West Flanders Tribes Explained

West Flanders Tribes
Established:	1989
Folded:	2012
Logosize:	200px
Stadium:	De Schorre, Ostend (terrain 23) Sportpark de Krekel, Izegem (terrain 4)
Manager:	Ben Machiels
Coach:	Benedict Verheyen
League:	Belgian Football League
Division:	Flemish Football League
League Champs:	8 (2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Div Champs:	6 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
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H Title:	Home
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A Title:	Away

The West Flanders Tribes was a Belgian American football team based in the province of West-Flanders, with two home cities, Ostend and Izegem. The Tribes were members of the Flemish American Football League (FFL) conference in the Belgian Football League (BFL). Their team colours are maroon, white and black. In 2012, the team split up into the Ostend Pirates and the Izegem Tribes.^[1] ^[2]

History

1990

In 1990 the Izegem Redskins were formed by Rudy Dewaegemaeker after his old team, the Moeskroen Redskins, was disbanded. After a couple of months of practice the Redskins played their first game against the Brussel Raiders. The Raiders, led by Mike La Salle and QB Jon VandeMergel, beat the Redskins 78-0. The game was stopped in the 3rd quarter. This poor start was a harbinger of years of losses. But the Redskins were a group of friends, crazy about the game of football, so they stuck in there. During the second season they scored their first touchdown, which was celebrated afterwards as if they were World Champions. They won their first game in their fourth season.

1994

In 1994 the other team in the province, the Ostend Tigers, ended play. Players from the Tigers transferred to Izegem to start playing with the Redskins. At the time there were 2 coaches: Frank Daemen and John Vandemergel. After Daemens' tragic death. Luc Verhoest, the quarterback, took over as Offensive coach and John Vandemergel was the Defensive Coach. Vandermergel became president.
In the mid '90s the Redskins started a junior flag team in Izegem, the Redskin Warriors, coached by Andy Vandenbulcke. A junior team was set up in Ostend also, under the name of the Ostend Seminoles. This was the start of the two practice fields for the Izegem Redskins. The team name was then changed to West-Vlaanderen Tribes as an overall organization, with 2 practice squads: Redskins and Seminoles. During games they played under the name Tribes.

1999 - first Bowl appearance

In 1999 the Redskins played the Antwerp Diamonds in Belgian Bowl XII but lost in their first Belgian Bowl appearance with a score of 41-6.

First two Belgian Titles

2000 season

Tribes 2000 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	February 20	Charleroi Cougars	12 - 0	Izegem Redskins	Ghent
2	February 27	Ghent Gators	0 - 22	Izegem Redskins	Charleroi
3	March 5	Bye
4	March 12	Izegem Redskins	56 - 6	Flemalle Flames	Flemalle
5	March 19	Izegem Redskins	20 - 18	Liège Red Roosters	Liège
6	March 26	Ghent Gators	14 - 26	Izegem Redskins	Izeghem
7	April 2	Flemalle Flames	0 - 50	Izegem Redskins	Izeghem
8	April 9	Liège Red Roosters	3 - 20	Izegem Redskins	Ghent
9	April 16	Brussels Tigers	12 - 20	Izegem Redskins	Izeghem
10	April 23	Bye
11	April 30	Izegem Redskins	26 - 0	Charleroi Cougars	Charleroi
Post Season
12	May 7	Izegem Redskins	20 - 16		Brussels
13	May 14	Flemalle Flames	20 - 34	Izegem Redskins	Izeghem
14	May 21	Belgian Bowl Bye
15	May 28	Belgian Bowl XIII			Izeghem
15	May 28		0 - 28	Izegem Redskins	Izeghem

2000 Playoffs----

2001 season

Tribes 2001 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	March 11	Charleroi Cougars	8 - 14	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
2	March 18	West Flanders Tribes	14 - 0	Liège Red Roosters	Ghent
3	March 25	Easter Bye
4	April 1	Bye
5	April 8	West Flanders Tribes	16 - 14	Charleroi Cougars	Liège
6	April 15	Bye
7	April 22	Brussels Angels	0 - 22	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
8	April 29	Bye
9	May 6	Liège Red Roosters	7 - 12	West Flanders Tribes	Antwerp
Post Season
10	May 13	Playoffs Bye
11	May 20		14 - 42	West Flanders Tribes	Waregem
12	May 27	Belgian Bowl Bye
13	June 3	Belgian Bowl XIV			Ghent
13	June 3	West Flanders Tribes	22 - 0	Brussels Tigers	Ghent

2001 Playoffs----

2002 season

Tribes 2002 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	March 3	Tournai Phoenix	14 - 8	West Flanders Tribes	Antwerp
2	March 10	Antwerp Diamonds	18 - 0	West Flanders Tribes	Tournai
3	March 17	Brussels Tigers	14 - 12	West Flanders Tribes	Liège
4	March 24	Flemalle Flames	26 - 32	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
5	March 31	Easter Bye
6	April 7	West Flanders Tribes	26 - 6	Charleroi Cougars	Charleroi
7	April 14	Bye
8	April 21		0 - 50 (FF)	West Flanders Tribes	Tournai
9	April 28	Brussels Black Angels	6 - 6	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
10	May 5	West Flanders Tribes	12 - 0	Ghent Gators	Ghent
11	May 12	Bye
Post Season
12	May 19	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 8	Brussels Tigers	Antwerp

2002 Playoffs----

2003 season

Tribes 2003 Season^[3]
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	March 2	Bye
2	March 9	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 22	Antwerp Diamonds	Antwerp
3	March 16	Bye
4	March 23	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 26	Flemalle Flames	Charleroi
5	March 30	Brussels Black Angels	14 - 20	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
6	April 6	West Flanders Tribes	36 - 0	Liège Red Roosters	Liège
7	April 13	Bye
8	April 20	Easter Bye
9	April 27	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 6	Charleroi Cougars	Charleroi
10	May 4	Bye

----

2004 season

Tribes 2004 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	February 22	Bye
2	March 7	West Flanders Tribes	0 - 14	Brussels Black Angels	Antwerp
3	March 14	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 13	Leuven Lions	Brussels (BBA)
4	March 21	Bye
5	March 28	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 6	Liège Red Roosters	Charleroi
6	April 4	Flemalle Flames	8 - 3	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
7	April 11	Easter Bye
8	April 18	Charleroi Cougars	9 - 6	West Flanders Tribes	Tournai
9	April 25	West Flanders Tribes	26 - 0	Ghent Gators	Leuven
10	May 2	West Flanders Tribes	21 - 0	Brussels Tigers	Brussels (BBA)
11	May 9	Antwerp Diamonds	20 - 0	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
12	May 16	Bye

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2005 season

In 2005 Frans "Harve" Heuvicq took over as head coach. The 2005 season was the last season that the Tribes were beaten on the road.
Off. Coordinator: Frans Heuvicq / Def. Coordinator : John Vandemergel / Off. Assistant : Frederik George / Def. Assistant : Benedict Verheyen.

Tribes 2005 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	February 27	West Flanders Tribes	7 - 20	Antwerp Diamonds	Antwerp
2	March 6	Bye
3	March 13	Bye
4	March 20	Bye
5	March 27	Easter Bye
6	April 3	Leuven Lions	0 - 14	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
7	April 10	West Flanders Tribes	0 - 6	Antwerp Diamonds	Antwerp
8	April 17	Brussels Black Angels	23 - 8	West Flanders Tribes	Ghent
9	April 24	Bye
10	May 1	West Flanders Tribes	12 - 12	Brussels Black Angels	Leuven
11	May 8	Leuven Lions	10 - 14	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
12	May 15	Bye

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Dominating the BFL (2006-2011)

The Tribes have won the last six consecutive Belgian Bowls, setting a European record.Head coach: Frans Heuvicq / Off. Coordinator : Frederik George / Def. Coordinator : Benedict Verheyen

2006 season

2006 was the last season the Tribes had a loss (at home, none on the road).

Tribes 2006 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	February 26	Bye
2	March 5	Bornem Titans	0 - 26	West Flanders Tribes	Antwerp
3	March 12	Bye
4	March 19		6 - 33	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
5	March 26	Bye
6	April 2	West Flanders Tribes	34 - 0		Antwerp
7	April 9	West Flanders Tribes	27 - 18		Bornem
8	April 16	Easter Bye
9	April 23	West Flanders Tribes	25 - 19		Ghent
10	April 30	Bye
11	May 7	West Flanders Tribes	19 - 12		Leuven
12	May 14	Antwerp Diamonds	20 - 11	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
Post Season
13	May 13	Playoffs Bye
14	May 21		0 - 26	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
15	May 28	Belgian Bowl Bye
16	June 4	Belgian Bowl XIX			Brussels
16	June 4	West Flanders Tribes	23 - 14	Tournai Phoenix	Brussels

2006 Playoffs----

2007 season

In 2007 many changes were made to the Operational Board. Due to continuous efforts in youth and improved coaching, the Tribes are now the most successful American Football sport team in the history of Belgium. Every top player is a product of the Tribes youth teams. The Leuven Lions were the last team to play the Tribes and not lose to them, this was a 6-6 tie in week 1 of the 2007 regular season.
Head coach: Frans Heuvicq / Off. Coordinator : Frederik George / Def. Coordinator : Benedict Verheyen

Tribes 2007 Season
Week	Date	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	February 18	Bye
2	February 25	West Flanders Tribes	6 - 6		Leuven
3	March 4	Bornem Titans	6 - 22	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
4	March 11	West Flanders Tribes	14 - 0		Antwerp
5	March 18		0 - 38	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
6	March 25	West Flanders Tribes	26 - 7		Leuven
7	April 1	Bye
8	April 8	Easter Bye
9	April 15	Bye
10	April 22	Bye
11	April 29	Bornem Titans	3 - 50	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
12	May 6	West Flanders Tribes	42 - 12		Ghent
Post Season
13	May 13	Playoffs Bye
14	May 20		6 - 55	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
15	May 27	Belgian Bowl Bye
16	June 2	Belgian Bowl XX			Brussels
16	June 2	West Flanders Tribes	35 - 13	Brussels Black Angels	Brussels

2007 Playoffs----

2008 season

Tribes 2008 Season^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Week	Date	Kick Off	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	February 17	14.00	West Flanders Tribes	42 - 0	Bornem Titans	Bornem
2	February 24	14.00	Ghent Gators	13 - 20	West Flanders Tribes	Izeghem
3	March 2	13.00	West Flanders Tribes	41 - 14	Brussels Black Angels	Heverlee (LL)
4	March 9	Bye
5	March 16	13.00	West Flanders Tribes	57 - 6	Brussels Bulls	Brussels (BBA)
6	March 23	Easter Bye
7	March 30	Bye
8	April 6	14.00	West Flanders Tribes	45 - 6	Leuven Lions	Heverlee (LL)
9	April 13	14.00	Brussels Black Angels	7 - 8	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
10	April 20	14.00	West Flanders Tribes	23 - 0	Antwerp Diamonds	Berendrecht (AD)
11	April 27	15.00	Leuven Lions	13 - 41	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
12	May 4	Bye
Post Season
13	May 11	Playoff Bye
14	May 18	14.00		6 - 13	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
15	May 25	Belgian Bowl Bye
16	May 31	18.00	Belgian Bowl XXI			Anderlecht
16	May 31	18.00	West Flanders Tribes	25 - 20	Brussels Black Angels	Anderlecht

2008 Playoffs----

2009 season

Tribes 2009 Season^[7]
Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results	Team record	Game Site
1	February 15	12:30	Brussels Bulls	6 – 16	1–0	Bornem
2	February 22	12:30	Brussels Black Angels	7 – 13	2–0	Heverlee
3	March 1	14:00	at Antwerp Diamonds	6 – 22	3–0	Berendrecht
4	March 8	14:00	at Ghent Gators	0 – 52	4–0	Ghent
5	March 15	14:00	at Bornem Titans	6 – 34	5–0	Bornem
6	March 22	14:00	Leuven Lions	57 – 6	6–0	Izegem
7	March 29	Bye
8	April 5	15:00	Brussels Bulls	35 – 6	7–0	Ostend
9	April 11	Bye
10	April 19	Bye
11	April 26	15:00	Antwerp Diamonds	50 – 0	8–0	Ostend
12	May 3	Bye
13	May 10	Playoffs Bye
14	May 17	14:00	Charleroi Cougars	53 – 12	9–0	Ostend
15	May 24	Belgian Bowl Bye
	Belgian Bowl XXII
16	May 31	19:00	Tournai Phoenix	0 – 12	10–0	Brussels
	2009 Atlantic Cup
	June 27		Dudelange Dragons	0 – 52	N/A	Berchem-Sainte-Agathe
	June 28		Dublin Rebels	13 – 15	N/A	Berchem-Sainte-Agathe

2009 Playoffs

EFAF 2009 Atlantic Cup

The tribes won the 2009 Atlantic Cup. The tournament took place at Centre Sportif, Rue des Chalets 1, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe.^[8] The game field is made of artificial turf (4th generation).

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2010 season

Tribes 2010 Season^[9]
Week	Date	Kickoff	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	14-02	Bye week due to bad weather: (rescheduled 04-04)
2	21-02	12.30	West Flanders Tribes	38 - 0		Leopoldsburg
3	28-02	15.00		(02-05)	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
4	07-03	15.00		0 - 28	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
5	14-03	Bye
6	21-03	14.00		14 - 26	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
7	28-03	15.00	West Flanders Tribes	33 - 7	Brussels Black Angels	Brussels
8	04-04	12.30		6 - 33	West Flanders Tribes	Bornem
9	11-04	12.30	West Flanders Tribes	29 - 9	Ghent Gators	Brussels
10	18-04	Bye
11	25-04	12.30		18 - 34	West Flanders Tribes	Bornem
12	02-05	15.00		23 - 42	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
Post Season
13	09-05	Playoff Bye
14	16-05	14.00		0 - 32	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
15	29-05	Belgian Bowl Bye
16	4-06	17.30	Belgian Bowl XXIII			St.Agathe-Berchem
16	4-06	17.30	West Flanders Tribes	36 - 6	Brussels Tigers	St.Agathe-Berchem

The game on week 3 was rescheduled due to a frozen underground of the gamefield.

2010 Playoffs----

2011 season

Pre-season

Roots 2010 indoor American football tournament

Champion of the Roots 2010 Arena Football Tournament with 3 wins and 1 tie.^[10] ^[11]

2011 season

Tribes 2011 Season^[12]
Week	Date	Kickoff	Visitors	Results	Home	Game Site
1	20-02	Bye
2	27-02	Bye
3	06-03	12.00		7 - 20	West Flanders Tribes	Bornem
4	13-03	12.00	West Flanders Tribes	40 - 13	Limburg Shotguns	Kessel-Lo
5	20-03	15.00	West Flanders Tribes	26-22	Brussels Bulls	St.Agathe-Berchem
6	27-03	Bye
7	03-04	12.00	West Flanders Tribes	35 - 0	Antwerp Diamonds	Bornem
8	10-04	15.00	West Flanders Tribes	50 - 0	Leuven Lions	Kessel-Lo
9	17-04	15.00		14 - 31	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
10	24-04	Easter Bye
11	01-05	12.00	West Flanders Tribes	27 - 6	Bornem Titans	Anderlecht
12	08-05	15.00		0 - 54	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
Post Season
13	15-05	Playoff Bye
14	22-05	14.00		21 - 27	West Flanders Tribes	Izegem
15	29-05	Belgian Bowl Bye
16	4-06	17.30	Belgian Bowl XXIV			Ostend
16	4-06	17.30		14-20	West Flanders Tribes	Ostend
2011 Atlantic Cup
	25-06		West Flanders Tribes	12 - 6	Brussels Tigers	Dudelange
	26-06		West Flanders Tribes	2 - 47	Lelystad Commanders	Dudelange

2011 Regular Season Standings2011 Playoffs

EFAF 2011 Atlantic Cup

The Tribes will be participating at the 3rd edition of the Atlantic Cup from 24 until 26 June.^[13]

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2012 season

2012 Playoffs

Roster

Trivia

Two brothers

Two players have participated, during the past 20 seasons, as starters for the Tribes: the brothers Pieter and Willem Demuynck. Pieter started as a Defensive End and offensive lineman (iron man football in the early period.) The past 15 years he has been playing as a left guard. Willem started as a nose tackle and offensive lineman (iron man), then remained nose tackle for 13 years and switched in 2008 to the offense as right guard. They have won 8 Belgian titles and several caps for the National team. Since June 28, 2009, the Atlantic Cup adds on to the record.

Statistics

Performance since 2000

This is an overview of the performance of the Tribes against the teams in the BFL during the BFL regular and post seasons from 2000 until 2011 and the EFAF Atlantic Cup's from 2009 until 2011.

Overview Tribes 2000-2012 performance
Opponent					Last Match	Last Win	Last Loss
style=background-color:yellow colspan=9	FFL Teams
Antwerp Diamonds^[15]	8	6	1	.533	April 1, 2012	April 3, 2011	May 14, 2006
Brussels Black Angels^[16]	14	2	2	.778	February 26, 2012	February 26, 2012	April 17, 2005
Brussels Bulls^[17]	7	1	0	.875	March 25, 2012	May 22, 2011	March 25, 2012
Ghent Gators^[18]	11	0	0	1.00	May 6, 2012	May 6, 2012	None
Leuven Lions^[19]	9	1	1	.818	April 29, 2012	April 29, 2012	March 14, 2004
Limburg Shotguns^[20]	2	0	0	1.00	March 13, 2011	March 13, 2011	None
Puurs Titans^[21]	9	0	0	1.00	April 22, 2012	April 22, 2012	None
LFFAB Teams
Brussels Tigers	6	3	0	.667	May 27, 2012	June 25, 2011	May 27, 2012
Charleroi Cougars	8	2	1	.727	May 17, 2009	May 17, 2009	April 18, 2004
Dudelange Dragons	1	0	0	1.00	June 27, 2009	June 27, 2009	None
Liège Monarchs	1	0	0	1.00	May 20, 2012	May 20, 2012	None
Tournai Phoenix	3	1	0	.750	May 16, 2010	May 16, 2010	March 3, 2002
							--->
Defunct BFL Teams
Flemalle Flames	3	3	0	.500	April 4, 2004	May 14, 2000	April 4, 2004
Liège Red Roosters	6	0	1	.857	March 28, 2004	April 6, 2003	None

Standings since 2000

Tribes 2000-2012 standings
Season	Division
2000	BFL	1	6	8	7	1	0	.875	202	67	135	3-0	82	36
2001		1	4	5	5	0	0	1.00	76	29	47	2-0	64	14
2002	BFL West	3	4	8	4	3	1	.500	146	90	56	0-1	6	8
2003	BFL West	2	2	5	2	2	1	.400	74	68	6
2004	BFL	8	10	8	2	5	1	.250	68	70	-2
2005	FFL	3	4	6	2	3	1	.333	55	71	-16
2006	FFL	1	6	7	6	1	0	.857	175	75	100	2-0	49	14
2007	FFL	1	6	7	6	0	1	.857	198	34	164	2-0	90	19
2008	FFL	1	7	8	8	0	0	1.00	277	59	218	2-0	38	26
2009	FFL	1	7	8	8	0	0	1.00	279	37	242	2-0	65	12
2010	FFL	1	8	8	8	0	0	1.00	263	77	186	2-0	68	6
2011	FFL	1	8	8	8	0	0	1.00	283	62	221	2-0	47	35
2012	FFL	2	8	6	4	1	1	.667	157	80	77	1-1	49	34
Total				92	70	16	6	.767	2253	819	1434	18-2	476	168