The home of American Football in Beds, Bucks and Northants
Although we are in the off-season there’s no excuse for slacking!
We’re hosting taster sessions for all of you wishing to have a try at the game on every Sunday in November. Doesn’t matter if you are youth (13-17), junior (16-19) or adult senior or flag (18+) please come along to any or all of them and run through drills and practices with our coaches. It’s all free of charge and suitable for anyone interested in the game. Look at the events or ‘Contact Us’ for more details.
The Ouse Valley Eagles 2018 Player of the Year Awards take place tonight at the Slug and Lettuce, Milton Keynes.
A total of seventeen awards will be handed out to members of the Eagles senior team, Bedford Blackhawks (Flag) and Bedford Blackhawks Youth teams. We’ll announce the results over the weekend, but in the meantime here’s a reminder of the previous winners:
MVP – Fin Jones
Coaches Player – Oliver Chester Lewis
Players Player – Sam Butterwick
Offensive MVP – Harrison Reed
Defensive MVP – Connor Perrett
Offensive Rookie of the Year – Alex Gedny
Defensive Rookie of the Year – Rom Dougla
Most Improved Player – Oliver Crampton
Dhesi Award – Harrison Smith
MVP – Matthew Couldridge
Offensive MVP – Jake Cooper
Defensive MVP – Jed Parisi
Exceptional Contribution – Zech Smith
MVP – Kase Chibwe
Players Player – Kase Chibwe
Coaches Award – Stuart Cooper
Offensive MVP – Stuart Holland
Defensive MVP – Mike Turner
Special Teams MVP – Stuart Holland
Lineman of the Year – Stuart Holland
Rookie of the Year – Bobby Benney
Most Improved Player – Ryan Bowtell
Players Player of the Year – Ross Hubbard and Danny Cousins
Most Valuable Player – Ross Hubbard
Defensive MVP – Gareth Pullen
Offensive MVP – Ross Hubbard
Lineman of the Year – John Rudgard
Rookie of the Year – Nathan Spencer
Most Improved Player – Rhian Shirley
Players Player of the Year – Justin LaRoda
Most Valuable Player – Justin LaRoda
Defensive MVP – Gareth Pullen
Offensive MVP – Justin LaRoda
Lineman of the Year – John Rudgard
Rookie of the Year – Danny Cousins
Most Improved Player – Martin Day
Players Player of the Year – Gareth Pullen and Darren Gregory.
Most Valuable Player – Chris Parr
Defensive MVP – Darren Gregory
Offensive MVP – Dale Hawes
Lineman of the Year – Andy Larwill
Rookie of the Year – John Rudgard
Most Improved Player – Vasco Dias
Following last month’s announcement that Senior team Head Coach Neale McMaster will be stepping down at the end of the season, the club would like to invite applications for the position of senior team Head Coach from the 2019 season. It is hoped to select and appoint the successful candidate during the autumn of 2018 to allow for a full pre-season preparation.
The Eagles were formed in 2013 following a merger between the Milton Keynes Pathfinders and Bedfordshire Blue Raiders, initially as a Senior contact team based in Bedford offering football to those in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.
The club also consists of the Bedford Blackhawks and Milton Keynes Redwings youth teams and Bedford Blackhawks senior flag team and aspire to develop the game throughout the region.
The senior team was promoted from Division 2 to Division 1 following the 2014 season and currently play in SFC1 Central.
The Head Coach of the OVE Senior Team is responsible all senior team football preparation, development and outcomes. This will include, but is not be limited to:
The Head Coach of the OVE Senior Team is responsible all senior team football preparation, development and outcomes. This will include, but is not be limited to:
A short-list will be created. An interview panel will be convened for those short-listed. We’d like any interview to be a free form discussion about football and your approach. Please be prepared to talk about:
Please mail mark.chilton@oveagles.com in the first instance to declare your interest. All correspondence will be treated in confidence.
Players, coaches and officials from the Eagles, Blackhawks and Redwings teams are going to be attending the 40th Anniversary Bedford River Festival this weekend (14th and 15th July) in the Sports Village.
Recognised as one of the largest outdoor events of its kind in the UK, the 2016 festival saw over a quarter of a million people enjoy the events, entertainments and activities on Bedford’s beautiful Embankment.
To have an insight into the layout of the site before you arrive, to locate your favourite stage or to plan your festival weekend hour by hour, take a look at the 2018 River Festival programme here.
For full details on the River Festival click here.
Would you like to win your favourite NFL team’s hat? Visit us in the Sports Village and complete one of your entry forms to enter a free prize draw.
When you complete the form we will ask for consent to contact you regarding upcoming events. For more information about how we use your personal data, please read our privacy notices here.
Eagles Head Coach Neale McMaster has announced that he will be stepping down at the end of the season.
Following a successful playing career in Scotland with the University of Glasgow Tigers and East Kilbride Pirates, McMaster moved south of the border in 2012 and joined the Bedfordshire Blue Raiders initially as a player, before becoming Offensive Line coach ahead of the 2013 season.
He became Chairman of the newly-formed Eagles following the merger between the Blue Raiders and Milton Keynes Pathfinders, and was named Offensive Coordinator by former Head Coach Will White.
In Neale’s three seasons as OC the Eagles posted a combined 19-11 record which included a record 75-6 win against the Ipswich Cardinals in 2014 and play-off appearances in 2014 and 2015.
He became senior team Head Coach ahead of the 2017 season going 4-6 in his debut year, and has an overall record as HC of 6-11 heading into this weekend’s visit to Solent Thrashers.
Speaking on the decision, Neale said:
“After 5 years with Ouse Valley, 3 as Chairman and 2 as HC, I’ll be stepping away from the club after this season. We have had a progressively worse winning %, year on year, within that 5 years, so it’s time for someone else to step up and drive the club forward.
“What I am pleased about is that I’m leaving a tremendous group of guys, who are very tight knit, and love a bit of hard graft, so whoever takes over will be in a very fortunate position.
“Whilst our winning percentage hasn’t been great, I remain incredibly proud of what we have accomplished at OVE, and will fondly remember my time with them.”
The Eagles kick off the 2018 season at home to the Sussex Thunder on Sunday afternoon at Bedford International Athletics Stadium.
After going 10-0 in the regular season last year the Thunder unexpectedly went down 26-9 against the Berkshire Renegades last weekend, and head into the game eager to get back to winning ways.
The Eagles meanwhile come into the 2018 campaign following back-to-back 4-6 seasons, looking to rebuild again with a small but highly committed squad of players keen to cause a few surprises along the way.
The game kicks off at 1pm, with free admission for all.
Head Coach Neale McMaster will be missing LB/TE Darren Willison due to a back injury. WR Troy Mayer has a thumb injury and will be a game-time decision, but QB Martin Day is back making his first start since 2015 following a serious knee injury.
“We’re excited to finally get back to playing football after a long preseason.
“With a small squad and a fair percentage of rookies, we’ll be looking to have an exciting and testing offense, complemented by an attacking defensive and special teams units that will allow us to challenge for that first elusive playoff victory this year.”
If you can’t make it to Bedford to watch the games, we will be providing score updates via our Twitter and Facebook pages.
Players and coaches visited Bedford and Milton Keynes Hospitals over the Easter weekend to deliver chocolate eggs and toys to the Children’s Wards.
We visited the Riverbank Ward in Bedford on Good Friday (30th March) and the Children’s Unit at Milton Keynes on Saturday morning (31st March) to make the special deliveries, which had been donated by the club.
Speaking on behalf of the Club afterwards, Michael Dilley said:
“We always enjoy delivering eggs to our local hospitals and are really pleased to carry on the tradition this year.
“The staff on the wards do an incredible job, and we’re also really happy to be able to show our appreciation in this way”.
The Ouse Valley Eagles were formed in 2013 with the aim of becoming one of the leading lights for American Football in the UK.
The 2018 season is almost upon us but it is never too late to join one of our four teams:
Despite being a relatively new Club, the Eagles are made up of an experienced team of coaching and backroom staff, with more players registering to join each month.
The goal set by our founding committee was to have a club here still winning games in 25 years time, and for our children to be able to play for the same team we did.
That remains the goal today, and we are working every day to make the club bigger and stronger. To register your interest in joining any of the teams under the Ouse Valley banner please complete the form below:
The Eagles’ 2018 regular season schedule has been confirmed, and sees the team kicking off at home in SFC1 Central to last season’s division champions Sussex Thunder on Sunday 22nd April.
That is followed three weeks later with the return game on the South Coast, before a first ever meeting with the Berkshire Renegades the following week.
After a week of practice we then have games on four successive weeks vs Bristol Apache (H), Berkshire Renegades (H), Oxford Saints (A) and Solent Thrashers (H).
There then follows back-to-back games in July against the Thrashers (A) and Saints (H), before the regular season comes to a close on 12th August with a trip west to face Bristol Apache.
All home games will take place at Bedford International Athletics Stadium and kick-off at 1pm. All away games will kick-off at 2.30pm unless otherwise stated.
As per the 2017 season eight teams in Division 1 will progress to the play-offs, consisting of the top two teams in each of the four conferences (NFC1 North, NFC1 South, SFC1 Central and SFC1 East).
The first round of the play-offs will see the #1 seed in the SFC/NFC face and #4 seed, and the #2 seed meet the #3 ranked team.
The Division 1 Championship will be decided between the NFC1 and SFC1 winners.
The Ouse Valley Eagles were formed in 2013 with the aim of becoming one of the leading lights for American Football in the UK.
Members of our club come from a wide range of backgrounds and over a large geographical area to be part of one of our four teams:
Despite being a relatively new Club, the Eagles are made up of an experienced team of coaching and backroom staff, with more players registering to join each month.
The goal set by our founding committee was to have a club here still winning games in 25 years time, and for our children to be able to play for the same team we did.
That remains the goal today, and we are working every day to make the club bigger and stronger. To register your interest in joining any of the teams under the Ouse Valley banner please complete the form below:
Due to the adverse weather conditions training is cancelled this weekend for all four teams:
– Milton Keynes Redwings (U17)
– Bedford Blackhawks (U17)
– Bedford Blackhawks (Senior Flag)
– Ouse Valley Eagles (Senior)
Apologies for any inconvenience caused, we hope to return to our usual practice schedule next week.
To register your interest in joining one of our teams please complete the form below:
Start your Super Bowl Sunday the right way!
Our Senior Team are holding an Open Session between 11am and 12.30pm today at the University of Bedfordshire on Polhill Avenue in Bedford.
American Football is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and with the success of the NFL International Series interest in the game has never been higher.
If you are aged 18 or above and have always fancied having a go why not try it out and see how you get on? No previous experience is necessary, as our team of qualified coaches will put you through your paces running a series of passing, catching, running and blocking drills designed to give you a real taste of American Football.
If you want to know what to expect at the session, check out this highlights video from our previous Bedford session in November:
There are a few things you’ll need to bring with you to the session:
– Water (recommended 2L but the more the better).
– Rugby or football boots as the session will be taking place on grass
– Shorts/Joggers or similar
– Top of some kind: sweatshirt, t-shirt or similar
– Gumshield
Registration for today’s session opens at 10.45am, where you will be asked to complete a simple registration form. If you would like to download a registration form and complete it ahead of the session, you can do so here.