IFAF announces 2012 Team World staff

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL COMPLETES COACHING STAFF FOR WORLD TEAM TO FACE USA

Coaches from ten countries and four continents will lead international juniors in Austin, Texas, in third annual USA Football’s International Bowl on February 1

The International Federation of American Football has completed the coaching staff that will lead the IFAF World Team against Team USA in USA Football’s International Bowl in Texas on February 1.

The state capital of Austin will host the third annual game – formerly known as USA vs. The World – on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. The international competition will feature an IFAF World Team of teenage football players selected from as many as five continents playing against American’s Under-19 National Team, composed of current high school seniors (class of 2012). Both teams will field a 50-player roster.

Head Coach GREG MARSHALL announced his offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators last month and IFAF has now selected coaches representing American Samoa, Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden.

In total, 10 countries from among the 62 nations on six continents governed by IFAF that play some form of American football will be represented on the IFAF World Team coaching staff.

World Team Coaching Staff:

Coach Country Position

Greg Marshall Canada Head Coach

Warren Craney Canada Defensive Coordinator

Edgar Zapata Mexico Offensive Coordinator

Shinzo Yamada Japan Special Teams Coordinator

Masato Itai Japan Quarterbacks

Max Von Garnier Germany Running Backs

Jakob Dieplinger Austria Wide Receivers

Paul Manera Australia Offensive Line

Sause “Pooch” Ta’ase American Samoa Linebackers

Tuomas Heikkinen Finland Defensive Backs

John Leijten Australia Defensive Line

Giorgio Longhi Italy Defensive Assistant

Niclas Carlson Sweden Strength & Conditioning

Position coaches named to the IFAF World Team Staff – bios and quotes:

PAUL MANERA Offensive Line

Last year Manera served as the IFAF World Team offensive coordinator. In 2007 he was the head coach of the Australia Outback senior national team and as a player, was a three-year letterman at the University Of Hawaii from 1989 to 1991 playing at offensive tackle and was an Academic All Western Athletic Conference selection in 1991. He served as a student assistant coach at Hawaii and has also coached in the Japanese X League with the Recruit Seagulls in Tokyo and extensively in his native Australia.

“It is a real honor and a privilege to be selected again as part of the World Team coaching staff, it means a lot to me and I am really looking forward to working with the coaches, players and support staff. Every time you participate in this kind of event you learn new things as well as share things with other coaches and players and that’s what makes it really special.”

JAKOB DIEPLINGER Wide receivers

Dieplinger will oversee wide receivers, a role he also held last year. The Austrian is one of Europe’s prominent wide receivers, starring for the Swarco Raiders in his homeland, where he has won the coveted Eurobowl championship and Austrian Bowl in 2011. He represented Austria as they finished seventh at the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship and was named to the All-Tournament second team. Dieplinger has also established a very successful coaching career and is currently coaching at Servite High School in Anaheim, California as a varsity Tight Ends Coach. In addition to coaching with the Raiders, he is the Offensive Coordinator of the Austrian junior national team that was recently crowned 2011 European Junior Champions.

“It means a lot to me to have been selected to the World Team coaching staff. It is a great honor to be able to represent my home country Austria in the USA Football’s International Bowl event and I am looking forward to working as the Wide Receiver Coach under the new Offensive Coordinator Edgar Zapata, who ran a great offense with Mexico at the IFAF Senior World Championship this summer in Austria.”

MASATO ITAI Quarterbacks

Itai was the offensive coordinator of the 2010 IFAF World Team and recently served as an assistant coach with the Japan national team at the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship. He is the offensive coordinator at Kansai University and he also helped Japan win the bronze medal at the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship in Canton, Ohio, as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. As a player, he played wide receiver for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe and was named to the all-star team of the 2003 IFAF Senior World Championship as Japan were crowned world champions.

“This event gives coaches and players a great opportunity to play a game against Team USA. Communication will be the crucial key for the World team to win the game against the United States.”

MAXIMILIAN VON GARNIER Running Backs

Is currently the head coach and offensive coordinator Hamburg Blue Devils a position he has held since 2008 and won the German Junior Bowl in 1999. Von Garnier also is the offensive coordinator of the German Junior National team, which finished as the best European team at the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship and the wide receivers coach for the Men’s national team leading the team to European Championship in 2010. He has also had a very successful playing career, playing one season with the NFL Europe with the Düsseldorf Rhein Fire and accumulated 10,037 yards and 774 points with the Hamburg Blue Devils. He is a four-time German Bowl winner and three-time Eurobowl winner.

“It is a great honor for me as a German coach to be selected to such a unique event as this. Being a member of the World Team coaching staff is the biggest step in football for me so far, after over 20 years of coaching.”

“I’ve heard so many great things about the World Team, and after seeing the highlight video from last year I knew that I wanted to be a part of this.”

SAUESE “POOCH” TA’ASE Linebackers

The American Samoa native returns as linebackers coach for a second year. He is the head coach of Faga’itua High School in Pago, Pago. Ta’ase attended, Snow College in Ephraim Uta and then graduated from Louisana Tech University before returning to American Samoa to coach at his alma mater since 2000. Ta’ase is also the Managing and Coordinating Director of the new USA Football Eastern Star Amerika Samoa program which is a non-profit organization leading the development of youth and international amateur football in American Samoa.

“It is a huge and great honor to be selected to the World Team coaching staff. I am humble and grateful to learn from Coach Marshall and Defense Coordinator Coach Craney. I firmly believe that I am a better coach for this year due to my involvement with the World Team last year. The experience was priceless and looking forward to learning even more this year with my selection process.”

TUOMAS HEIKKINEN Defensive Backs

The Helsinki, Finland native returns for a second year as the defensive back coach. He has many years of experience and success as a coach and is currently the head coach of the Finnish Senior national team. As a coach and player, Heikkinen has won three European Champions and eight national championships. The five-time Coach of the Year in Finland was inducted into the SAFL Hall of Fame in 2008.

“It is a great honor to be selected to return for a second year. This event really benefits the players, they get an aiming point for their training at a crucial age, get to practice and play with world class athletes of their own age and also might get looked by some people who could help them to get to play on the next level.”

JOHN LEIJTEN Defensive Line

A newcomer to the IFAF World Team, but certainly not to the American football scene, John is an experienced coach who recently led the Australian national team at the IFAF Senior World Championship. Leijten coached in NFL Europe, participating in the 2005 and 2006 World Bowl with the Amsterdam Admirals winning it in 2005. He also won the German Bowl with the Cologne Crocodiles in 2000.

“I look forward to working with the World’s top Junior football players. In 2002 and 2003 I was fortunate enough to have had a similar experience coaching Team Europe and participating in the Global Junior Championship. I can say that it is very rewarding to work with young men that have reached the top of their game in their home countries, and can’t wait to compete against their American counterparts with the ultimate goal of earning a college scholarship”.

A fun fact about Leijten’s playing career is he was ‘knocked out of his boots’ by a then 16-year-old Romeo Bandison, who became the first Dutch player to play in the NFL on a kickoff return for the Washington Redskins.

GIORGIO LONGHI Defensive assistant

For the first time the IFAF World Team will feature an Italian coach as Longhi, who has extensive experience in his native country, will be represented on the coaching staff. He has served multiple roles within IFAF, most recently as a member of the tournament committee for the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship in Austria.

“As Coach, it makes me full of pride and at the same time aware, that I need to do my best for the staff and the team. As Italian coach, being an active part in a world event is a dream. This will be a great opportunity to learn a lot and definitely one of the biggest challenges in my career.”

NICLAS CARLSON Strength & Conditioning

The Swede returns for the third consecutive year. In addition to working with the IFAF World Team, he is the strength and conditioning coach for the Swedish Junior national team preparing for both the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship and most recently the 2011 European Junior Championship where Sweden claimed the bronze medal.

“It’s a once in a lifetime game to play and I am lucky to have the opportunity to do it again. Since this is my third year, I know what it takes for a World Team player to be prepared to be competitive in this game.”

About USA Football’s International Bowl: The NCAA recognizes USA Football’s International Bowl as a national team competition, meaning the game is not an all-star game. Playing for the United States in the International Bowl is exempt from high school seniors’ two all-star game appearances. In 2011 the IFAF World Team narrowly lost 21-14 to Team USA and in the first year in 2010, the Americans were held scoreless until the final play of the first half and went on to win 17-0.

About IFAF

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) unites 62 countries on six continents through a burgeoning international sport. With national football federations in existence for more than 75 years, IFAF was created in 1998 to organize and further develop the game through international cooperation and global competition. The IFAF office is located near Paris, France.