The only American football team in Croatia, the Zagreb Thunder, will play a friendly match next Saturday in Zagreb against Belluno Grifoni from Italy. Playing against a more experienced team made out of American marines stationed in Italy will be a good test for the Croatian team. These two teams are planning another friendly after this one, this time in Aviano, where the Grifoni have been playing since 2003.
Zagreb put itself on the map of teams in this region by organizing a tournament named Cro Bowl in October last year. Although they finished last playing against Sremska Mitrovica, Ljubljana and Trieste, the team from Zagreb has since then seen increased interest in the sport.
Team president, Denis Geto, said for Croatian papers “Jutarnji List” that this season’s goal is to play as many games as possible so the players can gain enough experience, and also that everyone in the team is hoping that starting in 2008 they will be a part of SELAF. He also said that since last year’s tournament they have recruited around forty new players.
In a league meeting in Zagreb late last year, the Thunder have shown their interest in participating in SELAF this season, but their addition will be reconsidered after the season is over. In the meantime they will play a league against opponents from Hungary, Slovenia and Italy, so they can prepare themselves for next year.