The top American football players from Europe aged 19 and under converge on Spain this weekend as the 2011 European Junior Championship kicks off on Sunday, August 28 in Seville.
Six national teams – Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden – will battle for the right to call themselves European Champions over nine games played during a period of seven days. The Gold Medal game will be contested on Saturday, September 3.
The European Junior Championship was established in 2000 and the top three teams from the 2008 event represented Europe at the inaugural IFAF Junior World Championship, which will be played again in 2012.
“EFAF is delighted to return to Seville, the city which also hosted the 2008 European Junior Championship,” said EFAF President Robert Huber. “We are confident that Seville will again offer a great experience for the best players in Europe and also the spectators. Football is a sport rapidly growing in Europe and the future stars are at the junior level.”
In 2008, Germany defeated Sweden 9-6 in the Gold-Medal game while France claimed the bronze medal beating Denmark 28-14 and more than a third of all games in 2008 were decided by one touchdown or less.
The six nations are split into two groups for the round-robin competition. Group A features Austria, Denmark and Germany, while France, Spain and Sweden will compete in Group B.
On opening day on Sunday, August 28, Austria will attempt to dethrone neighboring rival and defending champion Germany – a three-time winner. Denmark hopes to profit from the two rivals focusing on each other and is targeting performances similar to the 2008 46-6 victory over Scandinavian powerhouse Finland.
Also in opening day action, the 2008 silver-medalist Sweden will face host country Spain. Since 2008, Spain has invested at junior level and aims to compete with the best in Europe. France completes Group B and is a two-time European junior champion having previously won in 2004 and 2006.
The two group winners will meet in the Gold-Medal game on Saturday, September 3 at 6.30pm CET. The Bronze Medal game and Fifth-Place game will be held the same day at 9.30am and 12.30pm.
2011 European Junior Championship Complete Game Schedule:
Group Play:
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Group A 10:30 Germany vs. Austria
Group B 18:00 Sweden vs. Spain
August Tuesday, 30, 2011
Group A 10:30 Austria vs. Denmark
Group B 18:00 Spain vs. France
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Group A 10:30 Denmark vs. Germany
Group B 18:00 France vs. Sweden
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Fifth place game: 9:30
Bronze Medal: 12:30
Gold Medal: 18:30
For more information about the 2011 EFAF European Junior Championship visit the official website at [url]http://www.ejc2011sevilla.org.
You can also follow the event through social media outlets:
[url]www.Facebook.com/IFAF.org
Twitter @IFAFinsider
Twitter @EJCSevilla2011
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