Hey Guys,
Our season here in the Czech Republic has come to an end. The final for the Czech League championship will be this friday. My team was not apart of the playoffs. Our season kicked off with two games before I arrived in Prague. The Lions lost both games by a significant amount. Those games were against the Prague Panthers and the Prague Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are the team that broke away from the Lions two years ago. Most of our experienced players now play for them, with a few of the better ones going to the Panthers.
My first game here was against the Ostrava Steelers. We ended up losing that game in overtime 12-6. A winnable game. Our kicker was not at the game. If he was, we would have won the game 7-6 in regulation. The next game was against the Bratislava Monarchs. We lost this game 51-0. Despite the score, this was a winnable game. We threw something like 3 pick 6's, as well as a few other interceptions that gave the Monarchs a short field. On the occasion that we didn't turn the ball over, we were three and out. The next game was against the Panthers again. We lost 48-0. While it was a difficult game, we improved so much. The following week, we played the Brno Alligators. Once again, we should have won this game, but we fell 15-7. In this game, we lost our first two running backs to injury. One dislocated his elbow 2 inches, while the other one had a significant concussion with a shoulder injury. We lost these guys on consecutive plays. With those injuries, we rolled into our last game of the season, against Ostrava, with a third string running back who is still eligible to play in the upcoming Junior season. Not wanting to risk his health for his main season, we played a pass based offense. We ran the ball literally 3 times. With an severely one sided offensive attack, we lost 35-16.
Despite these setbacks, our team made great strides this season. We had three games that we were capable of winning. Often our immaturity as a team proved to be our downfall, as we got comfortable and were eventually overtaken. As unimaginable as it may seem, we are one or two pieces from returning to title contention next season. We are actively looking for those pieces.
Right now, we need money and sponsors. The three year plan put together by Zach, and our head coach Martin, is a solid plan to return us to our former glory. We just need money. Money for equipment and personnel. An American quarterback would be a God send.
Please pray for the Lions as we continue to build for the future. As the team goes, so does part of our ministry. It all sounds very material, but it is hard to work on any plan without money. There is very little to prevent our guys from jumping ship to another team, so success in the near future is vital. If guys move to another team, then my ability to affect them on a personal level is greatly hampered. Connections that I have made and relationships that Zach and I have been working on are constantly at risk.
Pray for the guys on the team as well. Pray that they be patient in our search for success. Pray that they stick with our team through our struggles. Also, pray for their spiritual welfare. We have a couple of guys who are close to being saved. I hope and pray that The next prayer letter I send out will have a story along those lines.
Thank you all for supporting my ministry and praying for the work that we do here in the Czech Republic. Feel free to drop me a line at micahlembke@gmail.com or on facebook.
