Sweden
Sweden powers towards JWC qualification
About the Team
Sweden leads the Scandinavian challenge in Canton
Sweden qualified for the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship by finishing as runner up at the 2008 European Junior Championship under head coach Jan Jenmert, who will lead the Swedish challenge in Canton.Despite a spirited fourth quarter comeback, Sweden was unable to recover from a nine-point deficit, eventually losing 9-6 to Germany in the EJC final. At the biannual tournament held in Sevilla, Spain, the Swedes set the early pace in the group stages, shutting out Russia by 27 points and Spain by 40 points. A 20-13 victory over eventual third place finisher France sent Sweden to the championship game.
The Swedish American Football Federation (Svenska Amerikansk Fotbollsförbundet) is a national sports federation, which was founded in 1984, with 7,500 active members organized in 76 different clubs. The clubs are geographically spread across the country and compete at six different age groups: Peewee (up to 13 years old), under 15s, under 17s, under 19s and seniors. During 2008 the federation also introduced a competition for under 21s, while SAFF is also actively promoting flag football.
Sweden is represented internationally by four different national teams: a men's senior team, a ladies senior team, a junior team (under 19s) and a youth team (under 16s). The national teams consist of the best available players, in each group, selected from all clubs in the nation. In October of 2008 the Swedish national women's team played the women's game's first-ever international friendly match away to Finland.
The first American Football club team in Sweden was founded in 1982 and it also happens to be the same club that won the most recent national championship in 2008 - the Stockholm Mean Machines.
The reigning national champions, in the respective age groups of the SAFF are Stockholm Mean Machines (seniors), STU Northside Bulls (u-19), Kristianstad Predators (u-17), Arlanda Jets (u-15).
Swedish American Football Federation President Tommy Wiking is also the President of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). He has held the position since 2006 and was unanimously reelected for a second successive term of office in 2008.
One of Sweden's most successful exports is linebacker Carl-Johan Bjork who having started playing the game with the Taby Flyers and later the Stockholm Mean Machines, played three successful seasons with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe. Bjork spent his third season with an NFL team in 2008 as part of the NFL International Practice Squad program and saw preseason action for the Cincinnati Bengals. He has also suited up for the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.
Sweden - www.amerikanskfotboll.com