Football squad travelling to Dublin, Ireland, for May 15 exhibition game
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern football team will travel to Ireland on May 13-21 and will play an exhibition game against a pair of NFL-Ireland club teams.
The Polar Bears will face a combined team made up of club teams from the University College Dublin and the Meath Bulldogs on May 15 in Dublin, Ireland.
ONU expects the two club teams, that participate in NFL-Ireland league, will alternate and play as units in the game.
Led by ninth-year head coach Dean Paul, the Polar Bears will also travel to Galway and Killarney before returning home on May 21.
The NCAA allows Division III schools to travel internationally for an exhibition game once every three years and Ohio Northern is fully taking advantage of that opportunity.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for our student/athletes and we are excited to once again take our players to see a part of the world that they may not have been able to see otherwise," Paul said. "It is a chance for our young men to grow as individuals and to be ambassadors of the University, the United States and as American football players in a foreign country."
This will mark the third time that the ONU football team has travelled to Europe to play an exhibition game.
The Polar Bears defeated an All-Star club team 77-0 in Furstenfeldbruck, Germany, and downed an Italian All-Star club team 63-6 in Pontremoli, Italy in 2010.
Daily player updates, photos and stats from the game can be found by clicking on the above link and will also be available on facebook (www.facebook.com/ONUSports) and twitter (@ONUSports).