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 The Ostend Pirates are an American football team based in Ostend. The Pirates are currently members of the Flemish American Football League (FAFL) conference in the Belgian Football League (BFL). History Ostend Tigers The original team were th ...

and the Izegem Tribes.

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 The Antwerp Diamonds are a former amateur American football team based in Antwerp. The Diamonds were members of the Flemish American Football League (FAFL) conference in the Belgian Football League The Belgian American Football League (BAFL) i ...

Belgian Bowl XII The Belgian Bowl XII was played in 1999 and was won by the Antwerp Diamonds. References External linksOfficial Belgian Bowl website American football in Belgium Belgian Bowl Belgian Bowl In American football, the Belgian Bowl is the champion ...

but lost in their first

Belgian Bowl In American football, the Belgian Bowl is the championship game of the Belgian Football League The Belgian American Football League (BAFL) is a sports league for American football in Belgium founded in 1987. The league currently consists of 18 ...

appearance with a score of 41-6.

First two Belgian Titles

2000 season

2000 Playoffs ----

2001 season

2001 Playoffs ----

2002 season

2002 Playoffs ----

2003 season

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2004 season

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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. ----

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). 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 2007 Playoffs ----

2008 season

2008 Playoffs ----

2009 season

2009 Playoffs

=EFAF 2009 Atlantic Cup

= The tribes won the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Atlantic Cup The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. The tournament took place at Centre Sportif, Rue des Chalets 1,

Berchem-Sainte-Agathe Berchem-Sainte-Agathe ( French, ) or Sint-Agatha-Berchem (Dutch, ), often simply called Berchem, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by Gansh ...

. The game field is made of artificial turf (4th generation).
----

2010 season

* 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.

=2011 season

= 2011 Regular Season Standings 2011 Playoffs

=EFAF 2011 Atlantic Cup

= The Tribes will be participating at the 3rd edition of the

from 24 until 26 June. ----

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.

Staff

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.

Standings since 2000

Achievements

*1999: Runner-up Champion of Belgium ''(as Izegem Redskins)'' *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

: Champion of Belgium ''(as Izegem Redskins)'' *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

: Champion of Belgium (perfect season 7-0-0) ''(as Izegem Redskins)'' *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

: Champion of Belgium and Champion of Flanders *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: Champion of Belgium and Champion of Flanders (unbeaten season 9-0-1) *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: Champion of Belgium and Champion of Flanders (perfect season 10-0-0) *

: Champion of Belgium and Champion of Flanders (perfect season 10-0-0) **2009: Atlantic Cup Champion *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Champion of Belgium and Champion of Flanders (perfect season 10-0-0) *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: Champion of Belgium and Champion of Flanders (perfect season 10-0-0) **2011: Atlantic Cup Runners-up