Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PastSeoul]

Hi Everyone,

There is going to be a meeting on March 13th at 4:00pm Sam Ryan's Sports Pub regarding playing tackle football for this team. There will also be another meeting on March 20th at the same time for any people who can't be there the weekend before.

As some of you may or may not know, there is an established American Tackle Football League in Korea. The KNFL is a league which has been playing for a while and allows foreigners to play in Korea, which a few of us have. The KNFL even plays some of its games on TV on the XSports channel.

For various reasons, I have decided to organize a completely independant team of players. The KNFL currently has restrictions on how many foreigners can play on the field at a time. I am going to petition to the KNFL to allow us to play in that league, but I am not sure how that petition will work out. I am hopeful considering that I, and other people that are going to be involved with the team, have a considerable number of contacts within the Korean community and will be able to convince the KNFL to let us play in the league, but there is nothing that guarantees that we can play in the league. The KNFL typically runs from late September until early January with games happening every 2 or 3 weeks. If we can't play in this league because we have too many foreigners, the schedule for the team will consist of mainly exhibition games again the various 7 men's team here in Korea, or the 25 (approx.) university teams in Korea. I would hope to have about 10-12 games a year, but perhaps not that many in our first season.

Previously the two Seoul based teams in the KNFL, the Caps and the Vikings, have had most of the foreigners who played football in the KNFL. However most, if not all, of the foreigners on those teams have decided to join this team. There are also players who are going to play on this team from places as far away as Chuncheon, Chengju, and Yeosu. Please don't think that you have to be from Seoul to join this team, it will just require a bit more time for you if you are out of Seoul. There are a lot of people who are really serious about joining this team and making it a success.

Personally I will be coaching and administrating the team. I have a lot of experience within football, from all aspects within the sport. The people who already know about this team know me and my familiarity with the sport. I will also have an executive committee of hopefully 8 players who will be responsible for discussing team issues and helping to make decisions that are best for the team and its future. This veterans committee will be people who I am familiar with and hopefully some new people who I am not familiar with.

I hope to model our team somewhat after the Seoul Survivors rugby club in that we will probably play mainly exhibition games within Korea, and probably play 1 or 2 games overseas a year. After we establish our reputation within Asia, teams will want to come to Korea and play us here, much like our rugby counterparts now enjoy. My plan is to have a 12 week spring program, starting April 3rd weekend going through until June 19th. The first two weeks would just be for conditioning and throwing the ball around at practice and drills. We would put the pads on for the first time April 17th weekend. Hopefully we could play two exhibition games in June. We will take an 8 week break because of vacations and the sweltering heat here from June 20th until August 21st. Then we will have practices and games from August until hopefully January if we play in the Korean league, or at least November if we can't.

I have two very good, but seperate, contacts about getting equipment for players at a very good price. Our third and last resort, which I do not forsee us having to use, is a Korean company in Busan which typically imports football equipment.

We will have a lot of costs that we will incur throughout the year. Renting fields, buses, airfare, hotels. referees etc. all will be things that will be discussed at the meeting. I have secured one sponsor for the team already, who will help us with our costs, and I will also be approaching some other companies that I know and see if I can get more sponsorship. As players we are going to definitely have to pay for some of these things ourselves, as well as the equipment. My basic advice: if you are drinking away your whole pay each weekend, you probably can't afford this. If you want a great stress relieving activity and the camraderie of a great group of guys who share common goals and interests, start saving a bit of money now. We will have a team account that everybody will contribute to equally.

Finally, my most important point. This is going to be a football team that plays hard, both on and off the field. I don't care what level anyone is as a player, there will be a spot for you on the team in some capacity. Playing time will be influenced by how many people join us. I, like most, want to win, but I also want everyone to participate. We will talk more about this at the meetings.

The email address that you can get a hold of me at will be [email protected]. There is also going to be a Google Buzz page which I will post and update later. Don't PM me here at this site as this account is too new to reply to you.

[whome33]

Sounds great, I'm itching to play some football. But a few questions.
what is the level of play like? I only played highschool football in Canada, will I be alright?
And what about time commitments? Id like to play, but I have a job, life too..unlike back in highschool when football was everything. How often would we practice?
I will be at Sam's forsure!!

[PastSeoul]

Thanks for the questions.

My assessment of the leagues here is that most of the teams play at about high school JV for the US or high school senior football for Canada. If you have played high school football in either country, you can play in this league.

As for time commitments, I am going to only make one practice or game a week 'mandatory'. I am hoping that people try to come to 60% of the practices, and all of the games. I understand that events, general weekends, and vacations happen. There might be voluntary get together's with certain position groups as well, for example, perhaps the DB's and receivers decide to get together for an hour one night to just throw some balls and run patterns against each other. That will be up to the various positions to decide.

I am looking forward to seeing you at Sam Ryan's on the 13th.

[whome33]

i am kindof surprised at the lack of response on this board. although, maybe i shouldnt be. i guess the folks who browse an internetr forum regularily might not exactly be the 'athletic type'

[PastSeoul]

[IamBabo]

PastSeoul,

This is a great idea! I wish I was 10 years younger, I'd play in a second. Played QB, RB, WR, and FS in HS. What about someone to just help out and throw some balls to the guys in practice? Strapping on pads isn't an option at my age, but was wondering if you had non-player positions available?

Thanks...

[PastSeoul]

[IamBabo]

Thanks, I'll come to the meeting and check it out. It's not necessarily age, it's the busted up knees...

[PastSeoul]

[PastSeoul]

A note for everyone, the meeting at Sam Ryan's next week has been changed from 2pm to 4pm due to some scheduling conflicts. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there who has contacted me about this so far.

[PastSeoul]

Here is a map for directions to Sam Ryan's pub located in Itaewon.

http://www.samryans.com/Directions.htm

See you on Saturday!

[goniff]

the big issues would be:
officiating (finding qualified officials since this seems to be a problem even for the NFL)

health insurance (for the inevitable injuries and hospital time)

[PastSeoul]

There are qualified officials, but don't we always use the word qualified in loose terms when it comes to officiating? All sports have problems with officiating.

Health insurance covers most of the costs for injuries.

[PastSeoul]

Just a reminder for those who were at the first meeting, and a note for those who weren't at the first meeting, but are coming to the second one, the meeting is scheduled for Saturday March 27th at 4:00pm. I am out of the country right now, so the second meeting has been moved back by a week.

See everybody then.

[mistermasan]

where will the team be based? practices where?