Inside Belarusâs little-known gridiron scene, where players risk broken bones and spend their own money for a handful of games
Bison and Hurricanes are normal names for American football teams. How about the Litwins, though? Well, it’s normal if you happen to be in Belarus and in love with the real form of football. This July, the Litwins were crowned league champions after slaughtering the Bison 42-0 in the American Football League 9 Final. But just how is such a foreign sport surviving in a country that most Americans couldn’t find on a map?
Goodbye Lenin, Hello Uncle SamThe country’s leading club, the Minsk Zubrs (Bison), were formed in 1991 and initially had to rely on competition outside the country. They became three-time champions of the CIS nations, champions of Ukraine, Baltic champions, and, finally, properly Belarusian champs having faced Belarusian opposition. The founders, who all came from other sports, formed a vibrant community in the Belarusian capital, proselytizing to show the newly independent nation that there was, according to an early recruiting slogan, a better form of football.
However, attempts to expand and grow new clubs have proved difficult, as despite assistance from the Ministry of Sport and local governments, preference in Belarus goes to Olympic sports, with other pursuits seen as hobbies. The similarities between rugby and American football helped. Many players switched back and forth between the two, getting their fix for hitting people or being hit. Nevertheless, difficulties remain.
It is hard for clubs, Yevhen told me over a coffee in downtown Minsk. The costs to play are a lot and we don’t [have] reserves of players.
Yevhen has played for the Zubrs, having previously had a decent career at the national level in track and field.
I got to play because, you know, you finish one sport, then just the gym is left, but still want to compete and one [colleague] invited me. It was difficult because it was expensive and not so many games.
Lack of game time was mentioned by everyone that I spoke with in Belarus. As one player joked, It’s like preparing for your wedding every day, but never getting married.
Making a ‘wedding’ more difficult is the divorce of Belarusian football from international competition. The Baltic states, especially Lithuania, vehemently refuse to even contemplate interaction with local teams, while playing with Ukrainian clubs is not on the horizon for now.
Zubrs in pre-season action against fellow Belarusian side ‘Koidans’ from Dzerzhisnk © Minsk Zubrs American Football Club Growing painsA nine-man league [A9FL] was set up this year and had three teams from Belarus (Zubrs, Litwins, and Hurricanes) and two from Russia (Patriots and Bears). Set up to succeed, it streamed online and got decent coverage in the national media, but an incident from the Hurricanes-Litwins playoff semifinal game precipitated a very public falling out amongst the Belarusian clubs.
The Litwins won the game and proceed to face the Zubrs in the final, but two Hurricanes had been ejected in the game. The A9FL management called for a meeting of team heads to decide if those ejections were legitimate, to the ire of the finalists, who decided to unilaterally play the final. The Moscow Bears, upon hearing the news, promptly withdrew from the league, leaving the competition with an uncertain future.
Read more Rumors that the St. Petersburg Griffins and Moscow Dragons might join in 2027 persist, with a fourth club in Belarus also getting a chance to play. The resilient aficionados of American football are determined to not only keep the game alive, but to have it thrive, especially given the obstacles they’ve overcome. But they are less than a minority sport, they are a sport unknown by followers of the game in their own country.
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