Local American footballer gets Great Britain call up

Thanks to the visibility of the NFL on mainstream and satellite television, the sport of American football continues to grow quickly in the UK, with the options to play flag football or full contact football available to girls, boys, women and men of all ages and abilities.

One local athlete who has been playing the sport for many years has had his hard work recognised with an international call up this week. 18-year-old Daniel Schofield, a former Mt St Joseph School and Bury College student, has been selected in the Great Britain U19 squad that will take on France U19 in a European Championship qualifier on September 15 in Coventry. Well over 100 players from all over the UK began the selection process for the game, with a final roster of 45 announced earlier this week.

Dan started playing the game at just five-years-old, and has represented his local club the Chorley Buccaneers ever since. He has previously represented GB at U17 level and has one GB U19 cap already from earlier this year in Italy. He plays the Safety position on the defensive side of the ball, probably most akin to the sweeper or goalkeeper position in our version of football. His head coach at the Bucs Ian Nicolson said: "Dan's a very good player and works hard to stay at the top of his game. I'm very pleased for him, and proud of him."

The Buccaneers had two more players make it to the final 60 players before just missing out on selection to the game day squad, and have two coaches involved in the Great Britain U19 set up.

The Great Britain U19 vs France U19 game kicks off at 7pm on Friday September 15, and will be available to watch as a livestream.

The Chorley Buccaneers recruit players from all over Lancashire, they have junior teams to accommodate girls and boys from 7-19-year-olds, and also adult teams for women and men.