Developing Local Links
The Bristol Aztecs Youth & Junior program teaches the game to the next generation of Bristol American footballers. Taking players from the age of 15 upwards, the Youth team competes in the British Youth American Football Association (BYAFA) championships.
The Aztecs aim to continue developing their links into the local community and offer the opportunity for any young person to become a part of the club. If you are an organisation working with young people, we need your help to make Bristol’s Youth aware of the team and the sport.

Similarly, if you are a young person interested in promoting the team in your local school, college or club, you can help!

International Aspirations
2004 saw ten Aztec Youth players selected to represent their country, as part of the Great Britain Lions Youth team. 2005 that number increased to 16 including Coaches Ben Herod and Damon Kirby who were invited to be part of the coaching setup.
Aztec Youth Head Coach Ben Herod is a strong supporter of the GB Lions Youth program, noting that it exposes the game’s young players to the very best coaching and a level of competition unmatched at club level. Every Aztec who has been part of the GB squad has come back a better player.

The road to playing for their country is not an easy one, however. Those Aztecs who can afford to pay for trips across the country to GB trials, still face the considerable costs associated with attending GB training camps, and going on tour. Out of the ten Aztecs invited to join the Lions in 2004, just four managed to make the trip, as the remaining young stars were unable to meet the financial demands of turning out for their country.

From here the kids have legitimate chances at giving themselves a brighter future through using Football to gain a college Education through a full football scholarship to top American Universities like 2006 youth team graduate Toran Williams.

They are also given the chance to get seen by the NFL Europe Scouts and can be invited to the invitation only NFL Europe tryouts with a shot at turning pro. In 2006 Adam Stenlake, Anthony Lartey, Ben Cooper, Oliver Skuse and Eric Bruce were all invited to the National Player try outs in London with Eric Bruce being one of just a hand full of players selected Nationally to move forward to European tryouts in Barcelona.

Please note that our Youth team coaches and officials are registered under the Child Protection Act.

As this is an out of school club for the youngsters (many of whom are from very poor backgrounds) the team is entirely self funded. Meaning all the costs incurred by the team are paid for by its players and coaching staff. The team is not run to make profit but rather to covers the costs it is likely to incur each year. For many players this cost is to high to allow them to play our sport. That's where your financial contributions can help. We can not only offer you the chance to give back to your community by helping these kids but also offer great local and National media coverage too. All of our game reports and special interest stories are picked up by the following media partners, which is in no small part due to the excellent photos taken by local sports photographer, Pete Tiley, of all our games and events.

Bristol Sport.net is Bristol's premium sports website covering all the local sports with stunning photographs from local photographers such as Peter Tiley and Gary Bray. The website sees a huge amount of local interest as they cover all the local amateur sports with results and tables all the way to the top local teams such as Bristol City and Rovers and the Bristol Rugby Team. Bristol Sport.net has covered all of the Aztecs events and games over the past few years and kindly allows us to use their photographs on our website.

GWR is Bristol’s Brighter Mix, reaching over 370,000 weekly listeners and enjoying a 14.8% share of the region’s listeners. The Aztecs appear regularly on the station, with interviews and news reports of Aztec successes both on and off the pitch.
2005 sees Aztecs news and results being included in the station’s regular sports bulletins. Sports Reporter Ben Moss will be covering the Aztecs throughout the season

BBC Radio Bristol's 280,000 weekly listeners frequently hear about the Aztecs, who are often studio guests on the peak time breakfast slot. As well as appearing on Super Bowl previews, plus pre- and post-match interviews, the station keeps up to date with Aztec human feature stories.

BBC On-Line covered all the 2005-06 National Championship run for the Aztecs and continues to cover the teams games and special interest stories. The site reaches out to millions each year.

Bristol Evening Post is the city’s dominant daily newspaper, boasting a readership of over 180,000, reaching 15% of the region’s adult population. The Aztecs have been covered many times, whether it be game reports, news of Aztec charity drives, recruitment or other feature stories.

Venue, Bristol & Bath’s weekly what’s on magazine, lists Aztec matches in it’s regular listings. The magazine also featured the club in a half-page spread, talking about the Aztecs’ history, achievements and mission to offer the game to the people of Bristol.

Infinite is an independent television & video production company, making programs for terrestrial regional, network and satellite television. Infinite joined an Aztec practice, to film an episode of ‘Boys Toys Reloaded’, the documentary series commissioned by Carlton West Country and HTV West. The show aired on both networks in 2004

Top Gear magazine is Britain’s best-selling general motoring monthly, with a circulation of over 150,000. The Aztecs appeared in the magazine in 2002, shown test driving a range of ‘rugged’ vehicles, based on the principle of the players needing a no nonsense mode of transport for any occasion.

ITV West is a strong supporter of American Football in the South West, featuring local American Football success stories several times in the last year. The station broadcasts to over two million viewers in the area.

Depending on the sum of money you are investing we will work the best coverage for you. We can a whole range of options including full team sponsorship with your name on our uniforms and all printed and web related media to individual spornsorship or game ball sponsorship.

 

Getting Involved
Whilst we are updating our sponsorship pack please email us (Head Coach Ben Herod) for further information on getting involved with our youth team.