East Kilbride Pirates’ women’s team will go for glory on home turf this weekend when they compete in the UK Flag Finals at Ravenscraig.
The competition is being held in Scotland for the first time and the town’s gridiron team will hope they can use that to their advantage on Saturday.
Pirates Women will play either Leeds Samurai or Sheffield Giants in the quarter-finals, with those sides battling out a preliminary tie.
Head Coach Andrew Gibson says his side are relishing the challenge and hopes they can improve on a third place finish last time out in 2019.
He said: “This weekend the best of the Women’s Flag Football League come to Ravenscraig to compete for the championship, and we can’t wait to be a part of it.
“With a bye from the first round secured, we’re playing the waiting game to see who we face in the quarter finals, but whoever emerges, we’ll be ready to press on and improve on our third place finish in 2019.
“Our 2021 season, so far, has been a big success in my eyes.
“With the background of Covid-19 and uncertainty around the format and travel there were a lot of moving pieces but I can’t commend the players and coaches enough for their enthusiasm in how they’ve attacked the schedule.
“Two years off was a lot of rust to knock off, especially when we were coming off our most successful campaign and expectations were higher than ever.
“The players trained hard through the off-season and several got some well earned call-ups to be part of the National Programme, showing the real progress that the EK Women’s Flag team has made since its inception. “
The Pirates finished their regular season ranked the number four seeds overall in the UK out of 13 teams, which qualified them for a place in the grand finals.
And club chair Amanda McDonald added: “As a club we’re extremely proud of the success of our women’s flag team. The players and coaches have worked so hard this year to make sure they’re in a great place after our extended, enforced Covid-19 break.
“After years of travelling at this stage of the competition, to be playing for a championship spot on home turf is a huge deal for us.
"Along with the support of all our Pirates friends and family, we hope it’ll give us an edge.”
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