Longhorns boys looking to become the Pride of Filton
It’s a long trip from the hustle and bustle of the Central Belt to the small Gloucestershire town of Filton, but for some of the Junior North division Lanarkshire Longhorns, it’s a path that will soon be well trodden. You see, Filton College is part of the Bristol Academy of Sport and is the closest thing this country has to college football, American style.
As they state on their website the Pride play in the American High School League of Europe (Division One North) which includes teams such as the Kaiserslautern Red Raiders and the Vilseck Falcons. For the student athletes this means lots of studying and lots of football.
The Head Coach of the Pride, Benjamin Herod, was keen to stress, however, that the relationship between the academic side and the sporting side simply results in better students and better athletes. “The College is dedicated to giving each student in their chosen sport the most professional experience along with the toughest opposition without compromising their education.” He further stated that “the coaching staff are in full support of the Academic staff and so demand that each student maintains a 95% attendance record and must be up to date with all work otherwise an Academy ban is imposed for a week taking away what the student loves.” Filton are, he says, “the only team trying to do what we are doing.”
After their agonising 10-0 defeat to the division leading Lancashire Wolverines at the weekend, I sat down with four members of the Longhorns who have either experienced, or are about to experience football with the Pride.
While QB Nicky Farrell has had a successful year for the Pride, working his way into the starting quarterback position by the third game of the season, his teammates Chris Jones, Arnold Masayila and Mark McCallum are about to embark on their own journey to the Bristolian suburb and the enthusiasm of all three was easy to see.
Firstly, I started off by asking the quartet why they chose moving to Bristol ahead of playing locally in the BUAFL for a Glasgow Tigers or a Stirling Clansmen. In truth, I knew the answer, but it was confirmed categorically by Farrell when he stated that the draw was a mixture of things that included the chance of playing at a higher level, and against European opposition, being able to send game highlights to NCAA colleges (which seems to have worked as Coach Herod confirmed that Division IAA Bryant University have expressed interest in the youngster) and, half jokingly, ‘the banter.’
Of course, there is a serious side to all the football playing and ‘banter.’ For all four of the Longhorns boys, FIlton is the first move away from their familiar surroundings and the Bank of Mum and Dad, although how much they’ll actually be removed from that particular home comfort is debatable. The importance of having friends and teammates around them for that journey was certainly not lost on anyone. Masayila, who sees time at running back, safety and linebacker, was keen to stress that it was a ‘chance to really mature.’ As the only one of the quartet already having experienced the student lifestyle, that was a statement Farrell backed up, adding that “it’s a great experience…knowing how to stand on your own two feet and pay your bills…having your friends down there helps to keep you going.”
That is hardly their sole hurdle either. With fees to be paid, all the boys admitted that both themselves and their families have had to make numerous sacrifices. Tight end Jones said that he had to “get a full-time job and keep money rather than just spending it,” the importance of which I failed to grasp in my own student days. While Coach Herod admitted that costs are expensive, he defended it passionately by stating that<div class=”quoteBox”><div>”we are a Sporting Academy and offer things above and beyond that which would normally be expected of a normal college. For example we have our own strength and conditioning staff and physiotherapists along with full time coaching staff for each sport.”</div></div>
As you can imagine, getting in to an Academy of such calibre was not easy. When asked about the trials, McCallum said that “you had a training session with the current Filton Pride team and the standards there were unbelievable. It was quite difficult in terms of getting selected.” He did catch the eye of the Head Coach, however, who stated that lineman McCallum had been particularly impressive and that he had “proved his heart in drills…where he showed he was not put off going up against players twice his size.” Masayila mentioned that he felt he had to work that little bit harder to get selected due to the fact that he had attended the second trial date, already knowing that his friends were successful. It’s safe to suggest that all three of the new recruits must have done something right!
With Farrell, and fellow Longhorns player Willie McLaughlin, having spent time at Filton I was keen to see how much the new recruits would be relying on the advice and experiences of their teammates, and they all agreed it made it slightly easier for themselves. Masayila admitted that speaking to his two teammates and hearing about it was the main reason that he applied in the first place, stating that “I really wouldn’t have known what the experience was like…they influenced me to go there.”
Lastly, I asked them all about their hopes and expectations from their stay in Filton. While clearly they all want to play the game to the highest possible level they can achieve, it was refreshing that all of the boys were realistic and laid back, believing that their studying was more important and the football playing just an added bonus, albeit a particularly attractive added bonus. Masayila stated that he was studying A-level Chemistry and Biology and had his heart set on a career in dentistry, while Jones and McCallum both stated that they merely wanted to become better athletes, better people and to compete at the highest level. Farrell, entering his second year with the Pride, and who will be one of five quarterbacks competing for game time next season, guaranteed his teammates that with the amount of training the Pride do, becoming a better player is almost a formality. As for himself, he stated that he wanted to “become a role model as a player..and try and get interest from schools in America.”
So yeah, it’s a long way from the Central Belt to the small South Gloucestershire town of Filton, but it’s an even longer way to the States and these four boys have a dream. With a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears, maybe, just maybe, that dream will come true.
