In Today’s Programme Page 3 Chairman’s Welcome 4 Meet The Visitors: Wembley Stallions 5 Meet The Visitors: Bristol Aztecs 6 London Blitz: Models in the Matrix 7 Match Photography: London Blitz A vs. London Warriors 8 Meet The Players: Glen Toonga, RB #21 9 Meet the Partners: DraftKings 10 Meet the Partners: Fit Fab Therapy 11 London Blitz B: SFC 2 East Schedule and Standings 12 London Blitz B: Roster 13 Wembley Stallions: Roster 14 London Blitz A: Premiership South Schedule and Standings 15 London Blitz A: Roster 16 Bristol Aztecs: Roster Chairman’s Welcome Welcome to Finsbury Park. This game marks the mid way point of the regular season and the Blitz so far remain undefeated. The last home game saw a fiercely competitive contest between the Blitz and the Warriors, with the Blitz eking out victory 14-13. As exciting as the victory was for the team, we well know that the Warriors have had our number over the last few years and any excess confidence would be misplaced. But that was then and this is now. The Aztecs continue to step up their game and fight competitive games with the whole of the league. With an influx of youthful talent they promise to be gunning for the top spots in the division both this year and in the seasons to come. It was a home game vs. Bristol last year where the Blitz suffered defeat and it is going to take a great effort to achieve a victory this week. The Blitz B are also riding high off a string of victories and face a Stallions team that has handed them their one loss so far. The team is really finding an identity now and a host of playmakers are starting to emerge. Today will be a tough match up but one that can indicate the team's playoff aspirations with a win. Being back at Finsbury Park has been an incredible feeling so far, it's our home, such as it is, and we hope to use it to our advantage today for both games. Enjoy the show. Meet The Visitors: Wembley Stallions Warren Smart - Head Coach “The Wembley Stallions were formed in 2013 and entered the league in 2014. Each year the Stallions have not only posted a winning record but have qualified for the playoffs. Not bad for a team of new boys. The hallmark of the team is how we bring new people into the sport. In common with our hosts today, the Stallions boast a high percentage of rookies and very few of this years roster having played more than two full senior ball seasons. Known already for our organisation the club boasts a coaching squad of 15 and a playing roster of 50+. Today we take on your vibrant B team having won out the first encounter 21-0. Obviously we’d like more of the same, but we know your boys are up for some payback. The Stallions are working hard on providing football across the board. The Women’s team recently won the 5v5 Southern Conference in only their second year. The U17’s are developing with each tournament and no-one thinks they are a push over and plans continue to field an U19 team in 2018. There is lots to fight for in this North London derby. It should be an entertaining game. We’d like to thank Coach Coverdale and the Blitz organisation for hosting us today.” Meet The Visitors: Bristol Aztecs Chris Powles - Head Coach Since being promoted to the Premier leagues in 2006, the Bristol Aztecs have consistently finished as one of British American Football's top 5 teams. A large part of this achievement is down to the coaching programme instituted by former player Chris Powles, who has helmed the team since 2012. In recent times the Aztecs have performed very well against the best sides in the country and this past week held the reigning British champions the Warriors to just 13 points for three quarters of their visit to SGS wise last week; and on the strength of their victory against the Blitz last season (and their brilliant defensive stand against them a few weeks ago) the Aztecs travel to Finsbury Park looking to defeat the multi-time champions on their own turf. Head Coach Powles had this to say before the fixture: “Given the score last time we won't be making any big changes. We thought at 30- 23 we were in with a chance late, and on Sunday it was 13-6 in the 4th. So we feel we are competing, we just need to play a full game and avoid costly mistakes late in games. Sam Hemmingsley is having another good year, hopefully he continues to perform well at WR , Ryan Morton at LB is playing well, had an interception Sunday and Will Bunce at guard is playing solid football in his second year with us. The Blitz have shown to be the early favourites this year for Brit Bowl. They’re motivated and they're at home, so it's another tough game. We have the toughest schedule in all of Brit Ball, playing Warriors and Blitz twice each in our first 5 games, but we think we have held our own so far. The defense had a good day Sunday, and if we can build some momentum we should be able to compete. We started slow last time getting behind 23-0 at the half so we can't let that happen again, we embrace the opportunity to play the best.” London Blitz: Models in the Matrix A couple of weeks ago, the London Blitz partnered with a UK-based tech consultancy called Fanview to help them show off their ground-breaking real-time 3D scanning technology. Three players, Temi Oduyemi, Jamie Charles and Oliver Bishop volunteered to take part in the trial, hosted at Repronauts’ 3D content creation studios in North London. The technology itself is a bespoke, highly portable, high speed scanning rig, optimised for 3D body scanning. It lets you capture high accuracy, full photorealistic colour scans, on location, quickly. Together, Fanview and Repronauts have developed an efficient process which allows them to rapidly rig and animate the models to produce high quality virtual characters, which can be used for 3D broadcast as well as game engines. In just a couple of days, Temi, Jamie and Oliver were transformed into 3D digital versions of themselves, which look like they’ve come straight out of the latest Madden demo. Click on the names below to see for yourselves. We think you’ll agree that they look fantastic! 3D Temi Oduyemi 3D Jamie Charles 3D Oliver Bishop Match Photography London Blitz A 14 - 13 London Warriors Images ©phil3productions Meet The Players: Glen Toonga, RB #21 Where did your Blitz journey begin? So my Blitz journey began in the 2015, so it’s now my third season with the Blitz programme. After completing my second season of uni-ball at Southampton, I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could compete with the best. I attended my first session and well the rest is history. What is your goal for this season? My main goal for this season is to be injury free. Obviously because of the nature of the game, I'm expecting to get hurt, but my aim is to be able to play every game and do everything I can on and off the field to be healthy. If I can take care of that then everything else like performance and stats will take care of itself. Who is the best coach you've ever had and why? It would definitely have to be Coach Hogan. Simply because he was my first coach of the game. He did such an excellent job in introducing me to the running back position. He only coached me for a year but within that year he did such a good job at teaching me the fundamentals. What was the best game of your career and why? My best game to date would be the first game of my second season of uni-ball against Sussex Thunders. I ran for over 300 yards, so you can imagine why it’s my best game. I’m obviously looking forward to doing that again. Meet The Partners DraftKings Following extensive engagement throughout the off season, The London Blitz are pleased to announce the team's partnership with Draft Kings on a multi year sponsorship deal. In a pioneering partnership, Draft Kings will be the primary sponsor of the elite senior team for the next three years. As part of the partnership, Draft Kings are committed to developing interest in the sport and will provide valuable practice resources for the club. Draft Kings allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports-related contests and win money based on individual player and team performances in five major American sports (MLB, the NHL, the NFL, the NBA and the PGA), Premier League and UEFA Champions League soccer, NASCAR auto racing, Canadian Football League, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), as well as American college football and college basketball. With the NFL still on hiatus before a new season starts in September, Draft Kings still has a number of activities to be involved in. Keep your eyes on the Blitz Facebook page for information on how to get involved with the club on various leagues with the potential for some substantial prizes Meet The Partners Fit Fab Therapy Proud to be in partnership with both London Blitz American Football Team and Ouse Valley Eagles American football team.