The U.S. Federation Men's National Team has accepted an invitation from the new European League of Football and its Commissioner, Mr. Patrick Esume, to compete in Berlin, Germany on October 3, 2021.

The European League of Football is a professional American football league, that is the first fully professional league in Europe since the demise of NFL Europe, in 2007.  The league consists of 8 teams located in Germany, Poland, and Spain, with plans to expand to at least 20 teams in future years.  The CEO of the League is Mr. Zeljko Karajica who is also the Managing Director of ProSiebenSat .1 Sports Media Network who will be providing a live television broadcast of the event across Germany and Europe.  

The Men's National Team will depart the United States on September 25, 2021 and conduct training camp during the week prior to the game.  Several media and social events are planned during the week leading up to the game.

The game is scheduled to be played at Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark which has a spectator capacity of about 20,000.

If an athlete is interested in applying for the team and has not completed the USFAF Athlete's Questionnaire Form, please go to https://usfaf.sportngin.com/register/form/121674476 to complete it.

Details and costs to participate will be sent to you.

We’ve all heard about “The Process” as it relates to Alabama head coach Nick Saban and his program.

When most hear the term, they immediately picture Saban on the practice field, voice raised, intensity in his eyes and coaching his rear off.

But in digging into exactly what “The Process” is, one finds that it goes well beyond football. It’s actually a life philosophy rooted in sound psychological advice. It’s something that can be life-changing if adhered to properly, regardless of profession or situation.

Here are five life lessons we can all use from Saban’s process.

1- Focus on right now

As human beings, the most intelligent organisms on the planet, we tend to think deeply both about past and future. At times, if one is stuck in the past or overly-concerned about what lies ahead, it can be paralyzing in terms of important progress to be made today. We can’t do anything about yesterday and we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. Focus on today because that’s really all you’ve got.

2- Eliminate the clutter

We all have thoughts that come and go on a daily basis that aren’t necessarily related to the task at hand. This “clutter” can cause an internal train wreck in our minds and quite often can derail the best intentions of a single day. Get rid of the clutter. Block it out no matter what you have to do to do it. Ask yourself - “is this something that is relevant to what I have to do right now?” and if the answer is no, get it out of your head. Far too often, we get consumed with irrelevant thoughts.

3- Do not be attached to outcomes

This is at the core of The Process. The story is that when Saban was coaching at Michigan State, prior to the Spartans heading to Columbus to face No. 1 Ohio State, he instructed his team to simply focus on the next play like it was a game within itself and not worry about winning. The result? Michigan State upset the Buckeyes, 28-24, in one of the signature wins of Saban’s early career. It’s great to have goals, but in order to reach those goals, one has to put supreme focus on what it takes to achieve those goals, otherwise you will never get there.

4- Adversity is your friend

Saban has quoted the first like of the book The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. The quote simply reads “Life is difficult”. That’s true. There won’t be a person on this Earth that does not face some sort of adversity along the path of life. While having to overcome adversity isn’t all that pleasant at times, Saban says that the achievements in the face of adversity are what makes achievements even more worthwhile.

5- Mental toughness and discipline are paramount

To face the certain adversity in life, one must have mental toughness to push forward and be able to block out the clutter, focus on today, etc. They also must have the discipline to handle the day’s business, which won’t always be the comfortable decision. Saban remarked in a speech once that most people have something every day that they don’t want to do, but they know they should, so they do it (or the opposite). Likewise most people have something every day that they know they should not do and they choose not to (or the opposite). It’s these daily choices that are influenced by our discipline and mental toughness in terms of having the strength to make the right ones.

It’s quite interesting that Saban’s success as a head coach has really come down to a life philosophy. Regardless of anyone’s opinion of the Alabama football program, Saban or anything else that rabid fans of other teams love to hate on, this type of advise is good for all of us to follow if we want to be successful. I know I picked up a lot of useful information in studying up on it and would encourage you to do the same.

JC Shurburtt  @jcshurburtt

“IFAF welcomes a new and very much needed chapter in the development of American Football worldwide. The new US member will represent the whole football community of United States”, stated Mr. Tommy Wiking, the IFAF President.

The U.S. Federation of American Football (USFAF) originally founded in 2009 to manage the operations in support of adult amateur football and the international club level team, The USA Eagles, which was founded in 2002. Since that time, Mr. Rudy Wyland has been the Executive Director and he was the Head Coach for the Eagles Club team.

“We’re honored to be working with IFAF and are committed to a strong and cooperative relationship with IFAF and all the member nations. For our organization, this is a welcome recognition of nearly 15 years of effort in international and domestic football programs”, said Mr. Rudy Wyland, the first man of the U.S. Federation of American Football. He added:

“This year we have restructured to obtain our government’s recognition as a non-profit organization, which was also a requirement of IFAF for consideration as a member. I remained as Executive Director but now will become the Head Coach of our USFAF Men’s National Team and will relinquish my duties as a coach with the USA Eagles Football Club. Keven Booker has accepted the position of Head Coach of that program”, said Mr. Wyland.

USFAF has agreed to comply with the IFAF Anti-doping rules and with the restructuring, USFAF also formalized its competitive programs. The USA Eagles Football Club will continue to play other international club-level teams in IFAF-USFAF sanctioned friendly events.

Also, USFAF has expanded to include women’s, flag and U-19 programs. There is a strong relationship with women’s and flag football as well as adult amateur football. It is expected that USFAF will continue to expand its programs and membership over the coming years.

Through USFAF National Team Programs, the organization intends to participate in as many world events sanctioned by IFAF as possible. Mr. Wyland said it is a vital component of our organization.

“We will form National Teams for all the disciplines governed by IFAF”, he stressed.

The first big step for USFAF is going to be participation at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland. The U.S. Federation of American Football learned in December 2016 that American football was to be included in World Games 2017 by reading the IFAF website and press releases.

“We were intrigued and excited about our sport being included in such a prestigious event.  We reached out to Mr. Tommy Wiking, the President of IFAF,  in hope that we might be considered for the U.S. Representative role in these games and then applied to IFAF for membership”, Mr. Wyland explained, adding the following:

“The inclusion of American football in the World Games is very exciting. We’re sure the competition will be challenging. We know about how well Germany and Poland play the sport. It’s grown so much in Poland in the past several years. Germany, for its part, has been an international leader in helping American football grow. As for France, well, we’ve known France for many years.  Our USA Eagles Football Club program has played the French National Team twice and have found them to be great football opponents and friends. These are all very important relationships and the best way to grow our sport is to nurture it through these competitions”, Mr. Wyland concluded.