Kiel Baltic Hurricanes

City:

Kiel

Founded:

November 11, 1988

Team colors:

green / white / orange

Head coach:

Timo Zorn

League (2020):

GFL North

Greatest successes

German champions

2010

German runner-up

2008/09/11/12

GFL North Champion

2008/10/11/12

Stadion

Surname:

Kilia Stadium

Address:

Hasseldieksdammer Weg 165, 24114 Kiel

Owner:

City of Kiel

Capacity:

5000

Contact

Address:

Hasseldieksdammer Weg 165, 24114 Kiel

Internet:

baltic-hurricanes.de

Data status

2nd July 2018

Hurricanes offensive tackle Nick Wieland against a defender of the Dresden Monarchs. (Photo: Stefan Stuhr)

The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes are an American football team from Kiel . The first team plays in the German Football League , the top German division in American football.

The first team was spun off from the American Sports Club Kiel eV in 2010 to the KFV - Kieler Football Marketing GmbH & Co. KG , whose main shareholder is Mario Lemke. In October 2018, KFV - Kieler Football Vermarktungs GmbH & Co. KG filed for bankruptcy.

history

GFL playing times
year	total			home			Selection			TD ratio
year	S.	N	U	S.	N	U	S.	N	U	TD ratio
1996	4th	7th	0	3	3	0	1	4th	0	284: 357
1997	4th	6th	0	3	2	0	1	4th	0	249: 247
1998	6th	6th	0	4th	2	0	2	4th	0	264: 288
1999	8th	4th	0	3	3	0	5	1	0	398: 285
2000	3	6th	1	3	2	0	0	4th	1	247: 250
2001	2	10	0	2	4th	0	0	6th	0	166: 434
2002	1	11	0	1	5	0	0	6th	0	093: 458
2007	7th	4th	1	4th	1	1	3	3	0	256: 159
2008	8th	3	1	5	1	0	3	2	1	294: 160
2009	9	1	0	5	0	0	4th	1	0	231: 178
2010	11	1	0	5	1	0	6th	0	0	289: 158
2011	12	2	0	6th	1	0	6th	1	0	444: 224
2012	13	1	0	7th	0	0	6th	1	0	593: 272
2013	10	4th	0	5	2	0	5	2	0	485: 249
2014	7th	5	0	4th	2	0	3	3	0	330: 280
2015	9	3	0	5	1	0	4th	2	0	469: 251
2016	10	3	1	6th	0	1	4th	3	0	483: 297
2017	10	4th	0	6th	1	0	4th	3	0	531: 323
2018	4th	9	1	2	4th	1	2	5	0	297: 394
2019	2	11	1	1	5	1	1	6th	0	210: 425
total	140	101	6th	80	40	4th	60	61	2	6613: 5689

The beginnings

After football fans met in Kiel in 1987, the American Sports Club Kiel eV was founded in 1988 , the first division of which was the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes . On April 9, 1989, the first game took place with the Norderstedt Chiefs and ended with a 0: 54 defeat.

The 1990s - 1st division for the first time

After the seasons in the regional league (1989, 1990), the association league (1991) and the Regionalliga Nord, he was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in 1992 . In their second year of membership in the league, the Canes were champions of the 2nd division north (1994), but missed promotion to the 1st Bundesliga, today's German Football League (GFL) in the relegation against the Berlin Rebels . After the renewed Northern Championship (1995), the Canes rose to the 1st Bundesliga. After a 5th place in 1996, the team took part in the play-offs between 1997 and 2000 .

Withdrawal and return

2000 to 2003 - retreat to the regional league

After economic adversity, the Baltic Hurricanes took 6th place in the GFL North in 2001 and 2002 . After losing the relegation against the Dresden Monarchs in 2002, the team from Kiel withdrew to the Regionalliga Nordost for the following season. At the end of the 2003 season, however, succeeded in direct promotion to the 2nd division.

2004 to 2006 - GFL 2

After the immediate promotion, the Canes took 2nd place in the 2nd North League in 2004. In 2005 they were before the Berlin Rebels and the Langenfeld Longhorns champions of the 2nd division north. In the relegation for promotion to the GFL, however, the Hurricanes could not assert themselves against the Düsseldorf Panthers . For the 2006 season they had strengthened themselves again. Among other things, the experienced wide receiver Estrus Crayton , who was part of the Berlin Adler squad in 2005 , was signed. After the championship of the 2nd Bundesliga North and another relegation against the Düsseldorf Panthers (first leg: 30: 0, second leg 27:30), the Hurricanes made it to the GFL North.

The new era

2007 - back in the upper house

With a new logo, the canes returned to the premier league. For the 2007 season , the successful coach Kent Anderson , who led the Braunschweig Lions to win the German Bowl in the 2006 season , was hired. Anderson took over the position of head coach. The previous Head Coach André Schleemann became Defense Coordinator. Furthermore, quarterback Adrian Rainbow and defensive end Robert Flickinger, both were active in the 2006 season for the Braunschweig Lions, the roster of the Hurricanes. The 2007 season ended with a 3rd place in the GFL Nord table. In the quarter-finals of the play-offs, however, the Canes lost to the Marburg Mercenaries .

In 2008 the Canes became North German champions and, through victories over the Weinheim Longhorns and the Berlin Adler, they made it into the final of the German championship for the first time, where they were defeated by the Braunschweig Lions at 14:20.

Also in 2009 the canes made it into the German Bowl . After the end of the regular season, they moved into the play-offs as runner-up in the GFL Nord. With 20: 6 they beat Stuttgart in the quarterfinals. The semi-finals in Schwäbisch Hall turned into a thriller. With a field goal in the last second, the Hurricanes were finally able to win 22:21 and move into the German Bowl XXXI. Here, however, they lost to the Berlin Adler with 21:28 and were runner-up again.

German championship

In 2010 , the Canes became German champions for the first time under their new head coach Patrick Esume . Esume took over the team at the end of 2009 and brought many young talents such as Julian Dohrendorf , Falk Horn and Jaques Huke to Kiel. As a defensive coordinator, he brought Super Bowl winner Bob Valesente to the fjord, with whom he had already worked during the NFL Europe times. From his previous coaching position in Paris, he also brought quarterback Jeff Welsh with him. After losing the opening game, the Hurricanes won their remaining eleven games of the season and were again Northern champions. In the quarterfinals they met the Stuttgart Scorpions again and won in the Holstein Stadium with 23:21. The Dresden Monarchs came to Kiel for the semi-finals . The Hurricanes prevail in a rain battle on the Moorteichwiese 14-0. In the German Bowl XXXII they beat the Berlin Eagles with 17:10 in the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt and became German champions for the first time.

In the 2011 season , the Baltic Hurricanes won the GFL Nord and qualified for the fourth time in a row for the final with two play-offs home wins (45: 6 against the Munich Cowboys in the quarter-finals and 45:21 against the Düsseldorf Panthers in the semi-finals) . Opponents in the German Bowl XXXIII on October 8, 2011 in the Magdeburg MDCC Arena were the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns , who were in a German Bowl for the first time and won it 48:44.

The Hurricanes fans cheer on their team (Photo: Stefan Stuhr, 2014)

In the 2012 season , the Baltic Hurricanes were able to secure the northern championship again. The Stuttgart Scorpions traveled to the quarter-finals, for which a 22:70 Kiel was again the final destination. In the semifinals, the Dresden Monarchs wanted revenge for 2010, but the Hurricanes prevailed with 35:14. In the German Bowl XXXIV there was another duel with the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns. Despite leading the Hurricanes in the meantime, the Unicorns won with 56:53. In the offense, in addition to constant quarterback Jeff Welsh, running back Trevar Deed in particular was a horror for the opponents this year. In just one season, he scored 258 points and ran 2,373 yards. Welsh and Deed switched to the Dresden Monarchs after the season, where they made it back to the final.

The Baltic Hurricanes started in the 2013 season with the new quarterback Matt Johnson and a young team. With ten wins and four defeats they were in third place in the GFL Nord at the end of the regular season and thus had to travel to second place in the southern season, the Marburg Mercenaries, in the quarter-finals. Here they clearly won with 47: 9, but the semi-finals in Braunschweig were over. At the beginning of the fourth quarter they were already 7:34 behind. Although they were able to shorten to 29:34 with a strong catch-up in the final quarter, they could no longer win against the eventual German champions.

Hurricanes QB 2014 Nick Lamaison (Photo: Stefan Stuhr)

In 2014 the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes started the season with Nick Lamaison as playmaker . After a thumb injury that forced Lamaison to take a six-week break, the American was represented by his compatriot Kyle Israel. Running back Jermaine Allen also played for the Canes for the second time after 2010. With seven wins and five defeats, they ended up only in fourth place and thus secured their place in the play-offs. There they had to travel to the southern champions, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns, in the quarter-finals. The canes lost at 24:50 and were eliminated for the first time since 2007 in the first round of the play-offs. At the European level, the Kielers were more successful this year. They qualified for entry into the EFL Bowl and received the Spanish champions, the Badalona Dracs, in their Kilia Stadium on July 19, 2014. The Canes beat the Spaniards 40-0 and won the first European title in the club's history. After the end of the season, the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes and head coach Patrick Esume split up after five years of working together. At the beginning of November 2014, American Stephen Parker was hired as the new head coach.

New ways

2015 - European Cup defended, out of the quarter-finals for the German championship

In the European Football League, the Hurricanes defeated the Dutch champions from Alphen and the Marburg Mercenaries and thus qualified for the EFL Bowl. After 2014, they were again given the opportunity to host the final in Kiel and received the Allgäu Comets on June 27, which they beat with 49:28 and thus defended their title. With nine wins and three defeats in the GFL season , the Canes saw third place and thus participation in the play-offs for the ninth year in a row. With a clear 52: 3 against the Hamburg Huskies, they said goodbye to their home crowd in the last home game. In the quarter-finals, the Baltic Hurricanes went to runner-up in the southern group of the German Football League - to the Allgäu Comets in Kempten. They won the second clash after the EFL Bowl with 39:27 and ended the Canes season early. The Canes' top scorer was Tyler Davis, who scored 150 points in 13 GFL games. Just a week after the play-offs, the Hurricanes split from head coach Stephen Parker because the philosophies about how to run a football team were too different. At the beginning of October, the Canes announced the engagement of Dan Disch as a new head coach. The 56-year-old American was already responsible for defense last season, previously worked at the University of North Carolina and brings decades of experience to the Kiel Fjord.

2016 - Ten years of the Bundesliga

At the start of the tenth Bundesliga season, the Hurricanes had to make some changes. Dan Disch went back to the USA and Marcus Herford, who was previously hired as offensive coordinator, took over the team. Disch's successor as defensive coordinator was initially Troy Shaffer, but after two months the Canes separated from him and completed the rest of the season with Neil Harrell. In the European Football League, Kiel did not reach the EFL Bowl this year due to a 24:31 overtime defeat against the Amsterdam Crusaders on April 9, despite the 61:33 win against the Hamburg Huskies two weeks later. Over the season, the team settled in and won ten of their 14 regular GFL games. At the end of the day they were in third place with 21: 7 behind the Dresden Monarchs (22: 6) and made it into the playoffs for the tenth year in a row. With 10: 3 they prevailed in a defense battle in the quarter-finals at Frankfurt Universe. In the semifinals they were defeated a week later by the defending champions, the New York Lions, with 21:38. The most successful points hunter of the season was running back Christopher McClendon, whom the Hurricanes signed in May. McClendon scored 152 points and in the home game on August 27, 2016 against the Hildesheim Invaders, with 339 rushing yards, a new team record for the most yards run in a game. Linebacker Thiadric Hansen played his strongest season to date in his fifth year with the Canes. With 134 tackles he was the most successful defender on his team this season and with a total of 358 tackles he is at the top of the all-time best of the Hurricanes.