An Oldham-based American football athlete is currently preparing to represent Team Great Britain in an intense championship this weekend.
Cade Makin, from Hollinwood, has been playing American football for six years and has already gone on to represent his country professionally three times in international competitions.
The 29-year-old first started playing the sport with the Manchester Titans who he describes as the "reigning back-to-back BritBowl National Champions and the UK's largest American football programme."
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Then, just four years after making the team, Makin applied for Team GB trials in 2021 alongside more than 500 other aspiring American football athletes across the country.
There were almost 200 applicants who made it onto the shortlist and attended the trials in Nottingham before Makin became one of just 50 successful participants to receive a formal invitation to the Great Britain national programme.
After several months of intense training under the programme and many more roaster cuts, Makin was eventually selected to represent Team GB during the IFAF European Championship qualifiers against the reigning European champs, Italy.
Sadly, the team fell short of knocking the champs off the top spot in the "competitive" match held in Milan on October 30 last year, which saw Italy win 28-23.
But Team GB have bounced back this year as they proceeded to beat France in the European Qualifying fixture in August in a 7-6 overtime victory in their first appearance on home soil in four years.
Now, Makin is gearing up to fly to Copenhagen where he will represent his country once again at the IFAF European Championships against Denmark on Saturday, October 28, for the last game of the international season.
Makin said: "I would love nothing more than to play over in the States, however, my only offers have come from professional European American football leagues which I haven't been able to capitalise on due to my commitments in the UK.
"There is however, one of Europe’s biggest professional American Football leagues planning to expand into the UK and bring back our franchise from the old NFL Europe days, the British Monarchs, which will give players like myself an opportunity to play at a higher level without relocating to another country."
Still, the rising star said the sport is largely considered a "minority sport" in the UK and, at the moment, doesn't qualify for government funding.
This means all expenses, including training fees, travel, accommodation, specialist coaching, flights and hotel rooms "comes out of my own pocket", he added.
Makin has been left to raise the money himself or find last-minute sponsors to help cover the costs.
To help his efforts in Denmark this weekend, he is now looking for sponsors or companies to help out and support his American football career in an official capacity - and so he can "step out on the field and represent my country".
Makin said he needs an estimated £200 at a bare minimum to compete.
Donations can be made to Makin's GoFundMe by searching 'Great Britain vs Denmark' or visiting this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/623zwq-great-britain-vs-denmark?utm_campaign=p_lico%20share-sheet-first-launch&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&fbclid=IwAR3U-LsMrsFnkvyhgdaR0eB4riOaQWyKDWGvWGSmLVJ-6zGf0hg5_9DolAE
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