Army Jackals play first-ever American Football game against Yorkshire
The Army American Football team have played in their first-ever competitive game, a friendly against the Yorkshire Rams at South Leeds Stadium, with the Rams taking victory over the Army Jackals 50-0.
The game comes after years of hard work to get American Football recognised in the military, with the Army granting the sport recognition in 2021.
The game comes in anticipation for the first-ever American Football Inter Services which was announced late last year, and is due to take place for the first time this year, in September.
General Manager and Head Coach of the Army American Football Association, Staff Sergeant Abe Day, spoke to BFBS about the Army's first-ever game which took place on 19 March, which he said was "a really special moment".
He said: "It was really surreal, there was a lot of emotion going through my mind on that morning.
"Just being the first to walk out there with my little boy in his Army jersey, it was five years of a lot of work from multiple people to make that one day happen.
"It was a really special moment. The team were there from 10:00 and whilst we didn't kick-off until 14:30, that whole build-up process was really exciting and really fulfilling," he added.
Going up against the Leeds-based Yorkshire Rams was to provide a big test for the Army in their first competitive start and, despite losing 50-0, SSgt Day said there were "some really big positives" to take away.
"We purposely picked a tough opponent," he said. "The Yorkshire Rams are a strong Division One team, they are a Premiership calibre Division One team so they are probably playing in a league below where they should be and they had a really good year last year.
"So we knew going into this game that if we were going to get a single yard, we were going to have to fight and scrap for it.
"But, looking back at the footage, there was some really big positives and some areas where a young team normally struggles, but we actually excelled and did really well."
With the possibility of playing more friendly games heading into September's Inter Services, players from across the services will have the chance to come together as the UK Armed Forces to play the US Visiting Forces in May, which SSgt Day says should be "a really good event".
He said: "The three services are coming together to play against US Visiting Forces in May, which is funded by the New York Jets [NFL Team] which is pretty cool, and they have brought our jerseys and footballs and everything else, so that's going to be a really good event."
The Army will play in the very first Inter Services American Football game against the Royal Navy on 22 September, to which they will then play the Royal Air Force later in the year, on 3 November.
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