Gladiators Head Coach Receives Award

Gladiators Head Coach Honoured At Coaching Convention....

The Colchester Gladiators are pleased to announce that Head Coach Matt Roberts received the prestigious “Coach of the Year” award at last weekend’s (July 4/5th) British American Football Coaches Association (BAFCA) annual convention.

Coach Roberts, in only his second year at the helm of one of the country’s oldest clubs, was presented with the award at the annual gathering of the country’s finest, where he was also making a presentation.

The award, in the senior adult tackle section, is awarded to the coach who shows constant development within a programme. A BAFCA spokesman stated that the award winner also needs to be engaged with coaching on a wider basis and must be a BAFCA member. Roberts was originally appointed Gladiators Youth team coach in 2007 which he did alongside his duties as Defensive Co-ordinator for the Essex Blades from Essex University, before applying for the top job after Karl Bourke stepped down.

In Robert’s first season with the Gladiators, an amount of rebuilding was required after the team’s relegation from Division One.The young coach put together an exciting coaching team and gave the team a new identity, leading the Gladiators to the playoffs with a 7-3 record, with two of the defeats against the eventual champions, London Cobras. The third defeat, a narrow 7-0 loss to the East Kent Mavericks, was emphatically avenged when the team overturned a 24-8 deficit to score 44 unanswered points for a 52-24 win. A long road trip to Cardiff followed against the highly rated South Wales Warriors and although the Gladiators just came up short, some solid foundations had been laid towards this season’s current 7-0 record.

Coach Roberts said, “I’m honoured to receive this award from my peers. However, I feel it is a team award and must give thanks to my coaching team of Tarquin Stephenson, Neil O’Hare and Karl Bourke, and to the commitment of the players. And while I am proud of what we have achieved last season and so far this season, it will all mean nothing if we fail to reach our ultimate target of winning the Division Two championship. There is still a lot of football to be played.”

Gladiators Wedding

Former Gladiators player and current Equipment Manager Matt Bovingdon' s wedding was held on Saturday 11th July 2009 at St. Mary's Church, Great Bentley.

Matt married Kelly Mc Gillivray on a lovely summer's day in Essex, with the reception being held at Wivenhoe House Hotel, (a stone's throw away from the Gladiators home ground!).

The Colchester Gladiators organisation would like to send congratulations to the happy couple and good luck for their future life together.

Gladiators Blow Out the Cobwebs

This Sunday the Gladiators welcomed the Maidstone Pumas to their training pitch at the Charles Lucas centre for sport.

The teams ran specific plays in a controlled scrimmage. Each team having the chance to run scripted plays from the 15, 10 and 5 yard lines.

The excercise was a first taste for several rookie players giving a chance to see what to expect in a game day scenario and served as a valuable teaching excercise for both teams.

The Gladiators can now look forward to their pre season game against the Norwich Devils on the 29th of this month.

Colchester Gladiators Launch School Initiative

Today a team from the Colchester Gladiators consisting of Nick Foxley, Dave Hogarth, Rich Thomas and Martin Wilmott gave a presentation to the school PE co-ordinators of the Colchester area.

Approximately 70 sports co-ordinators listened and asked questions as the Colchester Gladiators launched their initiative to get American Football played in schools.

The overall feedback from the presentation was very positive with many schools showing interest in signing up for the project and asking for one to one meetings with the team.

It has long been an aim of the Gladiators to see American football played in schools on a permanent basis. The plan has been drawn up and the neccessary equipment, trained personal and opportunites are now in place to make this a reality. The Gladiators look forward to introducing American football in a big way to the school population in the coming weeks.

Gladiators appoint new youth team head coach

Colchester Gladiators are pleased to announce that the Club has appointed Dave Hogarth as the new Youth Team Head Coach.
Our very own Britball veteran Coach Dave Hogarth brings to the Youth set up a wealth of experience & dedication to the Gladiators. He will be passing on his knowledge to the Youth team players which will enhance & develop their skills & knowledge of the sport.

Coach Hogarth is already making his presence felt & is working hard to prepare the youth team for their first competitive season. The Club hopes to have two scrimmages confirmed before their regular season fixtures commence.

Dave and club secretary Tom Burridge were recently interviewed on local radio. The interview can be heard by clicking here.

Youth Team training takes place currently on Saturday mornings - 10am-1pm - at Sir Charles Lucas Sports Centre, Hawthorn Avenue, Colchester, new players to the existing squad are always made very welcome.

From Colchester to the Superbowl

This weekend American football fans from around the world will settle down on Sunday night for the pinnacle of the NFL season.

The superbowl is regarded as the biggest sporting event in America. Advertisers pay millions of dollars to run 30 second commercial as most of America and a very large population outside of the states will be watching.


Amongst all the razzmatazz a British player wil be on the sidelines. Marvin Allen has been on the practise squad of the Pitsburgh steelers and has been involved in helping the team prepare for the Arizona Cardinals.

Marvin visited the Colchester Gladiators earlier in the season for the Gladiators v Cobras game where he was introduced to the teams mascot for the day and the mayor. Who would have believed that a British player could go from the Broad lane Stadium to the biggest event in football in Tampa Bay.

Hopefully when Marvin next returns to Colchester he'll be wearing a superbowl ring. We'll be watching.

Colchester Gladiators Season Beginsl

On what was probably one of the frostiest mornings of the year the Colchester Gladiators 2009 season began.2 months before the start of the season there is a lot of work that needs to happen before the various teams can take to the field.

Today (Sunday 11 Jan) was the first step. The day started with everyone meeting inside the gymnasium of the Charles lucas Sports centre. After a brief introduction from Tom Burridge (club secretary) details of everybody present were taken.

The large gathering was the split into their respective groups which included, 10-14 year olds flag American football, 15-18 Youth contact football, Senior contact football, Dance team and Team judges.

As is the custom at the gladiators the whole club warms up together and then the various teams within the club separate for individual coaching.

Drills included specific position training and some basic playing mechanics. New and old mixed in together and very soon the new faces caught onto the Gladiator team spirit.



The day was a big success with many old faces returning to the fold but pleasingly a lot of new faces. The skill level on show even at this very early stage in the season was very high.

Anyone interested in joining any of the Gladiators teams are welcome to come along. Training takes place for the senior and youth teams on Saturday mornings from 10am - 1pm (approx). Dance team training takes place on Thursdays ( Contact danceteam@colchestergladiators.org.uk ) and Junior flag training (10-14 year olds) takes place on Sundays from 10am. The team judges training is due to officially start within the next two weeks please e-mail secretary@colchestergladiators.org.uk if you think it is something that may interest you.

Everyone, and anyone is made welcome at the gladiators.