Kiel Baltic Hurricanes

Kiel Baltic Hurricanes
Founded	1988
League	German Football League
Stadium	Holstein-Stadion (11,386)
Based in	Kiel, Germany
Colors	Orange, Green and White
President	Eike Frahm
Head coach	Patrick Esume
Championships	German Bowl: 2010
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 of all times, ending with a 48-44 victory for the Unicorns, who thereby ended a 18 year title draught 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. In 2013 the side came only third and was knocked out in the semi-finals of the play-offs by Braunschweig.

Honours

• German Bowl
  • Champions: 2010
  • Runners-up: (4) 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012

• EFL
  • Participations: 2011

• GFL
  • Northern Division champions: (4) 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012
  • Play-off qualification : (11) 1997–2000, 2007–2013
  • League membership : (14) 1996–2002, 2007–present

• GFL 2
  • Northern Division champions: 1994, 1995, 2005, 2006

German Bowl appearances

The club's appearances in the German Bowl:^[6]

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes:^{[3][4][7][8][9]}

• RR = Relegation round.
• QF = Quarter finals.
• SF = Semi finals.
• GB = German Bowl.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.

References

External links

• (German) Official website
• (German) German Football League official website
• (German) Football History Historic American football tables from Germany