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Farnham Fast Lane Knights
By Steve Rains
Nov 13, 2007 - 11:50:07 AM
Former Head Coach Steve Rains was inducted into the Hall
of Fame in 2005 and now no less than three of his Coaches are being inducted
into the class of 2007 at the beginning of December.
All three are pioneers of the game in this country having
been involved in the sport since the boom time era of the middle to late
1980's. The USA based Hall of Fame has an International section and acceptance
is based not just on the achievements of the three, which are considerable, but
also the pioneering nature of the background environment (minority sport)
against which those achievements have been made.
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The Knights new Head Coach Ian Ellis enters the class
following a career that saw him play as a linebacker in the early days of
Britball for the Crawley Raiders; he then attended college in the USA before
starting his coaching career as a Grad Assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ian went on to Head Coach Crawley, Sussex Thunder and London Blitz before
teaming up with Coach Rains at the Knights. After spells as Defensive
Co-ordinator and Special Teams Co-0rdinator he took over from Coach Rains
following last years BAFL 1 Bowl triumph and he will now lead the Knights back
into the Premier Division.
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Offensive Line Coach Mark Lockwood started as a player
with the Knights in 1988. Mark - known throughout Britball as "Tango"
- became the foundation on which successive Knights offensive lines were built.
In addition to coaching the Knights line he played and coached for Team South,
Team England and Great Britain. Under his guidance Knights club records fell
even in seasons where the team could not achieve a winning record - last year
all of those records were blown away as his group blocked for an incredible
10.6 yards per carry for the season and 4600yds+ of offense that produced 111
touchdowns in just twelve games.
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The Knights Defensive Co-ordinator from 2007 Graham
Jessett is the third inductee. He started with the Knights back in 1988 and
coached the Knights Youth Team and Senior teams over a period of 20 years in
addition to being Head Coach of the Great Britain Youth team. In 1996 his
Knights Youth team created a record that will never be beaten as they went
undefeated to the National Championship without conceding a single point. In
2007 his Knights Senior team defense created 28 Interceptions and scored 5
touchdowns including no less than 3 in the Knights National Division 1
Championship win.
Steve Rains said "I am delighted that the Hall of
Fame have decided to honour these three coaches - their contribution to the
Knights in particular and the sport in general in Britain fully deserves this
recognition and it will be an honour for me to introduce them to the Hall of
Fame in Mesquite"
The Hall of Fame ceremony is followed by the Annual Minor
League Football Hall of Fame game and three Knights players will participate
for the All Stars - Great Britain center Dave Carpenter, standout linebacker
Stuart Timms and young wide receiver Stealey Wills will all play in the game.
