LEEDS CELTICS

You are more than welcome to come down to a few training sessions to decide whether the sport is for you before committing to membership, but once you are ready, please follow these steps:

1. Click on the top-right button to take you to the University Union website, log in, and buy an American Football membership through the Union.

2. Pay for the hire of all the items of kit that you require for the season - cost TBC

3. Request to join the Leeds Celtics 2015-16 Facebook Group, where all the information about the season, training, socials, and all other aspects of Celtic life is posted. 

4. That's it - turn up to training, and enjoy participating in one of the fastest growing sports in the country!

The Leeds Celtics are the American Football team for the University of Leeds, and are one of the older teams in the country, founded in 1989. The Celtics have reached post-season football almost every year, and were crowned National Champions of the 1996/97 season. In the 2012/13 season, the team reached the semi-fnals of the National Challenge Trophy play-offs, losing to Southampton.

You certainly won't be alone in this- about 90% of the team hadn't played American Football in any form before joining, and you certainly won't be at a disadvantage - you'll be taught everything you need to know by our fully qualified positional coaches.

Whilst the rules appear complicated to people who have never played or followed the sport, you pick them up very quickly, and you'll be given a full introduction to the game in the first couple of practice sessions.

Absolutely not - the age range on our team last year stretched all the way from 1st year undergraduates to final-year PHD students - anyone and everyone is welcome to join.

We welcome players for whatever contribution they can make to the team, even if it is only for half a year. We are fortunate enough to have a US student joining us for this season (following in the footsteps of a number of Americans who played for us last year), who all made a huge contribution to the team. The timing of the season means that new arrivals after Christmas (particularly of players with significant previous experience) give the team vital momentum in the run up to the playoffs.

No, although if you do already own your own pads, you're more than welcome to bring them along! We are able to hire you all of the kit you need to play, short of a gumshield, socks and boots!

The Celtics play in the Teir 2 North-Midlands Division of the BUCS League, and a list of our fixtures for the upcoming season can be found here. Our opponents this year during the regular seaons will be, Manchester, Manchester Met, Bradford and York. In previous years we have been successful enough to enter the play-offs and face opponents from further a field such and Edinburgh and Southampton.

We have team socials on most Wednesdays (although you aren't obliged to come every week), and watch the NFL on Sunday nights at Carpe Diem in Leeds City Centre.

We require you to attend 2 training sessions a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays, as well as either a game or a 3rd training session on a Sunday. In total, on non-game weeks, this comes to about 8 hours, 7 of which are on the field, and 1 is a chalkboard session, where we learn plays and run through tactics in the build up to games.

We train at the University's playing fields at Weetwood,

next to the Oxley halls of residence:

Weetwood Playing Fields,

Otley Road

Leeds

LS16 5PS

Training Times:

Thursdays - 2000-2200 @ Weetwood

Saturdays - 1600-1800 @ Weetwood

Please use the contact form below, send us an email at admin@leeds-celtics.com, or ask us on Facebook. Join our Freshers group by clicking on the button below, and anyone on the committee will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.