The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dundee’s sporting underdogs in focus
Film tells of city’s American football team
A documentary about a Dundee American football team dubbed the “worst in the UK” will be screened at the DCA next month.
Bend Don’t Break follows the story of the Dundee Hurricanes, an amateur team who have not won a game in more than two years.
Producer/director Alex Herron, from Kirkcaldy, said his film explores the life stories of players and their motivation to line up for the “underdog”.
He said: “My inspiration for the documentary was Friday Night Lights, which is an American show about a high school football team.
“I was looking around for ideas in the UK and at first I didn’t even know American football existed here.
“I then did some digging around and found the Dundee Hurricanes. Their story was interesting as they’ve got players who are American and also ones from Dundee, so it’s a real culture mix.
“One of the players is also a police officer and owns a cheesecake business, and he fits in his training around that.
“The other players are similar – they all squeeze in practice alongside work, family commitments and other interests. The film has a fair bit of humour in it. It’s about the absurdity of the situation and about supporting the underdog,” he said.
American football in Dundee dates to the 1980s with the founding of amateur team the Dundee Whalers.
Later a youth team known as the Dundee Storm was created.
After its dissolution, and when the players became old enough to play senior football, the Dundee Hurricanes were formed in 2002.
Rising costs, unreliable training attendances and frequent injuries are just some of the problems explored in the documentary.
Bend Don’t Break will have a one-off special screening and a Q&A with Alex at DCA on August 25 at 1pm.
The cream of the crop may have been to the fore at Carnoustie over the last few days, but any sport is about so much more than its very finest proponents. Sometimes doing your best and taking part is enough – just ask members of the Dundee Hurricanes American Football team.
The squad may have been dubbed “the worst in the UK”, but that hasn’t stopped them giving their all.
When all is said and done, that’s what really matters.