Currently training twice a week,  in preparation for our first fixture of the 2012 British American Football Association Nation League Division2 in April, there are positions to suit every size and shape and no experience is necessary!

If you would like more information about joining please contact: recruitment@manchester-titans.co.uk

Time: Juniors 10am – 12pm, Seniors 12.30pm – 3pm

Cost/Subs: £5

Location: Astley Sports College, Yew Tree Lane, Dukinfield Cheshire, SK16 5BL

Directions by car: Please see the following – http://www.astley.tameside.sch.uk/contact-location.htm

Directions by public transport: The sports college is less than one mile from Flowery Field Station, with trains running every 30minutes to and from Manchester City Centre taking about 15minutes. Map from Flowery Field Station

The sports college is also accessible via Stalybridge Station.

Many players offer lifts to players without cars, we advise new players to post on the forum if they think they will have difficulty with transport to training.

Further Info: Please bring footwear suitable for sandfilled astroturf, additional knee and elbow protection is also recommended.

Yeah, I’m not even going to lie about it, I became a football player through getting completely owned by the computer at a comedy football game. Makes me glad I never bought a copy of ‘Figure Skating 09, The Spandex Edition’ anyway.

The first training session I attended was in January 2011 and I actually skipped a rugby game in Fleetwood to be there. Partly because only 2 players had turned up for training that week and I was annoyed, but mainly because I had to satisfy the voice in my head asking if football was all it was cracked up to be on the computer.
In the pouring rain I was made to do burpee’s, sit ups, star jumps, sprints, stand in the worlds most awkward body positions, run in oddly named routes whilst the worlds most fragile QB pelted balls at me and an angry sounding coach from Chorley shouted ‘C’MON MAN’ every time a ball was dropped. (Not to mention someone having a fit, which scared half of the guys to death). But the minute I ran my first slant route, saw the ball fly in a perfect spiral straight into my hands, I fell in love – and everything people loved about the sport made sense.

I’ve not played a single minute of Rugby since that session.

Pre season was definitely an odd feeling. For the past eight years I’d walked into Rugby training sessions knowing exactly what to do, which line out to call, who should be at what ruck and setting up the next Queen running play. I’d gone from ‘6-3-5-4-2-7 Tight’ to ‘3-4 Cover 2, Mike Blitz’ in the space of a week.  That was a much bigger change than I expected.

Now I was a blank slate in a world of what seemed to be 20-year veterans, ex-university players that almost knew how to tackle and everyone else in between. Being a junior I learnt to play a little bit of everywhere with a main focus on 2 or 3 positions. It was a lot to take in and I couldn’t walk up and down the stairs properly after the first few sessions of standing in a linebacker stance, let alone having to learn a proper 3-point stance (against my will) for the O-Line. But I was making friends left right and centre and having a craic I’d pretty much lost in the midst of the Rugby season. Life was good and for 3 hours 12 until 3 every Sunday, this had become the highlight of my week. When training expanded to twice a week, I suffered from literal Nerdgasm’s! (For those of you who don’t know what a nerdgasm is, imagine back to when you first got colour television and you’ve just about hit on the head).

I’m going to time warp a little bit, and jump to the start of the season. Titan’s juniors had lost a lot of returning players from the year before and thanks to the will power of the team manager and the fortunate folding of another local club, we’d managed to scrape past the 25-player minimum registration barrier. So it’s safe to say we were going to hit the first game at a disadvantage. What was supposed to be an eight game season was instantly reduced to five thanks to the folding of two teams, and we received our only W’s on the season in the process.
The first game of the season was set for Leeds away. I had no idea if they were any good or not, and I didn’t really care. I enjoyed the fact that to me the whole ‘oh my god, they won the cup last year, they’re awesome’ pre-game self psyche-out had gone and I could just focus on my own game. Last minute pre-game checks and play through were done, and I was named a Captain, which probably meant more to me than the coaches realised.

I’ve always had butterflies before opening kick off, regardless of the sport or the time in the season, but this time it was different. It was an excitement more than nervousness; the voice in my head was going ‘I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but it’s damn sure going to be fun’. No matter how many skeleton drills or practice scrimmages you do, nothing can prepare you for that first game, when it’s finally you versus other people and the coaching is all gone for the next 2 hours. It felt odd, like the first time you ever look at something with 3D glasses on and it took me a few minutes to gather myself and get acquainted with how things were going to work on the pitch. Once it clicked, it felt brilliant – I was taking on offensive linemen, made a tackle in the backfield, got a pat-down, returned a punt (by accident) and best of all I was actually good at it! We lost that game, but I didn’t care. We put out our best performance of the season and beat them in the second half 6-0!

Sadly the season got progressively worse results-wise and I had to miss the second game due to an interview.

Our third game was against Gateshead at home and my worst nightmare had come true, I had to play defensive end, or so I thought. I’d practiced a little bit before the game but that was about the extent of my knowledge of what to do physically, despite knowing the playbook by heart. I got on to the pitch and the first play of the game I’m lined up shading the best Michael Oher lookalike in the world in their Left tackle. The ball was snapped, and a split second later I’m in the FB’s face and pressuring the QB. This was the most fun imaginable on the football field! After months of griping and complaining about having to play line, I’d become overwhelmed with passion for the position. Gateshead played an Option offence, so if I got remotely around the corner the ball was in the opposite direction – but I still managed to come away with two sacks and three tackles! I’ve also classed myself as a DE ever since. Yeah, we lost this one too – a pattern is emerging I know.

The following Sunday, we’re up against Leeds again with the reverse fixture of the opening game of the season for us. This time I’m at Outside Linebacker and in the words of Coach Murdoch, ‘You’re going to be Blitzing every play, have fun!’. The defence (myself included) didn’t put out the best showing possible. We struggled to maintain outside contain and when we did the person in the backfield had disappeared. I managed to come away with another sack and three tackles, two injured knees and a t-shirt tan I’m still dealing with to this date.

In the weeks post this game, we had a rubbish turn out to training, something we’d struggled with all season – but this was taking the mick. Coach Stretch did his best and got us to play a little bit of 5-a-side football with the numbers we had. But for me it was a disaster. I tried to run a fly route and my Achilles tendon partially ruptured – there was my season over instantly. I was absolutely gutted, but there was nothing I could do to prevent it – just accept it and move on.

Final game of the season was Lancashire Wolverines away at their anniversary event. I was stood on the sidelines with my crutches for this one, but I was still allowed to walk out as a captain that made it a little bit sweeter. We had a makeshift side, people playing out of position and quite a few people not even bothering to pitch up. This was the hardest game of the season for me. We got torn apart that game with a devastating result, and to stand on the sideline helpless to it is the worst feeling in the world. I let the players know how I felt at half time with an Alex Ferguson inspired hairdryer, that JP still quotes to this day. We didn’t end the season on a high, that’s safe to say. But my passion was not quelled in the slightest.

Since the season finished I’ve attended Football University Camps, Combine testing events down in London and spent my whole off-season making myself a better football player as well as getting other football related things into the pipeline for the future!

I’m also now a permanent fixture on the committee as the club’s Welfare Officer and hoping to clinch myself a starting spot on the Senior team defence, and avoid the abuse a rookie is undoubtedly going to get the best I can.

Roll on the 2012 season.

GO TITANS.

JJ

Adam Simms- Senior Offensive Player of the Year
Andrew Burridge- Senior Defensive Player of the Year
Ashley Dewing- Senior Special Teams Player of the Year
Joe Hutton- Senior Rookie of the Year
James Dean- Senior Coaches Player of the Year & Player’s Player
Titan of the Year – Ryan Farrell

Daniel Johnson – Junior Offensive Player of the Year
Gordon Cheung – Junior Defensive Player of the Year
Mike Sanusi – Junior Special Teams Player of the Year
James Newnes – Junior Rookie of the Year
Jack Brymer – Junior Coaches’ Player of the Year
James Johnson – Junior Players’ Player of the Year

Volunteer of the Year- Leanne Woodhouse and Angela Marsh

Date: Sunday 13th & 20th of November 2011
Location: Aldwinians Rugby Club
Time: 11.30 – approx. 3pm
Cost: £5

To your register your interest and receive further information please fill in the registration form.

Boditronics have been brought onboard to aid our teams in an often overlooked area of training; nutrition. What an athlete puts in their body determines how well they will develop post training.  With the experience and knowledge provided by the Boditronics team, as well as the extensive range of products made available to the Titans, our athletes will receive the added edge to get ahead during the off season.

Boditronics LTD is a UK based sports supplement company who provide a wide range of products to help you meet your required fitness goals.  Boditronics products are amongst some of the most advanced in the market and also represent
exceptional value for money.

The Titans would like to thank Boditronics for their support through out the 2012 season and hope the edge provided by their supplements will equate to success on the field.  The Titans look forward to building a long lasting partnership with the entire Boditronics team.

For more information about Boditronics LTD or to purchase any of their products
please visit – www.boditronics.co.uk

Article by James Dean

Olympic is based on Portland Street South, Ashton-Under-Lyne. It is a family run gym established for 27 years. Over the last 3 decades Olympic have produce many credible athletes of which include international athletes, world record holders and Olympians.

The Titans are training at Olympic every Wednesday as a team, under the watchful eye of head strength coach Mike Clegg Sr and his sons. Mike Clegg has a very impressive C.V. spending 10 years as Manchester United’s strength and
conditioning coach to name just one. Mike now focuses on the development of speed in athletes using Olympic lifting and his brand new state of the art sport research laboratory of which the Titans are very excited to have access to. Coaching alongside Mike are his sons Mark the gym manager and Steve who both too have very impressive coaching C.V.’s.

The Titans as a club are very excited to see how the Clegg’s can help develop their athletes in preparation for the 2012 season and hopefully help them back to winning ways. The Clegg’s are also very excited to be training with an American
Football team- a task they have never undertaken before and are looking forward to the new challenges it will provide.

The Manchester Titans would like to thank Olympic Sports Gym for this great opportunity.

For more information on the Olympic Sports Gym visit -
www.olympicsportsgym.co.uk

Article by James Dean

Titans Juniors are currently playing in a mixture of the old 5 man youth kit and a hand me down from the Titans seniors which unfortunately doesn’t quite match and does not reflect the professionalism that the Titans hold or the hard work and dedication of the players. Now we have completed our second competitive season and have a core of dedicated players we have turned our attentions away from the from the football and onto the streets of Bury in order to begin raising funds towards the Juniors new blue and gold jerseys. A target team manager Verity Brawn hopes to achieve for the up coming 2011 season.

On Saturday 20th August the Titans descended upon Asda, Marketside, in Bury town center in force. The Junior’s were promoting them selves and the Manchester Titans American Football Club wearing the helmets, shoulder pads and full uniform to help raise awareness and draw in a crowd. The players interacted with the customers inside the store as well as any passers by in the surrounding area. On the inside of the store the checkouts were loaded with Titans players again in full kit assisting the Asda customers with the packing of their bags in return for a small and often very generous donation.

On the exterior of the store Titans players and coaches were running some American football demonstrations allowing people to see what our team did when they were not packing bags, allowing people to take part in simple drills and allowing them to try on a helmet and shoulder pads. As you can imagine the clash of shoulder pads drew quite a crowd helping raise awareness of the Titans and American football as a whole in North Manchester.

The whole event was extremely successful with everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves and managing to raise £507.45 towards the Juniors teams new jerseys.

As a club we could not be happier with this result raising over a quarter of the amount needed in our first event. We would like to offer our greatest of thanks to Asda, Marketside of Bury, and Elizabeth Seymour for liaising with the club and making this possible and for the public of Bury who were very generous and welcoming.

More to follow…