Blog
Cookout companions Wednesday, competitors Thursday at IFAF World Championship in Canton
By Steve Alic
Friends, food and football are intrinsically linked to autumn weekends across America.
These also made for a memorable triple-header on July 8 in North Canton, Ohio, among football brothers spanning five continents on the night before the 2015 IFAF World Championship kicks off.
Players and coaches from all seven competing national teams set aside their competitive juices to sit and sink their teeth in barbecued ribs and chicken on the Walsh University campus, their home away from home through July 18.
“This is very good for the sport,” said Brazil wide receiver Adan Rodrigues. “This is football. All of the teams are together – Brazil, Australia, the USA, the French, all of us – I’m very happy to be here tonight.”
Rodrigues may have been the happiest athlete among the 300-plus players on hand as his marriage proposal to Brazilian National Team athletic trainer Luma Tamaru was tearfully accepted amidst loud cheers of joy in Portuguese (photo above).
“We all come from different cultures and we come together through this game,” said Japan wide receiver Noriaki Kinoshita, who excelled in NFL Europe with the Amsterdam Admirals from 2005-07 before spending parts of two seasons with Atlanta Falcons training camp and practice squad rosters (2007-08). He currently plays in Japan’s X-League, the country’s premier pro league.
“We’re united in this game – American Football.”
“The football community is close-knit,” said Australia head coach John Leijten, who will face South Korea Thursday at noon. “I know people on Team Japan, Mexico, United States, France – and it’s a great honor to be a part of it and it’s nice to see everybody start to get into game-mode, but being here and enjoying tonight is a great way to kick it off.
“We had a great training camp in Ashland (Ohio), we had 11 practices there. Our guys are ready to play. We need to have an opponent – we need an enemy. We can’t wait to play tomorrow.”
