Moon landings, the invention of flight, Rock n Roll, Motown, Hollywood movies, Tom Hanks, Beyoncé, a wonderful president (the last one), and of course the cheeseburger, are all examples of truly great things produced by the United States of America, that us Brits have fully embraced and loved as if our own. A local lad Jason is trying to add another product of America to that list.
Jason has started his own American Football team due to his love of the sport, and he is not alone in his admiration for the contact sport. Nationally the game is gaining fans; in June of 2020 the NFL had a series of games planned to be played in London. Sadly, due to the pandemic they have been cancelled but Jason tells CommunityAd that he and the Deal Smugglers will be back in training very soon. We had the pleasure of a chat with the man bringing the American sport to our shores.
So, Jason what inspired you to set up the Deal Smugglers?
I’ve loved the game ever since I was a child, when my uncle who played for Plymouth introduced me to it, I have since gone on to play myself, and saw a gap in activities in this area, Deal, Dover etc. It was to help people get more active and off their sofas and back into sports, and so thought people might enjoy something a bit different.
How has the local community reacted to having an American football team set up here?
It’s been fairly popular, our name is out there now and we have members from a few of the local towns on the team, but we still want to get out there more and recruit even more players.
The NFL and the sport in general is getting much more popular with every passing year, isn’t it?
It is yeah, every aspect of life I believe is becoming more Americanised and more and more people are following American sports, with football games now being played here and shown on TV.
Do the Deal Smugglers compete in a league at the moment?
We don’t at the moment, we are a new club so we are taking two years to help build and establish a team and then we will enter a league, of which there are a few different leagues in Britain, but we do hope to work with other clubs to create a Kent league.
Have you and the lads stayed in contact during the lockdown?
We have yeah, we have all spoken pretty much every day, the committee has been working to ensure we are following guidelines and dealing with club matters.
You must be extremely excited about the prospect of returning to training later in the month?
Definitely; it’s been a while, but looking forward to being back at training and hopefully recruiting some new members both male and female.
If there is anyone reading this thinking to themselves “erm, I wouldn’t mind giving that a go” why should they come along and give it a go?
It’s just something a bit different, it’s a good way to get fit and stay active, and we have a great bunch of guys who are very welcoming and really just one big family. It’s a technical game where you have to use your brain as much as your body, and it’s probably one of the only games where there is a role for everyone no matter your size, shape or fitness level.
For more info and to have a chat with the Smugglers head to their Facebook page @dtsmugglersaf
ALL PHOTOS CREDIT MIKE HULL PHOTOGRAPHY