In 2008, CEFL will be more international than ever — with the Wild Boars out of the league and three other teams becoming new members, Serbia no longer has the largest number of teams. Instead, Hungary will also be represented by two teams, one of which are the Budapest Cowboys, an ambitious team in both the CEFL and their native league in Hungary.
With the perception that they’re not quite on the level of other Hungarian team, the Budapest Wolves, CEFL Online talked to Péter Ádám, a player, but also part of the team’s management, who says the Cowboys have been working hard to prepare themselves for the challenges of next season. Going for them will be a large roster and a large coaching staff, headed by Laszló Pacuk, including three foreign coaches.
You are a new team this year with Zagreb and Bratislava and I guess a lot of people will be thinking you’re not that good; what do you say about that?
We hope we will dispel the doubts, and we will prove that we are good enough for this league. I am proud to tell that our team is Hungary’s fastest developing team. This year might be tough for us, but we believe that this is the best way to sustain the improvement. We can keep improving in a higher league with excellent teams. I am confident that we will convince the doubters, because we had a very tough winter period, but we will see on the field.
So what are your goals in 2008?
We play in two leagues. In the Hungarian division I, which we want to definitely win, but the minimum goal is the final. The CEFL is a difficult question. Without experience I would say that the goal is to prove that we belong to this league. We would like to play at least one more after the regular season. Our other goals are to improve the number and the knowledge of our players.
When it comes to Hungarian teams in CEFL, the Wolves have set the bar high, how do you think you compare to them at this point?
The bar is really high; the Wolves had a very good year in 2007. I think we will be able to grow up to this level. At least we will do everything we are able to do.
Do you think being in different conferences is a good thing, or would you have preferred to play them more regularly, from a rivalry standpoint?
We like to play against the Wolves but we also like the diversity. Playing against different teams gives us more experience; therefore we are happy with this. At least once we play against them in the regular season and I hope we both make it to the playoffs and there we might meet again.
How do you think you’ll handle two competitions, more from a performance on the field standpoint, than financially?
We need more and more experience to improve ourselves. We will have games almost every week in the spring and summer. We know that it will be tough but as I already mentioned we had a very hard winter program. Therefore I think we will be able to handle it. We have a very large roster and the coaches can choose the best players from it.