American football in Peru: from 20 people in a park to a League of 9 teams that seeks to be a Federation

The spectacular nature of the Super Bowl means that American football is seen all over the world and Peru is no exception. However, American football already has a base in our country that has allowed it to grow in recent years, so much so that in a decade they went from about 50 players to have 9 teams that currently belong to the Peruvian American Football League (LPFA). .

there isn’t one Peruvian American Football Federation. It was created a few years ago, but it was never made official or registered, so it has been the clubs themselves who have been promoting the sport until now, having 9 teams with an average of 25 players for each of them. That is, more than 200 players ready to search for touchdowns and tackles.

“It started as a gathering of friends. Many of us saw the football on TV. I used to watch very short commercials in the 80s″tells us Óscar Sánchez, president and Head Coach of Dire Wolves. “At the beginning we were amateurs and clearly we didn’t even know what we were doing. We played in the park to throw the ball, basically what we saw in a movie, “ recalls Renato Arriola, a Raptors player, one of the first teams that in 2010 began practicing the sport.

Today, those memories are anecdotal, since the clubs have been working in good shape. There are 6 already with all the documentation in Public Records and another three are on the way. With that, the LPFA will also take out your registration to formally ask the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD) assume as a Federation.

The league clubs

the beginnings

Dire Wolves and Raptors were the first teams to start down the road. It was in 2010 that Wolves began the first steps that went beyond the recreational and two years later they were formalized, being the first American football club to do so.

This is how Óscar Sánchez remembers it. “It was a complicated process, because other disciplines are more accessible. In our case, the implements are more expensive and there are no fields”, tells us. He remembers that alongside them, in a park in San Borja, the players of the Peruvian Sports Federation of Quidditch were also training, who were advancing little by little. That’s what Oscar wanted to imitate. “The story started with a group of friends training. It was reported by word of mouth or through social networks. More people are arriving, with knowledge and it is growing. I promoted the formalization because the informal does not lead to anything. We knew that being organized was the best”remember and assure that Dire Wolves is like “the father of the community”, since the players who created the new teams came from there. “As a club, our goal was to promote the sport. It didn’t make sense for there to be just one team.”he assures.

“They were separating from the original teams more than anything by location. Because everyone trained in San Borja, next to the Pentagonito, about 20 people. Then it grew since about 15 people from San Juan de Lurigancho came, it was better that they get together”remembers Renato, from Raptors.

Thus, they have grown so much that today there are 9 teams that are reactivating their training sessions, which were paralyzed by the third wave, and they look to the future with optimism. At one point there was even a presence of women in the form of flag football -without contact- as Lycans, but they still need to have a new impetus.

More from the Super Bowl

the present

As already said, there are 9 teams that currently exist in the League and are in meetings to define if this year’s tournament will take place. In 2018 it was done with five clubs and in 2019 with seven, which shows the growth of the sport, but the pandemic is forcing them to rethink some things.

“It is a game of extreme contact and you have to see the protocols. You have to see how feasible and prudent it is to play again. We are excited about the tournament, but we have to think about it”tells us José Luis Zelada, president of the LPFA.

Despite the pandemic, the moment of American football in Peru gives one to think about a good projection and more so now that everyone is talking about the Super Bowl and the NFL. “Of course it has an influence. Many of us wouldn’t know the sport if it weren’t for the NFL. I started watching in the United States and it generated my desire to practice it”tells us Patrick Telles, a football head coach who came to the country in 2010 and began working with the Dire Wolves, the first club in football in being formally established (2012) and now working at the Los Vikingos club.

“The superbowl It influences a lot, it’s a party, a social phenomenon that regardless of whether you like sports or not, you see it. And one thing leads to another, they see the Super Bowl, they see the other games and they come “, adds Renato Arriola of the Raptors. He knows that the Super Bowl is a boost that they have always taken advantage of, but unfortunately the pandemic stopped them. “Always in summer we have many new people, because the Super Bowl and vacations are combined. Before, between 15 and 25 people used to come in the summer. Obviously not all of them stay, but for 5 to stay, it is already an important sum for the team”he tells us.

Heading to the Federation

The other side of today is to have a formal basis. Six teams are in Public Records, enough for the Peruvian American Football League can sign up too. They will do this this year and it will be the first step to becoming the Peruvian American Football Federation.

At IPD There is already a Federation created, but it is not active. “The one who pressed for the creation of the Federation was not from the environment of the football and the clubs did not participate. That Federation does not exist.tells us Fernando Patroni, a sports journalist who closely follows the movement of this sport.

The same is confirmed by José Luis Zelada. “We had a conversation in 2019 with the person who presented himself as president of the Federation. We consult with IPD and that Federation was inactive, there were no registrations. They rejected the registration to that Federation, that’s why they looked for us, but we rejected them “he tells us.

That aforementioned representative died last year and his team -Las Águilas- disintegrated, so today there is no Federation. That is what the League is aiming for. “We are in the process of starting the process of starting the registration as a League and with that we are going to ask for the Federation. We’re going to do that this year.” sentence today’s president of the League.

complications

Without a doubt, it is a sport that demands many things, beyond the hours of training. The main problem is obtaining sports equipment. The balls, helmets and protectors. “Every time they need something, they have to ask for it to be brought from outside. There’s no American football industry here.” journalist Fernando Patroni tells us. Bringing the implements is complicated and it is usually done by friends on personal trips, so they cannot bring many things at once.

The other big problem is that there are no fields to train. “Due to an infrastructure issue, you cannot train more than once a week”, Renato Arriola tells us. Some teams manage to get fields to practice for two days, but usually they only do it on Saturdays or Sundays.

Training is vital in this sport that requires a lot of the physical part. “99% are not physically fit for the sport, but that is trained. Once they start working, they love it and stay. The bonus is the hit”Head Coach Trelles tells us.

The League managed to rent the Huayna Cápac zonal club to hold the 2018 and 2019 tournaments and for the future contest they hope to have two fields. Now the clubs hope to have the facilities to get fields. Some do it in San Miguel, others in the Huayna Cápac of San Juan de Miraflores and others in Callao.

Thus, American football continues to take steps in Peru. The superbowl this Sunday will be another reason for them to get together, but their work goes beyond that.