Countdown to the start of Inter-Services American football Flying the flag for the Royal Air Force

Daniel Abrahams

THE START of the 2023 season is a touchdown away as the RAF Mustangs set sights on their first game, against Oxford Saints AFL.

Hockey

The match will be quickly followed by a series of training camps and a seven-a-side NFL Tri-Service game in May against a United States ‘Visiting Forces’ (USVF) team, in a match funded by

Germans come out on top again in penalty shootout

IT WAS shootout heartache for AS1 Liam Sanford’s England hockey team as they crashed out of the FIH Odisha World Cup to Germany 3-4 at the quarter-final stage.

Having led twice in the match at Bhubaneswar, India, they saw Germany pull back two goals in the final two minutes of open play, before losing on a penalty shootout.

England had sat top of Pool D after the group stages on goal difference ahead of India, having scored two more goals than then host nation.

Beating Wales 5-0 in their opening clash following a goalless draw with the hosts in their second match and a 4-0 win over Spain, they entered the Bhubaneswar brimming with confidence, hoping to progress further in a tournament they had never won. l Follow RAF hockey on Instagram @rafhockey.

Sanford, who had appeared from the bench in all three of the group stage clashes, entered the field of play in the quarter-final match, with England looking set for a semi-final spot, but could do nothing to alter their shock exit from the tournament.

NFL big-hitters the New York Jets.

Mustangs general manager Sgt Paul Wakeford said: “It’s great to have our first pre-season game in the pipeline, it shows how quickly things are developing for us and the game Service-wide.

“Saints, who we play at Tilsley Park Ground in Abingdon on March 19, are a well-drilled, professionally-run team and club, it will be a great opportunity for us in so many ways.

“The game fits perfectly with our training camp the same month, at Garats Hay Barracks in Loughborough, which will become our new home for all things RAF AFL, it really is a great set-up, which we are looking to take full advantage of.

“We then have another camp in June as we focus in on the Inter-Services in September.”

Wakeford explained how the NY Jets-sponsored US clash came about as a result of a Royal Navy trip to the Big Apple.

He said: “They were invited to a Jets match and through the day the club suggested becoming involved with a UK military game, what is known as a flag game – which is a non-contact version of the game, versus a USAF NFL side.

“It will see a team of Service players and coaches in this firstever match up.

“Thanks to the Jets, official NFL game balls will be used and both teams will wear specially commissioned jerseys, with the UK in green.

“The match winners will take ownership of the wrestling style ‘World Champions’ belt until the next time the two sides meet. The selection process is out to personnel who would like to be involved and then each Service has to put forward around seven players. The next move will be for training sessions, where the altered rules and plays will be worked on and discussed.

“The aim is for this to be an annual competition with the aspiration to incorporate a fullcontact game, perhaps as soon as next year. In the meantime, never have the stakes to win a flag football game been higher.” l Follow RAF AFL on Instagram @rafamericanfootball.