The Sofia Bears closed the half-season with a convincing international victory

On 23 June, at the city stadium in the Novi Grad district of Sarajevo, the Sofia Bears visited the Sarajevo Spartans. This was also the first home match of the young Bosnian team. Newly formed and featuring players from former team Sarajevo Tigers, the Sarajevo Spartans team came out extremely motivated to prove themselves in front of their home crowd. The hosts also impressed with good organization and hospitality. After a quick press conference, the official part continued with the performance of the anthems of the two countries and speeches by the Bulgarian and American ambassadors in Sarajevo, as well as the mayor of the Novigrad region. After a short speech by the main organizer - club president Midhat Slatina, the match could already start under the hot afternoon sun. The hosts started the match well and managed to stop the first attack of the Bulgarians. But the moment the Bears defense stepped on the field, the game was already decided. After 3 failed attempts – they were forced to kick the ball. From then on the Bears' offence clicked, and receiver Todor Stamenov (#80) opened the score and by the end of the game he became the most productive player with 14 scored points. The Bears' defence literally crushed the Spartans' hopes of moving the ball - the good game of end Veselin Bonchev (#95), who accounted for 2 sacks, and the nightmare for foreign quarterbacks - Aleksandar Kenanov (#55) with 3 sacks, showed that the Bulgarians play exceptionally well in covering the opponent's run. The starting defenders, Simeon Vasilev (#54) and Anton Doykov (#44), who were recovering from injuries until recently, also returned to the game. An early injury to Bosnian middle linebacker #27 also contributed to the easy win. However, until the end, the Spartans fought to score at least once and stop the momentum of the Bulgarian attack. Alas, they fell short, and despite numerous points being disallowed for fouls, the Bears won convincingly 39-0. The hosts will have the opportunity to make up for this loss in the next meeting between the two teams, which will take place on October 14 in Sofia. After spending the night and exploring the beautiful old part of the city, the team set off back on the long road to Sofia. The Bears made this trip possible thanks to their main sponsor - Posoka.com - for which we are extremely grateful for their support. Sofia Bears 39:0 Sarajevo Spartans (6:0, 14:0, 6:0, 13:0) Todor Stamenov (TD) 6:0 Veselin Bonchev (TD) 12:0 Todor Stamenov (EP) 13:0 Todor Stamenov (TD) 19:0 Todor Stamenov (EP) 20:0 Simeon Vasilev (TD) 26:0 Alexander Kenanov (TD) 32:0 Boris Mutafchiev (EP) 33:0 Christian Chan (TD) 39:0 The Bears have officially finished their half-season, but practice continues every Monday and Wednesday at 7pm on the baseball field next to the Technical University rectory. Next week, the youth of the Sofia Bears and the Sofia Hawks are leaving on July 4 to represent Bulgaria in the international youth sports festival in Vienna.