Team World staff meets at AFCA convention: Craney to present

IFAF WORLD TEAM STAFF TO MEET AT AFCA CONVENTION AS INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN FOOTBALL COACHES HEAD TO TEXAS

AFCA attendees invited to hear IFAF coaches from Canada and Japan speak at International Session on Monday, January 9

The coaching staff of the IFAF (International Federation of American Football) World Team will meet at the 88th annual AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Convention in San Antonio, Texas, from January 8 to 11.

International American football coaches from 10 countries make up the IFAF World Team staff and will spend three days meeting to finalize their game plan ahead of the third annual International Bowl when they face USA Football’s under-19 national team at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, February 1.

Canadian head coach GREG MARSHALL of the University of Western Ontario will welcome coaches from American Samoa, Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico and Sweden to the meetings along with coaches from the IFAF Development Team from Canada, Great Britain, Mexico and Spain.

The Team USA coaching staff, under head coach STEVE SPECHT of St Xavier High School in Cincinnati, will also meet in San Antonio. The International Bowl is not classified as an all-star game because Team USA, organized by USA Football, has national team status, but such a gathering of all coaches from two teams three weeks in advance of a bowl game is unprecedented outside of this event.

“This will provide us with the ideal opportunity to sit down face to face and fine tune our plan,” said Marshall, who led the IFAF World Team in 2011 and was an assistant coach in 2010. “We have spent many months in contact via phone, email and a team web portal but there is nothing quite like strategizing with fellow coaches in a meeting room.”

Two members of the IFAF World Team staff will speak at the AFCA Convention at an International Session, which is open to all attendees and runs from 8am to 11.15am on Monday, January 9 in Room 214. Defensive coordinator WARREN CRANEY and Special Teams coordinator SHINZO YAMADA will speak.

Craney is the head coach of York University having joined the Lions in 2010 from Concordia University, where he spent seven seasons as the defensive coordinator. The Montreal native is a veteran of the 2010 and 2011 IFAF World Team staff. He orchestrated the Canada junior national team defense as his nation won a silver medal at the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship.

Yamada coached with Japanese national team that claimed the bronze medal at the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship in July, is currently the head coach of IBM Big Blue in Japan, and has served as head coach of Japan’s junior national team program. He played in NFL Europe and the XFL and spent time in training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003, playing against the New York Jets during an American Bowl preseason game in the Tokyo Dome.

Additional international coaches from around the world will attend the AFCA Convention to benefit from the resources on offer and to visit vendors in the event’s exhibition hall.

IFAF World Team Coaching Staff attending the AFCA Convention:

Coach Country Position Club / Team

Greg Marshall Canada Head Coach Univ. Western Ontario

Edgar Zapata Mexico Offensive Coordinator UNAM

Warren Craney Canada Defensive Coordinator York University

Shinzo Yamada Japan Special Teams Coordinator IBM Big Blue

Masato Itai Japan Quarterbacks Kansai University

Max Von Garnier Germany Running Backs Hamburg Blue Devils

Jakob Dieplinger Austria Wide Receivers Swarco Raiders

Paul Manera Australia Offensive Line Bondi Raiders

Stefan Bjorkman Sweden Offensive Line Stockholm MeanMachines

Sause Pooch Ta’ase Am Samoa Linebackers Faga’itua High School

Tuomas Heikkinen Finland Defensive Backs Finland national team

John Leijten Australia Defensive Line Australia national team

Giorgio Longhi Italy Defensive Assistant Warriors Bologna

Tim Enger Canada Dev. Team Coordinator Football Alberta

Hugo Lira Mexico Dev. Team Wide Receivers ITESM CEM

Wayne Hill Great Britain Dev. Team Linebackers Birmingham University

Aitor Trabado Spain Dev. Team Defensive Backs Spain national team