Jason Scott

Early 90's Great Britain is an odd place for an American Football coach to have grown up, yet it was in Preston, England where I was born and raised. Like any young tearaway I loved sport and played soccer before progressing onto Rugby at the age of eleven.

 

I was obsessed with competition and sports, I fondly remember the FIFA world cup during the summer of 90 - I collected all the cards, watched all the games, and could probably still tell you the scores from ever single game, and give a kick-by-kick analysis of the semi final where England were cruelly defeated by West Germany. I was transfixed by the Olympics, watching all the events from both 1988 and 1992 games in Seoul and Barcelona, and cheering Linford Christie to sprint gold...

 

Yet, there was another sport that was always there throughout my formative years, and that was American Football. Throughout the late 80's and early 90's the NFL regularly hosted games at Wembley stadium, giving the British public an opportunity to see the giants of the Gridiron first hand. I regularly watched the NFL coverage on channel 4, and collected the obligatory stickers, trading cards and mini helmets that were around at the time.

 

Rugby soon took over, I played for and captained my school before going on to play representative rugby for Lancashire Schools, competing alongside several players who would go on to win the Rugby World Cup with England in 2003. I started playing for the local club - the Preston Grasshoppers - and would frequently play three games in a weekend; for school on the Saturday morning, the Grasshoppers U19's on the afternoon, before playing for the U17's on a Sunday. Rugby also gave me my first opportunity in coaching as I moved up from junior section, my Sunday's were free from playing, so went along to help coach my younger brother's team on the weekend. 

 

Entering my last year at school, I wasn't sure where I wanted to go to University - if I wanted to attend at all. Having done some research, I found out about the English Speaking Union - an organisation that sent around 30 British School leavers to a range of schools across the US and Canada. Following an exhaustive process, I was one of the lucky applicants and was sent to live ans study in Stanstead, Quebec.

 

At Stanstead College, I got my first taste of 'football' - not the 11-a-side game I was familiar with from the TV, but the 12-a-side Canadian version of the game. I played both sides of the ball on a record setting 13-0 season, scoring nine touchdowns from Full Back, winning the ETIAC championship, and shocking the Greater Montreal Champions in a season ending exhibition game.

 

Whilst at Stanstead, I applied for, and was accepted to go to Loughborough University, the world renowned institution that has produced Olympic champions, professional sportsmen and women, as well as pioneering sports technology and research. Not only would I have the chance to study Sports Science, but I would also have an opportunity to play Rugby for one of the best teams in the country.

 

I would play my one and only game for the Loughborough Fresher's team the following autumn, as a freak accident in a practice game damaged the nerves in my right shoulder. Specialists determined that the injury would require operation and a long course of physical therapy, so I chose to gave up on my rugby dream later that winter.

 

Returning to University the following year, I discovered that Loughborough had an American Football team, and whilst my shoulder wasn't up to the rigours of a full game of rugby, and the strain placed on it through scrummaging, I was convinced that it was the perfect solution to my problem of not having any competitive sports in my life.

 

I joined the team in the January, and played my first game in February - a 31-14 win at the Leeds Celtics. Initially playing Full Back, I was moved to Linebacker, and started on the weak side for the rest of the season, as the Loughborough Aces pushed towards a National Championship. We fell just short that year, losing Collegebowl XIII to the Hertfordshire Hurricanes 7-3 in a downpour in Leicester.

 

We earned back-to-back Northern Conference Championships in 2001 and 2002, and won Collegebowl XVI, defeating the Oxford Cavaliers - the same team that beat us in the previous year's final. By this time I was now on the sidelines, acting as an assistant coach for the team, having incurred a serious head injury in December 2001.

 

I'm a firm believer that 'what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger' - I took 'early retirement' in my stride, and dedicated my life to become the best coach that I could be.