Salford Scorpions flag football team reach another transformative chapter a year on, this time taking 19 young players to Sweden in a “life-changing” international experience.
The club worked in partnership with the Life Centre charity in Langworthy to make the trip to Stockholm possible. Scorpions made the trip to compete in the Pumpkin Bowl, one of the most established youth flag football tournaments. But the football wasn’t the most important part for the coaches.
General Manager, Dave Myring said: “One of the things that was really important to us was that everybody who wanted to go was able to go, so we ran it on a basis where we didn’t charge anybody, we asked for donations and raised £7000”.
He added: “Some have never been on an aeroplane before. One kid had to get a passport. For me, the football was great, but the life experience was even better”
Company Heinz also supported the trip through the Kick Green initiative, which works with grassroots organisations and programmes, even supplying branded hoodies for the staff and players.
Despite being younger than many other competitors, Salford Scorpions finished second in both respective age groups and the achievement Dave called “incredible.”
Dave said: “They were strong teams, but our players did brilliantly. I was really proud of them”
Last year, the Scorpions spoke openly about wanting to get players into contention for Team GB. In twelve months, that goal has rapidly become a reality.
“We’ve got one girl who made the GB under-17 practice squad this year. She trained with GB all season as a 15-year-old—her first year of eligibility, which is incredible.”
And the momentum isn’t slowing down.
“We’re hoping to take eight to ten young people to GB trials this year. As our players get older, we’re in a position where more of them are reaching the level to push for Great Britain.”
A Salford quarterback also reached the final round of GB under-15 mixed team selections this year, just missing out on the final squad.
However, the Scorpions’ progress hasn’t been limited to international or representative levels. Domestically, the club continues to expand and impress.
Their cadet team qualified for the national finals day, finishing 7th in the UK overall out of a competitive pool of teams from across the country. The club continues to host its own annual tournament SAL Bowl with 10 teams competing, where the Scorpions finished as runners-up after winning it the previous year.
The adults’ programme is now pushing for promotion into the national league’s top tier this year. And, for the first time, the Scorpions have launched a women’s team, giving them a full competitive pathway across all age groups and genders.
“We’ve now probably got more than 100 players playing with us, and every week you know we have seven hours of training every week it also and it’s fantastic to see the game grow.
“We’re hoping that this is just gonna tip the iceberg as we get closer to the Olympics, more and more people will discover the sport”
Looking forward, the Salford Scorpions are hoping that they can continue their run of form into the top tier, as well as produce young talent that will represent GB at the Olympics.
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