Kiel Baltic Hurricanes
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Founded | 1988 |
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League | German Football League |
Based in | Kiel, Germany |
Stadium | Kilia Stadion |
Colors | Green, White and Orange |
Head coach | Timo Zorn |
Manager | Gunnar Peter |
Championships | German Bowl: 2010 EFL Bowl: 2014, 2015 |
Division titles | GFL North: 2008, 2010–2012 |
Website | www.baltic-hurricanes.de/ |
The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes are an American football team based in Kiel, Germany.
The club has been, of recent, a strong force in the sport in Germany, playing in five consecutive German Bowls from 2008 to 2012, losing the first two, winning the third, and losing the fourth and fifth.
The club is part of the American Sports Club Kiel e.V.[1]
History
Founded in 1988, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes first took part in competitive football in 1989, when they entered the tier-four Landesliga Nord. The club had some quick success, reaching the tier-two 2nd Bundesliga Nord by 1993. After back-to-back championships in this league, the Hussicanes played in the 1st Bundesliga Nord from 1996. This league would eventually become the German Football League. The Hurricanes reached the play-offs from 1997 to 2000, making it to the semi finals once, in 1999, but were relegated in 2002.[2]
Restarting in the tier-three Regionalliga Nordost, the club quickly recovered, playing in the GFL once more from 2007 onwards, now with much greater success.[2]
The club came third in its division in 2007 and was knocked-out in the play-off quarter finals, but managed to win its division the following year. The Hurricanes managed to reach their first German Bowl that season, but lost to the Braunschweig Lions, who made their last of twelve consecutive German Bowl appearances, ending the golden era of the later club.[3]
Kiel came second in 2009, on equal points with the Berlin Adler. The two teams met in the German Bowl, but unlike 2008, when Kiel had defeated Berlin in the semi finals, this time the club from the German capital triumphed. In 2010, Kiel once more topped its division and advanced to the German Bowl, once more against the Berlin Adler. This time, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes proved the stronger and managed to win their first national German title.[3]
Kiel won its division again in 2011, defeated the Munich Cowboys in the quarter finals and the Düsseldorf Panther in the semi finals of the play-offs and advanced to the German Bowl again where they met the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns.[4] The 33rd edition was the highest scoring German Bowl so far, ending with a 48–44 victory for the Unicorns, who thereby ended an 18-year title drought for the south. It was also the highest score achieved by any team losing a German Bowl at the time.[5]
In 2012, the club once more won its division, only losing one game during the regular season away at Düsseldorf Panther, and reaching the German Bowl again against Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, losing 53–56 in the championship game and topping the previous year's score. In 2013, the team came in on third place and was knocked out in the semi-finals of the playoffs by Braunschweig.
The club participated in the 2014 European Football League and won the inaugural EFL Bowl when it defeated the Badalona Dracs 40–0 in the final. In the GFL the club came fourth in the northern division in 2014 but lost 24–50 to the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
In 2015, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes competed in the EFL tournament and defended their title in the final against the Allgäu Comets. The team finished third in the northern division of the GFL and lost to the Allgäu Comets in the quarter finals of the playoffs.
Despite missing the EFL Bowl in 2016, the Hurricanes GFL season was more successful than the previous years'. The team again finished third in the northern division of the GFL, thus securing a playoff spot for the tenth year in a row. With a huge defensive effort the Canes won the first round (quarterfinal) against Frankfurt Universe 10–3 and advanced to the semifinal for the first time since 2013. Here, they lost 21–38 to the New Yorker Lions. [6]
Honours
- EFL Bowl
- Champions: 2014, 2015
- German Bowl
- Champions: 2010
- Runners-up: (4) 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012
- EFL
- Participations: 2011, 2014
- GFL
- Northern Division champions: (4) 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012
- Play-off qualification : (15) 1997–2000, 2007–2017
- League membership : (20) 1996–2002, 2007–present
- GFL 2
- Northern Division champions: 1994, 1995, 2005, 2006
German Bowl appearances
The club's appearances in the German Bowl:[7]
Bowl | Date | Champions | Runners-Up | Score | Location | Attendance |
XXX | September 29, 2008 | Braunschweig Lions | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | 20–14 | Frankfurt | 16,177 |
XXXI | October 3, 2009 | Berlin Adler | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | 28–21 | Frankfurt | 14,234 |
XXXII | October 9, 2010 | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | Berlin Adler | 17–10 | Frankfurt | 11,121 |
XXXIII | October 8, 2011 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | 48–44 | Magdeburg | 11,711 |
XXXIV | 13 October 2012 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | 56–53 | Berlin | 11,242 |
Recent seasons
Recent seasons of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes:[3][4][8][9][10]
Year | Division | Finish | Points | Pct. | Games | W | D | L | PF | PA | Postseason |
2005 | GFL 2 (North) | 1st | 24–4 | 0.857 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 372 | 162 | Lost RR: Düsseldorf Panther (14–33 & 7–10) |
2006 | 1st | 20–2 | 0.909 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 386 | 99 | Won RR: Düsseldorf Panther (30–0 & 27–30) | |
2007 | GFL (North) | 3rd | 15–9 | 0.625 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 256 | 159 | Lost QF: Marburg Mercenaries (16–21) |
2008 | 1st | 17–7 | 0.708 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 294 | 160 | Won QF: Weinheim Longhorns (47–21) Won SF: Berlin Adler (17–12) Lost GB: Braunschweig Lions (14–20) | |
2009 | 2nd | 18–2 | 0.900 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 231 | 178 | Won QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (20–6) Won SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (22–21) Lost GB: Berlin Adler (21–28) | |
2010 | 1st | 22–2 | 0.917 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 289 | 158 | Won QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (23–21) Won SF: Dresden Monarchs (14–0) Won GB: Berlin Adler (17–10) | |
2011 | 1st | 24–4 | 0.857 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 444 | 224 | Won QF: Munich Cowboys (45–6) Won SF: Düsseldorf Panther (45–21) Lost GB: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (44–48) | |
2012 | 1st | 26–2 | 0.929 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 593 | 272 | Won QF: Stuttgart Scorpions (70–22) Won SF: Dresden Monarchs (35–14) Lost GB: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (53–56) | |
2013 | 3rd | 20–8 | 0.714 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 485 | 249 | Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries (47–9) Lost SF: New Yorker Lions (29–34) | |
2014 | 4th | 14–10 | 0.583 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 330 | 280 | Lost QF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (24–50) | |
2015 | 3rd | 18–6 | 0.750 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 469 | 251 | Lost QF: Allgäu Comets (27–39) | |
2016 | 3rd | 21–7 | 0.750 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 483 | 297 | Won QF: Frankfurt Universe (10–3) Lost SF: New Yorker Lions (21–38) | |
2017 | 2nd | 20–8 | 0.714 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 531 | 323 | Won QF: Marburg Mercenaries (28–14) Lost SF: Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (11–33) | |
2018 | 6th | 9–19 | 0.321 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 297 | 394 | — | |
2019 | 7th | 5–23 | 0.179 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 210 | 425 | — | |
2020 | No season played because of the COVID-19 pandemic |
- RR = Relegation round.
- QF = Quarter finals.
- SF = Semi finals.
- GB = German Bowl.
References
- ^ American Sports Club Kiel e.V. (in German) Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, accessed: 4 January 2011
- ^ a b History (in German) Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, accessed: 4 January 2011
- ^ a b c Football History (in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
- ^ a b GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
- ^ Unicorns gewinnen German Bowl XXXIII (in German) GFL website, published: 8 October 2011, accessed: 12 October 2011
- ^ Hurricanes' GFL Statistics 2016
- ^ Bowls Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
- ^ GFL 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
- ^ GFL 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
- ^ GFL 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- (in German) Official website
- (in German) German Football League official website
- (in German) Football History Historic American football tables from Germany