If you’ve heard the roars of a crowd at Prague’s Viktoria Zizkov stadium, there’s a chance it’s been fans of the Prague Lions, the American football team who recently qualified for the European League of Football (ELF) this season. This past week, I sat down with head coach Zach Harrod and quarterback Shazzon Mumphrey to talk about what the process of stepping up into the ELF has meant for the team and for the sport here in Czechia.
Zach, you talk a lot about how much of a privilege it has been for you to grow American football over the past 20 years here in Czechia, tell me about that journey of developing the sport here.
“I think it’s important to give credit where credit’s due. In many ways, I’m standing on the shoulders of people who started growing the sport before me.
“The Lions started in 1991 when I was 11, and I came over ten years after that. But over the last 20 years it’s been an up and down, a rollercoaster in many ways.
“I came here in my mid 20’s wanting to coach and make a difference in lives through the sport, and realized that the game had far more potential.
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Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt