An unbeaten season and a promotion… East Kent Mavericks’ Tyrell Bovell on the growth of American football in Kent, rivalries and playing for GB

“When I started, it was just in a field, like a bunch of guys just getting together and playing a sport they enjoyed”

As we complete the 16th year that the NFL has brought its teams to London to play in front of UK fans, and with another Superbowl just around the corner, Kent’s own American football stars have had a season to remember. The East Kent Mavericks (@EKMavericks), based in Canterbury, have won the Britbowl XXXV to be crowned the British American Football Association Division Two national champions.

While the Mavs topped their division, they made history by beating Hereford Stampede in the quarters, Somerset Wyverns in the semi and Shropshire Revolution in the final, completing their promotion to Div One and their unbeaten season - something that doesn’t happen very often in any sport, at any level.

“No it doesn’t,” says running back Tyrell Bovelle. “I think it’s the most successful season that the Mavs have ever had. Actually winning a championship is a first for the Mavs. So it’s definitely a good place to be at the moment.”

Kitted out in black helmets and grey jerseys, with the shadowy horse emblem, the Mavs cut quite a mean outfit when they take to their home field at Simon Langton boys’ school in Canterbury. They garner a modest support of 40 or more fans who watch the team regularly - though the crowd size grew significantly as the Mavs neared this year’s championship game.

But just in the 10 years that Tyrell has been playing with the Mavs, the attitude towards the sport has changed hugely in this country.

“The NFL games in London have definitely boosted that a lot,” he says. “I feel like the coverage is getting a lot bigger. You’ve got the Jacksonville Jaguars, who’ve got a huge marketing base, here in England and there’s more events outside of those games being put on. Even the attendance of spectators has gotten a lot bigger. When I started, it was just in a field, like a bunch of guys just getting together and playing a sport they enjoyed. As the years go on, you’ve got more publicity, you get more interest, it’s starting to change.”

The UK now boasts feeder programmes like the NFL Academy in Loughborough and SGS Pride in Gloucestershire, while sign-ups are on the rise, with more than 60 adult full-contact teams across the UK, female teams, flag football and youth teams.

In Kent alone, Christ Church University and University of Kent in Canterbury boast their own teams, while the Orpington-based Kent Exiles will also be in Div One next season, which should make for a tasty fixture.

“Yeah. So they’ve come down one and we’ve gone up one,” says Tyrell. “We’re waiting for the fixtures and the leagues to be released. There’s always been a rivalry, since I was a junior here. We’ve had the ‘Battle of Kent’, I think, about three times and everyone wants to be on that winning side.”

Tyrell, 25, is one of the more experienced players on the team, having been at the Mavs since he was 15. And having earned a call-up to the Great Britain team two years ago, he actually spent a season with the Kent Exiles in the Premier League to get experience of playing at a higher level. But his return to the Mavs this season coincided with their championship win and he will now be focusing on meeting up with GB once more.

“I got my first cap against France a few months back, which was very exciting,” he says. “We’ve got a game coming up against Denmark in the autumn. We’re still waiting on the travel squad to be announced for that. But it’s a very, very good thing to be part of.”

If you’ve ever watched any of the good American football documentaries, like Hard Knocks on Sky or All or Nothing on Amazon, you will know that the level of detail the coaching staff and the players have to take on board before each game is astounding.

“You’ve got coaches for everything,” says Tyrell. “They do film and you study the other teams really in depth - it really gives you a feel for that national level programme and it’s helped me develop as a player. You get a better understanding of the game.”

Having sent recordings of his own performances into GB, Tyrell was invited to a try-out and made it to the squad that will compete in competitions organised by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).

As a running back, Tyrell is tasked with running with the ball, through tight spaces, often coming under heavy tackles from opposition defensive players. In the NFL, running backs can often be among the top earning stars, but they also tend to be the ones with the shortest careers due to injuries.

With this in mind, Tyrell has already begun coaching, taking up a role at the University of Kent Falcons team. “I thought as it’s sort of on my doorstep, it’s a good thing to get into and start because I want to see the game develop and have more high-level athletes produced from it.”

Of course, the UK game is a long way from those across the pond, and Tyrell still works in telecoms by day. But his passion to play the game and emulate his idols like Saquan Barkley of the New York Giants, or Bejan Robinson at his beloved Atlanta Falcons, knows few bounds. And, as with so many of his teammates, he’s willing to put in the miles (quite literally).

“This season, we’ve had a lot of people from all over come in,” he says. “Quite a few players from the London area who’ve transferred in. It used to be primarily a Kent-based set of players, but now we’ve started to grow our social media, and we’ve obviously had a good season, people from all over are starting to come down. But of course we still have a very high percentage of Kent-based players.”

More players and a wider pool from which to draw talent means standards are going up and Tyrell cannot wait for the season in Division One.

“I think we’ve got 55 [on the squad] and then some,” he says. “Which is a position that we’ve not been in for forever. It does encourage that competition side of things. So people push a little bit harder and actually want to earn their spot, which is always a good place to be.”

Walking out at the Championship game, Tyrell says he wasn’t overly nervous and, once the Mavs started racking up the scores, he knew they would walk away with the title.

“From the first few weeks of the season we could see that we had a good team. And I sort of expected us to go all the way. I’ve been with the Mavs for like 10 years now and this was the first time we’d gotten this far. So for me, yeah, I did feel it a little in that first quarter or so because it was quite close still. But once we started running away with it, it was exactly what I’d imagined.”

Expectations are already high for the season in 2024.

“The competition level goes up,” he says. “Everyone’s gelled a bit more now. We had so many new players last season, but now we’ve had a whole year under our belt to get to know each other to build chemistry. I think they’re going to be even better this year. So I think we’ll shock Div One for sure.”