Delft Dragons
| Founded | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Based in | Delft, Netherlands |
| Home stadium |
|
| Head coach |
Dick van Hirtum (Senior) Cees Meuleman (Youth) Richard Langkemper (Flag) |
| General manager | Rienk Bijlsma |
| League |
|
| Colors | Orange and black |
| Nickname(s) | Dragons |
Delft Dragons are an American football team based in Delft, the Netherlands.
Sometime in 1981 the Chairman of the Amsterdam Rams (the only Dutch American Football team at the time), Rene Koningferander, appeared in the TV program "Sprekershoek" and called for the creation of an American Football league in The Netherlands. The Rams' players supported new teams as needed by organizing training and games. The first teams created were the Hague Raiders, Amsterdam Crusaders and the Delft Dragons. A first tournament was organized between the four teams a year later and this was televised by Veronica, championed by Veronica's Bob de Jong. Its first chairman was Gabriel de Scheemaker, and its first quarterback Richard Rietveld, who at the time also worked with Veronica Sport as commentator. The Delft Dragons joined the Netherlands American Football Federation (NAFF), chaired by Guus Annokkee. The team was supported by the Technical University Delft and used the university's facilities. "Civil" members soon joined from many directions. The Delft Dragons University Team was active between 1984 and 1993 but it folded due to lack of players.
Towards the end of 1999, influenced by the television coverage on FOX8, a number of students decided to found an American Football team in Delft, the Netherlands. The new founders decided that they would try to harness any remaining familiarity by calling the new team by the same name as Delft's former team. From the end of January 2000 they were in training under American Head Coach David Caraway and assistant Widjai van Dam, as a flag football team. The Dragons had a good debut season, finishing 5th of the 10 participating teams.
With Coach Caraway returned to his home in Texas, it was up to new Head Coach Widjai van Dam to lead the 2001 preparations for full-contact football. The Dragons added several players to their squad and were joined by defensive co-ordinator Steve Sheppard.
The Delft Dragons played their first competitive games in November 2001 in a tournament qualifier. The Dragons defeated Assen Bulldogs and Amstelland Panthers and were a surprise qualifier for the finals. The finals produced more shocks. The Dragons defeated the Amsterdam Crusaders in the semi-final, and narrowly lost the final to the 2001 Div.2 finalists Tilburg Steelers in two periods of overtime.
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