On Saturday 14th September, Woodham Academy’s American football team started their High School League of Europe season with a long away trip to Brussels to play the Brigands, of Brussels American School.
The ‘DoDDs’ League is usually reserved for American schools on US Army and Navy bases around Europe, but after impressing in 3 friendly games last season against American opposition,  the Warriors were invited to be a full member of the league, playing a full 6 game schedule.  This is an honour that only one other British school has been given.
Woodham’s players and coaches travelled overnight by coach to the Belgian capital to play the game, with rain and wind greeting them when they arrived.  The game was played in a great spirit, with Brussels eventually running out 41-24 winners. There were exceptional performances from Chris Armstrong and Kyle Broad.  Chris, who ran for over 300 yards in total, had touchdown runs of 80, 82 and 90 yards on the day. Kyle played every down for Woodham and recorded a team leading 11 tackles and blocked 3 field goal attempts.  It was the overall performance of everyone that impressed Head Coach Danny Ketch.  who said “Everyone can be proud of the performance they produced. We knew it was always going to be a tough game, but all the boys proved they can compete with the best and match them.  Individual performances from Chris Armstrong, Kyle Broad and Liam Wood led the team forward, but everyone stepped up and played a massive part in this game. We’ve learned a lot and hope to be better in the return fixture in October.”
Woodham Warriors now look forward to welcoming American competition for the first time, when they take on Lakenheath on September 28th kick off will be 1pm. All of Woodham’s home games will be played at Darlington Rugby Club, with further games on Friday 4th October (7pm KO) and Saturday 12th October (1pm KO). All supporters are welcome.

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