS 201415 Oxford Brookes (H) L 0-10 Canterbury (A) W 58-0 Oxford (H) W 16-0

REMAINING PYTHONS FIXTURES UEA (H) February 8th Essex (A) February 15th Kent (A) February 22nd

Meet the Players Name: Rob Brewster Jersey: #16 College: Homerton Subject: PGCE, Secondary Science (Biology) Hometown: Hastings, England

Favourite NFL & college teams?

Baltimore Ravens and the University of Alabama.

What other teams have you played for?

University of Sheffield Sabres, whilst an undergraduate student.

What is your usual playing position?

Cornerback or Safety.

What is the best thing about being a Python?

The teamwork to make a great late run at the‘Train with the Jaguars’competition.

What has been your personal highlight or best memories in your time with the team so far?

My interception in the Oxford Brookes game and the‘almost lateral’against Oxford.

Who are your favourite team mates at the Pythons and why?

Tom Carr (#52) and Guy Peters (#42) for the banter on defence and Yardie (Joe Yarwood, quarterback #8) on offence because he throws me the ball a lot. In fact, I like him so much I’ve stopped catching them in training in case it hurts his feelings. Ha! What would you say to anyone thinking about joining the team?

Do it! American Football can seem confusing to begin with but you pick it up quickly and hey, you are at Cambridge University. If people at the polytechnics *cough* Hallam *cough* can understand the sport there is no way that a mind like yours will struggle! (Ed: The Sheffield Sabres and Sheffield Hallam Warriors have one of the fiercest rivalries in UK American football)

Gameday Roster Pythons

# 1 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 20 21 25 29 32 42 43 46 50 52

Name Darren HARVEY Stephen FORD Mike ARMSTRONG Tom SOUTHERN Jordan SANDBERG Alex BUTCHER Joe YARWOOD Sam ROBERTS Jaason GEERTS Daniel BROCK Richard HOBBS Tom ZHANG Akhilesh MULAY Cam RAE Oscar MACLEAN Rob BREWSTER Harry RICHER Joe MOORE James DIGBY Ned BRANSDEN Sam THOMPSON Jack TAVENER Guy PETERS Daniil MIROSHNICHENKO Jon MAILES Ram SARUJAN Tom CARR

College Darwin Selwyn Magdalene Robinson Clare Trinity Selwyn Selwyn Sidney Sussex Churchill Robinson St John’s Queens’ Robinson Homerton Homerton Gonville & Caius Sidney Sussex St Catharine’s Girton St John’s Pembroke Queens’ St Catharine’s St Catharine’s Corpus Christi I.C.E.

55 56 58 68 75 77 78 80

Ed COZENS Samir HOSEIN Glenn HE Richard ALLOWAY Tim ALLEN Niklas EK Constantine CAPSAKIS James STRATFORD Ella NICOL-HARPER 87 Basil WOODS 89 Toshan WICKRAMANAYAKE Adam BARLOW Kinjal DAVE Andrew SABA

Homerton Corpus Christi St Edmunds St Catharine’s St John’s Jesus Girton Peterhouse Trinity Hall Robinson Trinity Caius Instep Instep

Head Coach Julian FULLER Offensive Coordinator Len SCOTT Defensive Coordinator Gary VILLIERS Special Teams Coach Craig DRIVER Lineman Coach Dan HARRISS Assistant Coach Chris WHITLEY Assistant Coach Alistair GEMPF Team Assistant Dave WILLIAMS Team Assistant Luke SCHUMACHER Gameday Manager Peter BAKER Co-General Manager Co-General Manager

Steve GUY Martin STEERS

Gameday Roster Rhinos

# 1 2 3 9 13 15 18 20 21 22 33 35 43 45 53 55 57 58 59 63 66 67 68 69 81 83 85 87

Name Andrew WARRINGTON Dan STOKES William ROOHAN Kyle PUREWAL Christophe CHOHAN Jason BREMNER Thomas MITARAS Mohamed BANGURA Alex SMITH Saleh ALI Gareth CHRISTOPHER Billy BARNES George CUNNINGHAM Jason BROWN Matt ATTRIDGE Charley THORNTON Alexander WHITE Gloire MAMBOTE Robert HARRISON Luke PARTRIDGE Benedict SMITH Francesco DI LANDRO Reece CAMPBELL Sam YOUNG Benjamin BINGHAM Bonizwe MCFADDEN Viliyan DONCHEV Tom REYNOLDS

89 90 91 99

Thomas ELLIS Julius REITMEISTER Henry NORMAN Jay SANCHEZ PAZ Emmanuel ADEBAYO Shakeel AKRAM Joshua ANACLETO Jordan ELY Filip HOMOHKA Mohammed MANNA Grant O’BRIEN Connor REED Kulveer TIND Daniel UNITT Henri VALENTINO-SANDERS

Head Coach Offensive Coordinator Defensive Coordinator

Brian JELLEY Dan LLOYD Clifton FLINT Franco ELIA Andrew FINLAY Philip GASKIN Daniel HEGINBOTTOM Rhys LEWIS Mike MARINA Jack RUTHERFORD Andy SMITH Mickey WHEAL

The Rivals

Anglia Ruskin have been playing in UK college football since 2003. First as the Chelmsford-based Phantoms and then, after a far-reaching internal restructure in 2012, in their current form as the Cambridge-based Rhinos.

After several seasons of struggle, the current 2014/15 season sees the start of a new era. An unusually high number of veteran players graduated from last season’s team, being replaced by an influx of rookie players and new Head Coach Brian Jelley revamping the coaching staff.

After a painful baptism for the new players in the opening defeat at Oxford, the last two games of 2014 (a defeat against Oxford Brookes that was closer than the score suggests and an away victory at Canterbury) seem to indicate that they are gradually improving.

Last season, the corresponding fixture saw the playoff-bound Pythons rack up an impressive 52-0 victory. The game today will have to go some way to match the 2011 game between Anglia Ruskin and Cambridge. Played on a cold, muddy day in Chelmsford, Cambridge triumphed 2014 after double overtime.

2014/15 Season to date BUCS Eastern Conference UEA Pirates Oxford Brookes Panthers Kent Falcons Cambridge Pythons Oxford Lancers Essex Blades Anglia Ruskin Rhinos Canterbury Chargers

P 4 4 4 3 3 4 5 3

W 4 3 3 2 1 1 1 0

L 0 1 1 1 2 3 4 3

GD 73 53 43 64 45 -50 -125 -103

Pts 8 6 6 4 2 2 2 0

Historic Results (home team listed first) 13/11/2011 – Anglia Ruskin 14-20 Cambridge (2OT) 03/02/2013 – Cambridge 40-0 Anglia Ruskin 02/02/2014 – Anglia Ruskin 0-52 Cambridge

Super Bowl XLIX

-V Tonight sees the biggest game in our sport taking place, with an estimated viewing audience of over 110 million in the US set to watch Super Bowl XLIX and a growing international fanbase. The Super Bowl is the annual NFL championship game. Reigning champions the Seattle Seahawks will play the New England Patriots at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

This will be New England’s eighth appearance in the Big Game, they will be aiming to be crowned champions for a fourth time and erase the memory of painful Super Bowl losses in 2007 and 2011 (both to the New York Giants). Lead by their taciturn but brilliant Head Coach Bill Belichick and veteran star quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots come into the game having thrashed Indianapolis 45-7 in their previous game with a crushingly effective running game. The prior playoff victory against Baltimore was achieved through excellent passing and being able to switch strategies so effectively shows their quality.

Seattle will be playing in their third Super Bowl and aiming for their second title. Pete Carroll, the Seattle Head Coach, is antithesis of Belichick in his upbeat and outgoing Californian manner. He is also one of only three coaches to have ever won both a Super Bowl and a collegiate National Championship (with the University of Southern California). He is also the former coach of New England! Seattle’s offense is lead by young quarterback Russell Wilson and standout running back Marshawn Lynch, whilst their defensive backs are so good they have their own nickname (‘The Legion of Boom’). The Seahawks made it to the game by defeating Green Bay in overtime in one of the all-time great NFL games and will bring their fanatically loud fans to this game, hoping to disrupt their opposition’s play calling as happened in the very first snap of last year’s Super Bowl.

Now approaching a half century in existence, the Super Bowl has become much more than a mere game. It is now a major cultural event in the American calendar. TV advertising slots during halftime are the most expensive in the world running into millions of dollars – lavish adverts are made especially for this slot and are analysed and reviewed in tremendous depth. Friends gather together to watch the game, regularly the most viewed television broadcast annually in the US. Tonight the hottest ticket in Cambridge will be for the Pythons Super Bowl Party.

Featuring the perfect combination of the Super Bowl razzmatazz and the grand history of the Cambridge Union as our party venue. Open to all, this is the biggest and best Super Bowl party in town!

The Cambridge Super Bowl Party

Advanced Tickets Still Available ÂŁ5 - Advanced Ticket ÂŁ7 - On the door

Advanced tickets available via Website, tickets reps, and Union office

www.CambridgeSuperBowl.com Doors open 9pm - K.O. 11:30pm Big screens throughout the venue and in the chamber itself Food & drinks deals, available all night Halftime raffle and Cambridge Cheerleaders bake sale

info@pythons.org.uk

/CambridgePythons

@CUPythonsAFC

/CambridgePythons