Standout student-athletes from across the United States have an opportunity to visit the Czech Republic and Germany next spring, from April 2-10, and to participate in the Global Ambassadors Bowl.
For the ninth year in succession a group of select high school seniors will line up as the Team Stars & Stripes American football squad to play against overseas opposition, the GHS (German High School) Hawks.
Previously known as the Global Bowl, the Global Ambassadors Bowl will be played on Saturday, April 9, in Hanau, a town in Hessen near Frankfurt, Germany, but the action on the gridiron is only one element of the educational visit to Europe.
The traveling American group will arrive in Prague in the Czech Republic on Sunday, April 3, and will take a tour of the Old Town, including the Old Town Square, the 18th century Church of St Nicholas, the beautiful Goltz-Kinsky Palace, the medieval Charles Bridge which spans the River Vltava, and the former Jewish Ghetto. The group will also visit the Terezin concentration camp, the Museum of Communism, a Nuclear Bunker and Krizik’s Fountain before traveling across the border to Germany to enjoy a Night Watchman tour of medieval Rothenberg.
Once in Hanau, Team Stars & Stripes will take part in a community service at local high school and a Testing Combine for top local players during the build up to the April 9 game day.
Team Stars & Stripes head coach Bill Gallagher, who has led the Americans previously in Italy and Spain, will again take charge of the select roster. High school coaches may nominate deserving players who have shown leadership both on and off the field by contacting coach Gallagher: bgallagher@episcopalacademy.org / Tel: 215-542-7505. The visit is also open to families and friends of selected players.
“Along with our excellent coaching staff we are looking for 44 top quality young men who will be proud to represent our country, their school, families and themselves,” said event organizer, Global Football President Patrick Steenberge.
“We need high school seniors with solid academic backgrounds and high moral character who will be unique ambassadors for our sport, and who love playing the game known overseas as American Football. We plan to play hard and fast, to demonstrate the quality of football played in our country, and to come home with a victory, and lifelong memories.”
Coach Gallagher and his coaching staff will have a daily session on the practice field as they mold Team Stars & Stripes in preparation for the April 9 game day in Hanau, which ends with a special awards dinner for both teams and cements new friendships through a shared love for football.
Gallagher played in the same backfield as Steenberge at the University of Notre Dame and has traveled with Global Football to France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Spain. He has spent the majority of his coaching career in Philadelphia’s Inter Academic Athletic Association, the oldest schoolboy league in the country.
Serving as assistant coaches for Team Stars & Stripes will be Villa Angela-St Joseph (Cleveland, OH) head coach John Storey, former Notre Dame quarterback Evan Sharpley, Scott Ripley of St Paul’s School (Baltimore, MD), Servite High School (Orange County, CA) offensive coordinator Oscar McBride, and former Mountain View (Tucson, AZ) coach Dean Greenberg.
The Global Bowl series was contested previously in Japan (2008 and 2009), France / Belgium (2010), Germany (2011), Italy (2012, 2013 and 2015) and Spain (2014), with Team Stars & Stripes boasting a 6-2 record.
Travel packages for players selected for Team Stars & Stripes and families and friends who wish to experience their son’s overseas game of a lifetime include deluxe hotel accommodation, daily meals, guided sightseeing tours, entrance to attractions, a commemorative souvenir, and of course football activities.