Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Julius Clayton | Col. Jason Hanover, Commander, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, Southwest Asia, speaks...... read more read more
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KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait – On a warm, late-summer evening in the Middle East a different type of football was being played at Al-Nasr stadium. American Football was on display as some of the top under 19 players in the world competed for the title of world champion.
Team USA and Team Canada battled it out for four quarters to decide who would hold the trophy as the International Federation of American Football under 19 world champions.
The defending champions from Canada were rolling through the tournament leading up to this championship encounter; they had disposed of their three previous opponents by scores of 91-0, 56-0 and 34-7.
Team USA was in a similar position having dispatched its three opponents in the group games by a combined score of 146-14. Without a doubt the two best teams in this eight team tournament were meeting for all the marbles on Wednesday night.
Team USA also had a home field advantage with numerous U.S. military bases located in Southwest Asia. One of the bases hosted the USA team during their time here.
“We were lucky enough to host these player’s over at our base, show them around and have them interact with our Airmen,” said Col. Jason Hanover, Wing Commander of 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, “They made a tremendous impression on our Airmen.”
Team USA Head Coach Aaron Brady was aware of this fact[ playing near U.S. military bases] and felt that playing for your country is a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially when you can do it in front of military service members.
“It’s really exciting to have military here to support us, we got to visit with Col. Hanover at his base and that was great”, said Brady, “We are really appreciative of the service members over who put their lives on the line everyday so we can live and feel safe back home”.
The game was a back and forth contest in the first half as the U.S. took a 12-0 lead before Canada came back right before halftime to take a 14-12 advantage at the break.
Team USA was reeling going into to intermission after relinquishing their early lead, but that’s when their pseudo home field advantage kicked in, as Col. Hanover made a visit to their locker room, according to Brady.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to come out here and be able to watch these young men. I was honored to be able to talk to them at halftime,” said Hanover, “You could tell they were on the edge. It was a tough, tight first half and they worked through what they needed to do. I was able to just let them know we were behind them all the way and we were very proud of them no matter what happened”.
Whatever the colonel said must have been what Team USA needed. In the second half they outscored Canada 28-3, starting the half by scoring 22 unanswered points.
“We believed in these guys. They practiced hard and developed bonds with each other and winning is a byproduct of their brotherhood. The skills of the teams were evenly matched, but [Team USA] was able to overcome adversity and it was amazing to watch ,” said Hanover.
The colonel’s halftime speech was such an inspiration that after the game Coach Brady, with the whole team gathered around, handed him the game ball as a symbol of his contribution to the team’s effort in winning the world title.
Team USA clinched their second IFAF U-19 world title by finishing off their neighbors to the north by a final score of 40-17.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2014 07:42 |
| Story ID: | 136472 |
| Location: | KUWAIT CITY, KW |
| Web Views: | 140 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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