THE GATOR 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
- gwentgators
- Jan 7, 2021
- 7 min read
Well, this shouldn’t take long eh!
2020 was to be the 2nd full year for the Gators and were looking forward to all sorts of opportunities, from National League competition to the WelshBowl tournament and even maybe Outlaw Flag League.
Then Covid-19 popped up and put paid to any meaningful games from March onwards.
The Gators started 2020 by planning for our preseason tour to Ireland to play in a Charity Tournament against some of Irelands best, including their reigning National Flag Champions the Edenderry Eagles.
At the end of February, 13 intrepid Gators boarded a minibus in Risca, heading to West Wales and the Ferry to Rosslaire. We hadn’t gone 30 miles before the “rest breaks” started piling up!
Finally arriving at Fishguard port we discovered that our ferry was delayed so naturally, after a 3 hour bus journey and maybe one or 2 beverages imbibed, it was decided that a game of Rugby League in the car park was in order!
Several near misses for both cars and participants later, we boarded the ferry and most of the squad headed off to either find the bar or a decent sleeping spot for the 4 hour crossing. Some settled in the bar, attempting to play cards and some tried to grab some sleep in the kids cinema area.
Once on Irish soil, the mission began for the drive towards Dublin and the search for Breakfast!
A 6am rest break approximately an hour from Dublin turned into a 90 minute breakfast break where Gators WR and designated baby for the tour, Matt Bourke, seemingly enjoyed his full Irish, though it was hard to tell as he ate like he was in a trance. Don’t you just love the effects of Alcohol.
The Gators finally arrived at their accommodation and after checking in, proceeded to split and explore the fine city of Dublin. Some just headed for the pubs though not before Tom Harrison decided to waste 60 Euros on some toilet paper in the guise of an Ezekiel Elliott Cowboys jersey!
After meeting up at the digs and sorting some food, most of the squad headed to Dublin’s infamous Temple Bar area, just for the experience and to say they’d had a pint there! They proceeded to stay there the night and roll in around 4am, worse for wear physically and monetarily; best guess they'd spent about a grand there between them!
8am was breakfast and 9am the bus was leaving for the tournament and Head Coach Dale Davies had much fun trying to “reanimate the dead” especially Chris Bartlett-Legge.
We arrived at Maynooth University grounds with a fairly hung over crew and a few even likely still somewhat worse for wear. First Game up was against the Dublin Bay Raptors, who we knew nothing about.
The Raptors first possession, nay first play saw a touchdown on a pass with the Gators defense pretending to be mannequins. Gators offense hit back to tie the game and the Raptors next possession saw them take 2 plays to replicate their first drive results. Thankfully the defense decided to join the game after that!
In increasingly difficult weather conditions, the Raptors and their QB Joe Grey and the Gators traded scores but ultimately the early scores proved to be the difference as the Raptors won by a score, 25-19
The Gators next game was against our Hosts; Maynooth University Hurricanes with the prospect of the Louth Mavericks then Edenderry to come.
The Gators didn’t mess about in this game, the O was a well oiled machine and the defense looked like they could defend now. All played out in the beginnings of what would become Storm Jorge!
10 yard passes would be caught by the wind and be turned into 30 yard ones however the Gators O faired much better with the conditions than, ironically, the Hurricanes.
The Game went to the Gators in a convincing result, 30-6
By now, Storm Jorge was in full swing and the decision was taken to call the rest of the games off due to this.
So, soaked to the skin everyone crammed into the changing rooms where the days awards were dished out and somehow, Tom Benfield won MVP! He has not let us forget yet!
Another night out awaited, not before stopping in some Irish style Weatherspoons for food, still dressed mostly in our dripping wet kit no less! Tom Harrison led the charge with some drinking games at the accomodations before hitting the local hotspots.
Some highlights of this was someone somehow managing to rile an old Irish guy up about religion and then plonked Huw Walford in front of him to “chat” to him, that soaked up a good hour of Huws drinking time!
After that on to a place with an actual DJ, though he looked in his 60s, he was taking requests and seeing that Jordan Madden and “Baby” Bourke decided to sit at the bar together, we asked the aforementioned DJ to congratulate them on their “date”, which he did to rapturous applause from the entire pub.
Sadly, this is where the night took a turn for the worse and the tradition of what can best be phrased as “Naked Toileting” began. Far, far too many pictures began to appear in the Gators chat; Jack Webb and his “Chilli” stands out, before the group decided to jump in a taxi and head off again.
After packing up and heading to Wexford, a stones throw from Rosslaire and the Ferry home, the guys and gal spent an afternoon chilling and yes, more drinking in some of Wexford’s watering holes before catching the Ferry home to Wales.
This should’ve been the start of a build to the National League campaign but, as we are all too aware, Coronavirus turned sport and the UK itself on its head.
We were able to resume training for a few weeks before more local restrictions, fire breaks and more lockdowns occurred, not before managing to squeeze in some cheeky friendly games against Swansea Hammerheads, Cardiff Hurricanes and the Cardiff Bay Coyotes.
The majority of 2020 we spent training through Zoom along with some team events and quizzes. Not quite what we expected this time last year!
That brings us to the here and now.
We are hopeful of some competitive games in 2021 but we start it in a lockdown situation so step one for the Gators is to be able to resume some training, on grass, face to face.
Club Chair, Josh Corbett, when asked for his thoughts on 2020, had this to say…
“2020 what a year. It was by far the most frustrating year off the field since we started the Gators. To spend most of the year off the field was not what we expected from our second year. However, we adapted to the situation and our new best friend became Zoom. Massive thank you to our Social Secretary Tom Harrison who held NFL quizzes which helped keep the squad in contact and we were able to get to know each other so much better. Also, Mark Studley, our newly appointed defensive coach and Captain who helped our squad learn our play book by putting on weekly playbook quizzes and zoom sessions to help everyone learn.
It was also great to welcome back to the committee, Alex Mayne, who now serves as our Safeguarding officer. We are delighted to have you back on the committee.
Our Social Media officer Matt Bourke has done tremendous with our Social Media channels with them looking better than ever. Would like to Thank our friends from Swansea, the Hurricanes and Coyotes for the great friendlies we had towards the end of the year. We had a chance to put what we learned from our Zoom lessons into action. I would like to thank the Gators faithful for sticking with us for what has been a very tough year . We cannot wait to be back on the field in 2021. See you all soon #BleedBlue”
Gators Head Coach Dale Davies also chipped in with his thoughts...
“It was NOT the year we expected or wanted but, perversely, maybe it was a year the Gators needed. The lack of face to face with grass underfoot made everyone put the extra work in on additional methods and ways to keep training and learning. Early on I was aware that Huw our S&C coach was helping folks with individual training ideas. Mark Studley went above and beyond in his film study and playbook training, something I know will stand us in good stead when we do return to competitive action and the general camaraderie that was engendered throughout that original lockdown period helped gel and solidify even more so than we already had.
There has also been a lot of work behind the scenes this year, From Committee Meetings, coaches meetings, Remote Coaching qualifications, Policy and documentation review and updating, creating a Gators Website, appointing Covid-19 officers, improving our Social Media channels and interactions, Covid Risk assessments, Covid specific training and a realigning of the coaching structure, not to mention welcoming an OG back to the fold in Alex Mayne, who has stepped up immediately and taken the role of Safeguarding & Welfare Officer, I feel that, as best as possible, the Gators have future proofed themselves to hopefully make the next few years all about the on field stuff rather than any off field or administrative issues.
With the talent and commitment we have in our squad, both on and off the field, there is no reason to believe that this club cannot be a success going forward.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone that is part of the Gators for their help and dedication in just sticking with it through what was at times a frustrating year and hopefully we can see that light at the end of the tunnel called 2020. I would also like to personally thank every member of the committee. Not everyone may know what the time and involvement behind the scenes actually amounts to, but I do, without you it would be a much tougher gig, so thank you all!
Ok 2021, let’s be having you!”
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