The Coventry Jets have unveiled their 2012 season schedule and will start off with a trip to face the Nottingham Caesars on the 15th of April. The Jets will play in the second tier of British American Football for the first time since winning promotion to the topflight back in 2006. New Head Coach Paul Rickhuss will lead his team out at Bedworth RFC for the first time on Sunday the 22nd of April for a repeat of the 2005 Division Two semi-final as the Jets welcome the West Coast Trojans. Coventry will play in the northern section of Division 1, which has three playoff places up for grabs.
Coventry will be back on the road at the end of the month for a Saturday meeting with the Shropshire Revolution on the 28th. May sees two home game as the Jets entertain the Lancashire Wolverines on Sunday the 6th and have their return game with the Caesars on the 26th. June begins with two away trips, on the second they travel to Gateshead for a match with old Premier rivals, the Senators. Sunday the 17th will see General Manager Adam Biggs play in his home county for the first time since 2005 as Coventry visit the Wolverines.
The Merseyside Nighthawks visit on either the 23rd or 24th of June. It will be the first time the Liverpool based club have played the Jets since they were handed a 75-0 thumping seven years ago. It’s sure to be a different story this time around though. Coventry no longer have the likes of Mark Cohen and Steve Coles so will be looking to a younger generation of rising stars from their Academy. The Nighthawks meanwhile can boast a receiving core featuring former Jets and current GB internationals Joe Black and Benjamin Barker. They also have a stingy defence under the watchful eye of another former Jet, Craig Pennington.
Shropshire will be the visitors to the Jets on Sunday the 15th of July and the regular season concludes with a long trip to Glasgow as Rickhuss’ squad play the Trojans on the 21st of July. “It’s going to be a very difficult season” commented Rickhuss “we’ve got a lot of games in a short space of time. We’re putting a lot of hard work in to make sure we’re ready for Nottingham in six weeks time. We’re definitely equipped for a playoff run, we just have to be sure that we put the work in to earn it”.
Coventry’s Junior team (under 19’s) have also announced their fixtures for the season, they also begin away to Nottingham on the 15th of April. Next up is a home fixture with the Tamworth Phoenix on the 22nd of April with the away game just seven days later. On May the 26th the Jets entertain the Caesars with the Leicester Falcons visiting on the 3rd of June. Coventry then make the return trip to Leicester on the 8th of July before facing the Birmingham Bulls twice, at home on the 15th of July and away on the 22nd. For details on how to become a part of the Coventry Jets visit their new website www.covjets.com.