Annual General Meeting GFL International in Paris March 19, 2016
The presidents of the national federations David Richelle (Belgium), Robert Huber (Germany), Michel Daum (France), Michael Smith (Ireland), Marc Watry (Luxemburg), Gian Zandoná (Netherlands) and Enrique Garcia de Castro (Spain) met on March 19, 2016 for the general meeting of the GFL International in Paris. The national federation of Switzerland missed excused. The meeting took place at the margin of the general assembly of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).
The delegates drew a positive conclusion with respect to the international competitions of the season 2015. Overall, 14 teams participated at the gaming operations of the Big6, the EFL and the Atlantic Cup. With hosting the EUROBOWL XXIX in Brunswick and the EFL Bowl II in Kiel the final matches of the two major European competitions took place in Germany. In both finals the corresponding hosting team the New Yorker Lions (Brunswick) and the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes were successful. The Atlantic Cup took place in Groningen and had been won by the Belfast Trojans.
Paul-Vincent Miraval, technical director of GFLS, conducted in 2015 a Coaches Clinic in Guatemala and gave a lecture on the GFL and American Football in Europe at the AFCA Coaches Association meeting.
In Ireland, a referee training could be supported.
Subsequent to general meeting, there had been a get-together with the other delegates of the IFAF general assembly in order to establish new contacts.
With this second general meeting, the founding idea of deepen the cooperation between national federations based on friendship, collegiality and mutual respect had been taken into account on a voluntary basis irrespective of national borders. The main focus is on the joint development and promotion of the American Football in Europe and worldwide. The national federations and leagues are open for cooperating with additional partners.
In outlook for the season 2016, it could noticed that all three competitions are completely occupied and especially France will play a more important role with a starting team in the Big6 and the EFL.
We hope that the cooperation with traditionally friendly national federations such as Italy, Russia and Turkey will be extended and, latest in 2017, teams from these countries will participate in the major competitions.
With respect to the international situation, the federations agree on a common approach in close coordination.