Russia national American football team

Russia Россия
Home	Away
Association	FAFR
Region	Europe (EFAF)
Founded	1992
IFAF Affiliation
Colors	Red and White
Head coach	Vasily Dobryakov
General manager

The Russia national American football team (Russian: Сборная России по американскому футболу) is the official American football senior national team of Russia. The team was formed in 1992 alongside the Russian League of American Football.

History

The birth of American Football in Russia

American football first appeared in the USSR in 1989, when in the summer two Oklahoma high school football teams ("Stars" and "Boomers") played three exhibition games in Moscow, Leningrad and Tallinn, Estonia. These games caused great excitement, which became the impetus for the creation of American football teams in the USSR.

Taturyan Edgar, the founder of the Soviet teams became the coach of the USSR national rugby team. In 1989, the Moscow Bears team was formed and represented the Soviet Union in the international tournament. The first official game of the USSR national team took place against the German national team (represented by the players from Berlin Adler) in West Berlin, on 17 September 1989. The Bears lost 77-6. In the final quarter, Edward Zveigzne scored the first football touchdown in USSR history.

On 10 November 1989 the Union of American football in USSR was formed, but in April, due to differences in the leadership, the Union established an independent association. In 1991, all teams joined the association. That year, the USSR national team began to prepare for the European Championships, expecting a game against Norway in December, but the game was canceled.

In late January 1991 the USSR national team debut in the European Championships qualifying tournament in the game with the Netherlands, losing to the Orange 30-7.

Russia

Following the collapse of the USSR, the Association of American football transformed into the Eurasian League. Teams from the former Soviet republics entered there. A Coalition of Independent States (CIS) championship was held. The National League of American Football, led by Alexander Viktorenko and Alexey Bazhenov, was set up in 1993. In 1994 he opened the first school of American football. A year later a Children's League was organized. In 1996 the Moscow Federation of American Football was created.

Since 1996, the championship of Russia among juniors in 2002 established the championship of Russia among the senior teams.

Results

In 1998, the Russian national team debuted in the European Junior Championships, held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Russia took 4th place. In 2000, Russia was the vice-champion of Europe, losing in the finals only to Germans. In 2002 they won the gold medal.

In 1999, Russia debuted in the European League Cup. The Moscow Bears reached the quarterfinals, second only to the Helsinki Roosters. In 2003, the adult team won the European Championship in group "C" and was promoted to group "B".

In 2004, the team took third place in the European Championship in the "B" group. In 2012, they did not appear. Due to the long absence, the team moved to group "C".

External links