Korea American Football Association

Korea American Football Association

Korea American Football Association's logo
Formation 1945
Type Non-profit
Headquarters Seoul
Official language
 Korean (KR)
Chairman
 Park Kyung-Kyu
Website KAFA.org
Korea American Football Association's Badge

The Korea American Football Association (KAFA, Korean: 대한미식축구협회, Hanja: 大韓美式蹴球協會) has existed in South Korea for more than 20 years. The popularity of American football in Korea has been historically low, but with the visit of Hines Ward (a Korean born NFL football star with the Pittsburgh Steelers) in 2006, the sport received a modest level of increased appeal. Within Korea KAFA is a governing body over both traditional football with pads and also flag football.

Traditional football leagues within Korea are divided between college and professional (KNFL) teams. There are three championship bowl games of special note that occur at the end of the season. The Tiger Bowl determines the champions of the college league, the Gwangaeto Bowl determines the champions of the professional league, and finally the Kimchi Bowl, the Korean equivalent of Japan's Rice Bowl, pits the college team champion against the professional team champion.

KNFL

At the start of the 2010 season there were six teams playing in the professional league:

Gwangaeto Bowl Champions

Date Champion 2nd Place Score Stadium
1 1996.1.7 Seven Six Leos 20 - 6 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
2 1997.1.19 Bluegons Blue Friends 18 - 6 Busan Sagick Stadium
3 1998.1.11 Seven Six Bluegons 6 - 0 Kyungsung Univ. Stadium
4 1999.1.10 Blue Friends Caps 12 - 6 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
5 2000.1.9 Red Stars Caps 32 - 22 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
6 2001.1.14 Red Stars Scholars 20 - 6 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
7 2002.1.13 Seven Six Red Stars 18 - 12 Daegu Dooryu Stadium
8 2003.1.12 Scholars Caps 18 - 12 Busan National Univ. Stadium
9 2004.1.18 Caps Bluegons 17 - 6 Busan National Univ. Stadium
10 2005.1.16 Halraes Seven Six 14 - 7 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
11 2005.12.18 Vikings Caps 33 - 21 Yongin Univ. Stadium
12 2006.12.10 Gryphons Vikings 19 - 10 Seoul Univ. Stadium
13 2007.12.2 Gryphons Caps 23 - 13 Yongin Univ. Stadium
14 2008.12.7 Vikings Caps 28 - 3 Namyangju Stadium
15 2009.12.6 Caps Vikings 13 - 0 Namyangju Stadium
16 2010.12.12 Phoenix Caps 14 - 7 Namyangju Stadium

Kimchi Bowl

The Kimchi Bowl is the final championship game of KAFA. The game is considered by players, fans, and organizers to be the Super Bowl of Korea. At its conclusion a trophy is awarded to the winning team's coach and passed amongst the players. There is also a game MVP trophy awarded to the game's most valuable player. This honor is decided by the organizers of the game. The Kimchi Bowl is traditionally held in January of the year after the football season.

Date Champion 2nd Place Score Stadium
1 1996.1.14 Dong-A Univ. Seven Six 12 - 7 Busan Sagick Stadium
2 1997.1.26 Bluegons Keimyung Univ 28 - 18 Busan Sagick Stadium
3 1998.1.18 Kyungpook N. Univ. Seven Six 47 - 6 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
4 1999.1.17 Dong-A Univ. Blue Friends 35 - 22 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
5 2000.1.16 Dong-A Univ. Red Stars 19 - 14 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
6 2001.1.21 Red Stars Kyungsung Univ 13 - 0 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
7 2002.1.27 Seven Six Kyungsung Univ 27 - 14 Daegu Dooryu Stadium
8 2003.1.19 Gumoh N. Univ Scholars 7 - 6 Busan National Univ. Stadium
9 2004.1.1 Caps Dong-A Univ. 23 - 17 Busan National Univ. Stadium
10 2005.1.30 Halraes Gumoh N. Univ 27 - 12 Seoul Hyochang Stadium
11 2006.1.8 Dong-A Univ. Vikings 7 - 6 Keimyung Univ.
12 2007.1.14 Gryphons Dong-Eui Univ 37 - 0 Busan National Univ. Stadium
13 2008.1.6 Gryphons Dong-Eui Univ 21 - 12 Namyangju Stadium
14 2009.1. Vikings Dong-Eui Univ 20 - 14 Namyangju Stadium
15 2010.1. Busan Univ Caps 34 - 13 Namyangju Stadium
16 2011.1.9 Phoenix Busan Univ 40 - 24 Kyungpook N. Univ.

See also

External links

References