5,908 miles. That’s how far away the city of Oakland is from the city of Innsbruck, Austria - hometowns of marketing teammates Oakland Raiders and SWARCO Raiders. Whether from the Bay Area or someplace else in North America, a group of folks have taken this trip halfway around the world to keep their dreams of a football career alive.
A combined 13 players and coaches of the SWARCO Raiders football team call the United States or Canada their home country and the Tyrolean capital their home. They are head coach Geoff Buffum, defensive coordinator Santos Carrillo, offensive line coach Nicholas Johansen, offensive assistant Rush Bowers, defensive backs coach Zach Brent, and linebackers coach David Likins, as well as quarterback Marko Glavic, wide receiver Ryan Voss, defensive tackle Gonzalo Segovia, safety Will Galusha, linebacker Jimmy Ellingson, defensive lineman Joseph Labenski and offensive lineman Tyler Felber.
They all have the chance to go to the 2008 Austrian Bowl. On Sunday, June 15, they host the Raiffeisen Vikings in the semi-finals at Alpenstadion Wattens. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. CET (8 a.m. PT). A championship, that’s what they came to Innsbruck for. And it already is the journey of a lifetime for all of them.
Before making their way from point A to B, almost everyone of the "imports"
stopped by on the World Wide Web. On several web sites, players, coaches and people who want to start coaching can register for a possible trip to Europe. Usually it takes only a few days until the first e-mail or call from overseas reaches them.
That’s exactly what happened to Gonzalo Segovia, for example. After playing at Eastern Illinois, the defensive tackle got drafted by the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders in the fifth round of the 2002 draft. A shoulder injury benched him for a very long time, but by 2004 Segovia came back – this time with the Hamilton TigerCats. About a year later though, the TigerCats released him.
He didn’t have to wait long for another offer, only this time from Europe. “I put my name up there on the Internet. I actually did it just for fun,”
the 30-year-old remembers.“And less than three weeks later I was sitting on a plane to Innsbruck.”
This story applies to the SWARCO coaches also. Head coach Geoff Buffum grew up in San Clemente, Calif. Playing his college ball at Azusa Pacific University, he led the Cougars to the 1998 NAIA National Championship. A year later he found himself in a sleepy little German town called Elmshorn, just a 30-minute ride away from Hamburg.
Buffum recalls his first steps in European football, “I played only half a season. I shared a two-room apartment with two other guys. We won only one game back then. So I left during the season and went back home. Pretty soon I had gotten an offer from Innsbruck to play for the Raiders.”
He stayed for two years before going back to the U.S. – also for two years. In 2004, Buffum came back to Tyrol. And just like he did before leaving in 2002, he not only was the team’s quarterback, but also worked as their head coach. In 2005 though, Buffum decided to finish his playing career, wanting to concentrate on the head coaching duties only; except for one more occasion. Guiding his team to the 2006 Austrian Bowl, the coach-only turned into the coaching quarterback again. Injuries and poor play led to his decision to put on the shoulder pads and the helmet for the very last time. He finished his playing days in style, leading the SWARCO Raiders to their second Austrian Bowl title in three years.
Success is important, but it’s not the only reason Buffum chose to leave the California sun for the often changing Tyrolean weather, “It’s pretty simple. I love to work here, it makes so much fun. The players that are here, are here for the love of the game. They want to play football at any cost.”
For the North Americans on the team, this includes way more than just practicing, studying videos and lifting weights. They are the ones responsible for most of the promotion activities for the team. And sometimes this means being the early bird. “Once a week we meet at Innsbruck’s campus at 6:30 a.m. to hand out info material to the students,”
says Segovia.
For most of the imports this is part of their daily life from the end of February until the start of July. And when the season is over, everyone heads back home. Sooner or later. “Some of the guys take some time off and travel Europe,”
knows offensive line coach Nicholas Johansen.
Back in the U.S. or Canada they all start up resume a “regular”
life. “We all have to find ourselves a job to get by,” says the Rothsay, Minnesota-native Johansen. “Our linebacker Jimmy works as an electrician. I help out on a friend’s farm and go to school at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire."
Going back to school, that’s something Segovia also has in mind. “When the season is over I want to finish my degree,”
he said. Will he come back to play for the SWARCO Raiders in 2009? Segovia does not know. But the line of those willing to take his place on the SWARCO Raiders roster is long.
