Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Early this morning I received a message from Brian Guzman, the Head Coach of the Brazilian National Team, the Brasil Onças, requesting that we talk about an invitation that he wanted to extend to me.
It sounded interesting so we were on the phone in about five minutes to see what he had in mind.
I had worked with Brian Guzman
last March at the Brazilian Team Camp
near São Paulo as the Camp's
Linebacker Coach
It was a great experience that I thoroughly enjoyed sharing with an excellent coaching staff and lots of amazing athletes.
Brian wanted to invite me to be the Onças' Special Teams Coordinator for the upcoming International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Championship Men's Qualifying Tournament to be held in Mexico City on January 24-29, 2023.
After a 1.3 second lull in our conversation to think over his offer, I said, "HELL YES! Where do I sign up?"
The Brasil Onças uniforms and logo are
SHARP!
As for the IFAF World Championship Tournament itself, it will be held in Germany in the Summer of 2023 with eight National Teams vying for the Gold Medal. This will be the sixth World Championship Tournament overall but the first since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Team Japan won the World Championship Tournament in 1999 and 2003. Team USA entered their first World Championships in 2007 and brought home the Gold Medal. Team USA also came in first in the 2011 and 2015 IFAF World Championships.
The 2023 Tournament will bring eight national teams together for a week of competition where each squad will play three games in what will be a grueling week.
As the three-time defending World Champions, Team USA is an automatic qualifier as is Team Germany as the host country.
Team Australia is also in as the representative from Oceana.
The other five currently open slots in the tournament will eventually be filled by two National Teams from Europe and one each from the Americas, Africa and Asia.
Our Brasil Onças Coaching Staff
at the March 2022 National Team Camp
in São Paulo
The position of Special Teams Coordinator for the Onças will see me traveling to Mexico City for the Qualifying Tournament that will determine which country will earn the slot reserved for the best team from the Americas.
There will be four National Teams competing for the Americas berth in the World Championships and seeded as follows: #1 Team Mexico, #2 Team Brazil, #3 Team Panama and #4 Team Chile.
The opening round will see #1 Team Mexico against #4 Team Chile and #2 Team Brazil vs. #3 Team Panama.
The two winners will then play for the right to represent the Americas in Germany while the two losers of those opening games will play each other for third place in the tournament.
I am PUMPED!
Rhiannon Potkey asked me on-line how many countries I've coached in after all of these amazing opportunities.
The answer is ten. It started, of course, in the USA with stops over 45 different seasons at five Ventura County high schools: Thousand Oaks H.S., Westlake H.S., Rio Mesa H.S., Buena H.S. and Newbury Park H.S.
During my retirement years, I have been blessed to coach teams, games and/or scrimmages in nine foreign countries. This will be my 20th overseas experience in the following countries in this more or less order: Italy (5), Sweden (3), Denmark (1), Switzerland (1), France (1), Spain (2), Mexico (5), Austria (1) and Brazil (1).
OBRIGADO Brian for
this amazing opportunity!
Life is good . . .
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