News You Can Use – IFL Edition #3
- Pasquale Basile
- Oct 10
- 8 min read
So much has happened in Italian Football during the last month, as the Italian Football League has started its Silly Season and the Blue Team, both in Tackle and in Flag Football, has achieved great successes and points of departure at both youth and senior level.
There's as much meat on the fire in this issue as an Easter Monday or August 15th barbecue, so let's not waste any time and get into the third summary of Italian football brought to you by First Down Mag.
A little taste of Italy in the 2025 ELF Championship Game
In the middle of a hard time for European Football, the Stuttgart Surge have won their first ELF title defeating the Vienna Vikings 24-17.
Jordan Bouah, Alessandro Vergani and Giuseppe Della Vecchia, including former Panthers Parma QB Reilly Hennessey and Co-Defensive Coordinator Cody Pastorino, member of the 2021 European Championship roster albeit he never played in the IFL, were the italian members of the Surge roster for this game.
Also the Vikings had some italian players on their roster this year, like Matteo Mozzanica, Enzo Mensah, Shadrach Arthur and former Giaguari Torino player Till Pirtle, while Rocco Zucchelli and Andrea Serra were injured and both Pietro Migliori and Kouassi Sahnian N'Guessan were put off the roster.
Flag Football Junior Championships: Italy prevails in Innsbruck
At the start of September the Junior European Flag Football Championship were disputed in Innsbruck, Austria.
Italy has participated in all three tournaments, both the men and womens Under 17 championship and the mixed Under 15 tournament.
The women’s Under 17 team has won Gold Medal dominating the Championship Game against Germany with a 53-15 final score.
Vittoria Zani and Siria Granelli, both from Lions Bergamo, were nominated MVPs of the tournament under another Lions coach, former QB Davide Rossi, who was the Offensive Coordinator, while Yvonne Guglielmino, captain of the National Women’s Flag Football Team, served as the Defensive Coordinator under HC Enzo Petrillo.
The Mixed Under 15 team finished the tournament in fourth place, losing both the semifinal against Germany (46-21) and the Bronze medal game against Spain (27-21), while the men’s Under 17 team has ended their adventure in Austria in sixth place, losing against the host country 33-26.
Under 19 European Championship: Italy wins in Padua against Czech Republic
Italy has defeated Czech Republic in the last game of the Under 19 Tackle European Championship with a 13-6 final score.
Both sides of the ball played well in Padua, as the Defense avoided TDs from the opposing team, who gained some points thanks to a couple of Field Goals scored by Krystof Dolezal from 43 and 42 yards out.
First Federico Piva and then Filippo Franco gave the win to the Blue Team, who finishes the Euros in sixth place, in a tournament won by Austria for the eighth consecutive time (34-31 against Sweden at home).
This win is a huge taste of fresh air after a decepting first phase, a point of restart for the new course that will start in a few months.
Flag Football European Championships: Italy wins gold, qualifies to the World Cup with both teams
The European Flag Football Championship disputed in Paris from September 24th-27th has crowned Italy as the men’s tournament champions for the first time in their history.
After a 4-1 first phase, winning against Ukraine, Portugal, Norway and Ireland and then losing against Switzerland, the team coached by Massimiliano Bonomo has beaten Israel (41-38), gaining access to the semifinals and the 2026 World Championship in Dusseldorf.
After winning against Great Britain (28-22), the Blue Team also defeats Austria 27-19 to win their first Euros in Italian Football history. Luke Zahradka, with four TDs in the Championship Game, has been named MVP of the tournament.
The women’s team, with six changes and a new head coach (Jonathan Douglas Homer) compared to the team that participated in the World Games in China a month earlier, started thier campaign pretty well winning against Ireland and Denmark, the Azzurre have settled for second place in their group after losing against Germany.
After a deceptioning loss against France (48-6), the women’s Blue Team was forced to play in the 5-8th place draw, deciding for the qualification to the 2026 World Cup.
After losing against Slovenia (19-13), a last second 18-12 win against Ukraine secured a spot in next year’s tournament at the very last gasp.
Two veterans have also announced their retirement to national team involvement after the end of the tournament, as the two captains, Yvonne Guglielmino and Matteo Galante, have decided to retire from international tournaments.
Seamen Milano deny any fake news about ELF Football in 2026
Seamen Milano have denied on their social media accounts any voice about playing in the European League of Football in 2026.
In a interview released by HALFTIME, Marco Mutti, president of the Blue Navy team, has declared that there is some interest in playing in Europe next year as a new group will enter in the management group, keeping the promises made last year after temporarily leaving the European League of Football, mantaining the senior team, that will play in IFL 2 next year, until the two sides separate over time.
Some media accounts covering the European League of Football have made it official after some hours, subsequently deleting all references shortly after as a correction arrived both from the franchise and from the media outlet who issued the statements.
So, for now, is uncertain if the Seamen, under their original name or a new one, will come back to European Football next year.
Youth season begins: The teams and the dates
FIDAF has announced both the teams and the dates of start and end of all their youth championships.
There will be four categories on the field (Under 12, 15, 18 and 21). The regular season will start on October 18th and will finish on December 20th, with the finals to be played on the weekend of January 11th.
A team, Grizzlies Roma, was presented as a member of the Italian Cup, the Under 21 championship, but later has decided to retire from the tournament.
Here's how the youth championship groups are made up this year:
Under 12
Daemons Monza e Brianza
Dolphins Ancona
Frogs Legnano
Seamen Milano
Warriors Bologna
White Tigers Massa
Under 15
Group A
Lazio Marines
Legionari Roma
Warriors Bologna
Dolphins Ancona
Group B
Blue Stars
Giaguari Torino
Blitz Ciriè
Frogs Legnano
Group C
Panthers Parma
Seamen Milano
Honey Badgers Formigine
Rhinos Milano
Flag Academy Trieste
Under 18
Group A
Aquile Ferrara
Dolphins Ancona
Panthers Parma
Warriors Bologna
Group B
Giaguari Torino
Lions Bergamo
Seamen Milano
Skorpions Varese
Group C
Guelfi Firenze
Lazio Marines
Legionari Roma
White Tigers Massa
Under 21
Aquile Ferrara
Blue Storms Busto Arsizio
Giaguari Torino
Honey Badgers Formigine
Lazio Marines
Rhinos Milano
Trappers Cecina
Players and Coaches movements
Former Rhinos Milano, Seamen Milano and Frogs Legnano Defensive Lineman Claudio Nicola has announced his retirement from American Football at the age of 34.
After starting his career with the now defunct Alessandria Centurions in 2013, he transfered to the black and orange side of Milan until 2019, when he joined the Seamen, playing both in the IFL and in the ELF during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
This year has joined Frogs Legnano with some of his teammates, finishing the 2025 in the Playoff semifinals, losing to the future champions Guelfi Firenze. He has won two titles, in 2016 and in 2019.
The 2025 ELF Championship Game was also the last game for a couple of players from Stuttgart Surge who made a great impact in Italian Football.
First, QB Reilly Hennessey, who played for Panthers Parma from 2019 to 2021, winning the Italian Bowl in his last year for the emilian team. He was also the backup QB for Luke Zahradka in the 2021 European Championship won in Sweden by the Blue Team, obteining his italian citizenship thanks to his father ancestors.
The second player is a true captain and legend of Italian Football, Alessandro Vergani, also known as “Tricheco” (the Walrus). Former Daemons Cernusco, Panthers Parma, Rhinos Milano and Schwabisch Hall Unicorns OL, he was the voice behind so many activities involving the National Tackle Football team and one of the most respected players in the movement.
He won the 2016 Italian Bowl with the Rhinos, two German Bowls with the Unicorns and a ELF title with Stuttgart Surge as a player, also including the european title with the national teamin 2021 and the Bronze Medal in 2023 at the Tackle Euros.
Cooper Heisey has been announced as the new Head Coach of the Under 21 Lazio Marines team playing in the Italian Cup, reserved to players under the age of 21 years old and with two or less years in practicing American Football.
The Offensive Coordinator of the Senior Team and Head Coach of the Rome City Institute team, will continue his tenure as a coach for the blue sky team.
The Marines have also announced that Dario Frisicaro and Frank Tedesco will be the Head Coaches for the Under 15 and Under 18 Teams.
Stefano Zucchelli has been named as the new Aquile Ferrara Head Coach for the 2026 Italian Football League season.
A former Aquile player in the 80s and a coach since 1990 under Mike Wyatt, Zucchelli went through the whole process from the youth team to the first team, and will return as head coach of the Emilia-Romagna team, this time in the top league.
Aquile Ferrara, a team that returned last year in the IFL and missed the Playoffs on the last day of the regular season with John Shannon as the Head Coach, has also announced former Seamen Milano player Gianluca Santagostino as their new WR Coach, in addition to Defensive Coordinator Tevin Hanley, who has been confirmed in the same role for next season.
FIDAF and Elephants Catania unite in memory of Francesco Aronica
Both the Italian Federation of American Football and the Elephants Catania have joined together with various initiatives in memory of the former player Francesco Aronica, who died tragically in mid-August at just 23 years old.
In a ceremony held in front of the Benito Paolone stadium, home field of the Sicilian team, two works of art were unveiled, a marble statue and a mural, in memory of their former Wide Receiver.
FIDAF has also decided that the MVP Award of the Silver Bowl, the IFL2 Championship Game, will be named after him, keeping alive his memory and connection with American Football.
Briganti 82 Napoli play a friendly game in Catalunya
Briganti 82 Napoli, a team from Naples, in South Italy, have played a friendly game against the National Team of Catalunya on September 28th in Granollers.
The 3rd Division team have faced a side composed mainly by players from teams across the region, losing 42-6 in a historic day for American Football in Spain, as this was the third game in the history of the Catalunian side and the first one since 2014. when they loss against the Netherlands in a special game commemorating the 25th anniversary since the foundation of FCFA.
In recent months, the Neapolitan team has been the protagonist of another friendly, this time played at home in May, against Hampden-Sidney College from Virginia.
After a 1-5 season in the Nine Football League, Briganti 82 Napoli need to improve in a close environment full of full of teams as aggressive as those from the South, ready to fight to bring the title back to those parts next year.
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