Inverness primary school pupils celebrate becoming champions at the NFL Flag Football Scottish National Championships in Stirling

PRIMARY school pupils from Inverness have been crowned Scottish champions as they claimed a national title.

Merkinch Primary School came out on top to win the NFL Flag Football Scottish National Championships at the University of Stirling.

The squad, which is made up of boys and girls, won all of their matches to be crowned Scottish champions.

They are now heading to Leeds later this month when they take on teams from England and Wales at the British Championships.

Head coach Iain Mathie, along with his assistant Blake Smith who plays for Highland Wildcats, guided the team to success having first introduced the sport to the school four years ago.

Mathie said it is an incredible accomplishment by the pupils to become Scottish champions.

He said: “It is a massive achievement, I don’t think they realise what they have done and it hasn’t sunk in yet.

“They were brilliant and had an amazing day.

“There aren’t many people who can say they have represented their country when they go to the British Championships.

“For them to earn this opportunity is incredible.”

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Flag football is a non contact version of American football, where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to prevent them scoring a touchdown.

The sport is already played at a number of schools in the region and Mathie hopes their success will encourage more schools to take up the game.

He said: “I went down to a Highland Wildcats coaching day which was designed to encourage more people to get involved with the sport. Teachers would then use what they have learned to take into a Highland regional competition.

”This is our fourth year doing Flag Football and it has always been really popular with the kids.

“My NFL team practice once a week in the lead up to the event. You don’t need to have knowledge of American football to play Flag Football. It is really easy to learn.

“We are now looking forward to travel down to Leeds on the 16th and taking on the best teams from England and Wales.”

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