A Uni of American footballer won the Britbowl National Championships with the London Warriors over the summer, in what is seen as the most prestigious American football tournament in the UK.
Mark Price, a final year student in French and Economics, was part of the team that won the competition after defeating Tamworth Phoenix 56-29 in the final.
The team had faced numerous competitors from all over the south of the country, scoring a whopping 581 points and only conceding 35 points in ten games before qualifying for the playoffs, where they overwhelmingly beat Manchester Titans 63-0.
This set up the final against Tamworth Phoenix, where the Warriors started off on the backfoot and were actually losing at one point for the first time in their campaign.
Mark said: “After this regular season and semi final the expectation was that we would have a similar result in the final but Tamworth Phoenix proved to be a tougher test than we had faced before.
“We were actually losing for the first time all year early on 7-13.
“However as the game went on our depth and quality showed and we started to take the upper hand, at half time the score was still fairly close at 28-13 to us, but in the end we finished the game with a solid lead winning 56-29.
“I felt pretty good going into the game, obviously very excited, it is always fun to play on a bit of a bigger stage but I was very confident we would come out with a result.
“When we won it was a great feeling, it was my first championship and I think that only people who have been there really know how it feels.
“It made me just want to go do it again next year.”
Mark has been playing American football for three years now and only started when he first joined the Sheffield Sabres here at university.
Even though they play the same sport, Mark says that there is a big difference between the Warriors and the Sabres.
“University is where a lot of people play the sport for the first time, so you will have complete novices alongside more experienced players.
“This obviously limits what you can do and how quickly and easily you can do things which lowers the level, but aside from the lack of experience of the sport the depth of talent at the London Warriors is far greater than you’d see at any uni team.
“The culture around each team is different as well, as much as we take the sport seriously at Sabres it is not to the same level as the Warriors and not with the same intensity.
“However, Sabres offers an unrivalled family atmosphere with the players spending so much time together, at uni, on nights out etc.
“They’re different organisations with different purposes but they’re both fantastic to be a part of.”
Looking ahead, Mark hopes to continue his triumphs both here at University and in international competitions abroad.
“I’m so excited to be back [with the Sabres] this year with an even greater appreciation for it.
“Winning championships is obviously amazing but the bonds and experience you get with a university side is really something special.
“In terms of other competitions, as national champions we will have the opportunity to compete in European competitions next season which will produce far tougher tests for us as a team but they’re challenges we are looking forward to facing.
“We want to be playing the best competition available.”
