The Taipei Predators, the nation’s only American football team, is to play the Hong Kong Warhawks in Taipei today, their first battle against a team from overseas since their formation at the end of last year.
This is to be the second football competition to take place in Taiwan.
The first was in July 1994, when the then-newly formed United Football League (UFL) brought North American players to Taiwan for 30 exhibition games.
The UFL was a six-team Asian league, with the team representing Taiwan called the Taipei Dragons.
However, the Dragons’ players were all from the US.
Predators spokesperson Dennis Lin said the Predators have 40 members, and only three of them hail from other nations. The ages of his teammates range from 19 to their early 30s.
Members of the team also come from different walks of life. Quarterback Noah Yeh works in the high-tech sector, where captain and wide receiver Chen Kuan-wen is an administrative assistant. Chen played in football teams in Japan.
Linebacker James Hsu is a student at Soochow University.
Lin said that most of the team’s players used to play flag football, in which the defense must remove a flag from the ball carrier to end a down.
To be able to play full-tackle, Lin said that they had to import gear from the US, with the shipment taking three months.
Asked how they practice with no other teams to play against, Lin said that the Predators divide into offense and defense and practice different tactics from their playbook.
“We have someone record games for us and we review the videos afterward to see what we can do to improve,” he said. “We also go online to find information on different tactics.”
The team also hope that the game will draw more people to play football, Lin said.
“Most people think that football is a violent and high-risk sport, but the game involves the use of physical strength and various game strategies as well,” he said.
The Hong Kong Warhawks formed in 2012. They made it to the semi-finals of the American Football League of China last year.
The game between the Predators and Warhawks is to begin at 1pm at the Bailing Sport Park in Taipei’s Shilin District.
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