Cheesehead Zebra in England

Thanks Steve - I have tried all approaches. NFL Europe have been supportive but since the Claymores' franchise was moved to Germany we have no indigenous professional football to act as an inspiration. Our nearest amateur league club has offered to take the older ones into their youth squad, which is a great opportunity but not what they really want - they are interested in an after-school rather than a weekend activity (many have part-time jobs at the weekend).

thanks for the response - they are getting a little bored as they know each other so well now and can accurately predict plays!

Good morning I am a high school teacher (and lately a football coach) in England (yes, England, that quaint little place over The Pond). I have started an American Football club at my school and I have a small but growing number of teenagers who attend my twice-weekly practice sessions. We started with 5-man flag football and have just progressed to 5-man contact football. The lads are extremely keen, dedicated and becoming increasingly skillful but (this being the land where soccer rules supreme) there are no other schools in the area with football programs. I am in the very early stages of trying to persuade a couple of nearby schools to set up teams but this is several months away from bearing fruit. My problem is that some of my players are getting a little bored with intra-squad scrimmages and crave some 'real' games. How do I keep them sufficiently motivated over the next few months? Thanks in advance for any help or advice