The Coventry Jets are a British American football team based in Coventry, England. They currently play in the BAFA Premier Division North for 2016 and are based at Coventry Sphinx Sports & Social Club. The Jets were formed in 2004 as the Coventry Jaguars and have also been known as the Coventry Cassidy Jets They've been one of the most successful teams in the UK during their short history, having competed in six bowl games and four national championships over eleven years. They currently offer teams at all levels of American football in the UK - senior, university, junior, youth and flag football.
The Jets reached four consecutive BAFL Britbowl finals from 2007 to 2010, winning the trophy in 2008 and also winning the BAFL Premier Division championship that year to secure 'the double'.
The first American Football club in Coventry was formed as the Warwickshire Bears in February 1984 by two local men with a lot of assistance from the head coach of the United States air base team at Chicksands. The Bears played their first season in the American Football League's Midland Division, which was arguably the toughest division in the Country. That year the Bears only posted one regular season victory, however, friendly games proved more productive, with the best result coming when they travelled to London to take on the unbeaten and eventual Summer Bowl finalists, Streatham Olympians. The Bears ran out easy winners with a 26:0 scoreline.
1986 saw the Bears in the Anglo Conference Central Division where the proved to be too experienced for the others and won the division with an 8 won and 2 lost record. This includes a British American Football League record victory of 100:0 over the Black Country Nailers. They also played host to International opposition when they played the top Norwegian team, the Oslo Trolls, losing the match by one point on the last kick of the game. The following year, in an effort to improve the overall talent levels and make the next step up, the club merged with Milton Keynes to form the CMK Bucks. It was a disaster. The team folded and lost a lot of talent to neighbouring teams, but reformed again as the Coventry Bears. At the end of 1990, a successful merger with the Walsall Titans once again transformed the club's fortunes, with a dynamic new team called the Coventry Jaguars.
The Jaguars imported two US players, QB Travis Hunter from East Carolina University and Tight End Craig Otto of the University of Minnesota. This was the trigger for great things, the Jags winning every game in 1991, finishing 10-0, NDMA Division II Coca-Cola Cup Champions and also inflicted the first defeat in 7 years on the reigning USAAF Champions Upper Heyford Skykings.