History
Ljubljana Silverhawks team was established in 2001 and they played their first match in 2002 against the Venezia Mariners. Silverhawks were the only Slovenian team in the Alpe Adria league (Austria, Italy, Slovenia), and when the league folded in 2005, they joined the CEFL.
In 2009, Silverhawks game started picking up, however, they kept losing to SBB Vukovi Belgrade. But, in 2012, they managed to win. Now, Silverhawks want to focus more on domestic players, and raising their own domestic coaching staff. Also, in the same year, Silverhawks managed to stay unbeaten in the domestic, Slovenian, league for the third year straight.
Biggest team achievements – 2009 CEFL semifinalists, 2010 CEFL finalists, 2012 CEFL champions. Silverhawks won 3 national championships (2010-2012), and they’re also 2012 HSAN flag football champions.
Silverhawks like to say that the 2012 season was the best one so far – as they won all championships they have participated in. – “It was a culmination of 5-year hard work and was definitely a milestone in the era of sport of American Football in Slovenia”.
2013.
Silverhawks will bring only one import, since the economic crisis hit Slovenia really hard. They have lost a lot of domestic players as well – Igor Kušar OL, Alberto Martin OL, Milan Narat DE, Rok Sedej LB, Peter Namorš LB, Marko Bates CB, Marco Limoncin DL, Nikola Grbić RB, as well as Luka Fabiani, Jernej Gorički and Dejan Simonović.
“For the 2013 season, we lost a number of players and it’s hard for any team to replace 11 departured players with new ones and remain competitive. We’ll give our best to play as good as possible and reach the semifinals. From there on everything is possible. It’s American football after all!” says Rok Štamcar, offensive coordinator.
Team president, Uroš Valant, was afraid that the championship will spur the rash of retirements and departures in 2013, but the old winning mindset is back: “We’ll have to put young players into the lineup and shuffle some veteran players in order to remain competitive. Our goal for 2013 is to host the home semifinal game and then to play our best game possible. In national championships we’re hoping to remain unbeaten and then our youngsters will play in the national 2nd league. This year we’re starting a program which has a goal of raising a team of domestic coaches.”
The Team
In 2013, Silverhawks started with the school of American football for youth players. They also have a separate senior flag football team and girls flag football team called Ladyhawks. Both teams will participate in Croatian HASN championship and will also take part in several big flag football tournaments.
Silverhawks work with children charity groups, and are hosting charity events where the income is given away to the handicapped athletes. Blood donations are done on the regular.
Some of the biggest media coverage for the team were commercials and their own promotional videos. Besides that, some of their CEFL games are on TV.
“It takes a lot of time and good will to run a team like Ljubljana Silverhawks. We’re not just a team – we’re an organization. You have to know a lot about business, finances, corporate communication etc. We all work as volunteers for the team, however, it’s like having a 2nd job. It’s a 24/7 operation where you have to think about the team all the time. In previous years I was running most of the duties by myself, while Rok Štamcar took over the competition. Now, we have a different structure – with more people involved. Nejc Gselman is my deputy CFO, we have 4 positional coaches, and I also serve as the main coordinator between them. With the arrival of Keith Lockwood, our American QB, we’ll also have another coach who is tasked of coordinating our offense.” says Valant.
Americans
Silverhawks have quite a number of notable Americans who played for the team – Bo Moncur RB, Desmond Hendricks LB, Jordan Capitanio RB, Keithshone Dentzler DB and Anthony Gardner QB.
This year, as we already mention, they’re bringing one American player – Keith Lockwood, QB from Acadia University/Los Angeles Harbor Community College. Lockwood played for Badalona Dracs (Spain) in 2012. and during 8 games he had 13 passing TDs and 2 rushing TDs. Coaching Experience: 2 years as SMU (Saint Mary’s University, Halifax NS) QB coach.
Lockwood has just arrived to Slovenia and shared some of the experience: “I’ve only arrived to the city. Ljubljana is small but nice. I’ve been to Europe before, so I’m used to it. I like the team and the guys, they’re a very dedicated bunch. What I like is that everybody speaks English over here, so communication is not a problem. For 2013 I expect us to play well, the offense seems very good and we hope to score a lot of points. My goal is winning and I’ll dedicate all my time to the cause!”
Uniqueness
“In 2009 we played on May 30thagainst Budapest Cowboys. Just a few days ago we learned the one of our best and most respected players, David Turšič, lost his father. Of course he did not go with us on that day but it was one of those moments where every member of the team felt that he would do his best on the field. Cowboys managed to humiliate us in the 2009 opener at home and we knew it would be a hard game. We played in heavy rain and Cowboys featured several imports in their line-up while we had none at the time. It was a hard fought battle from the beginning to the end, but our guys just did not give up. Cowboys threw everything possible at us, but in the end we’ve managed to defend a small lead and seal the win with the interception by Jan Lipovec. We won that game for David and for me it was one of the most emotional games I’ve ever attended.” says Valant.