Korea American Football Association
Formation1945
TypeNon-profit
HeadquartersSeoul
Official language
Korean (KR)
Chairman
Park Kyung-Kyu
WebsiteKAFA.org

The Korea American Football Association (KAFA, Korean: 대한미식축구협회, Hanja: 大韓美式蹴球協會) has existed in South Korea for more than 70 years. The popularity of American football in Korea has been historically low, but with the visit of Hines Ward (a Korean born NFL football star with the Pittsburgh Steelers) in 2006, the sport received a modest level of increased appeal. Within Korea, KAFA is a sports governing body over both traditional football with pads and also flag football.

Traditional football leagues within Korea is divided between university and senior (KNFL) teams. Three championship bowl games of special note occur at the end of the season. The Tiger Bowl determines the champions of the University league, the Gwanggaeto Bowl determines the champions of the KNFL, and finally, the Kimchi Bowl, the Korean equivalent of Japan's Rice Bowl, pits the University champion against the KNFL champion.

College Programs

Institution 한국어 Location Founded Type Enrollment Nickname Colors
Dong-eui University 동의대학교 Busan 1977 Private 22,992 Turtle Fighters Red and White
Yonsei University 연세대학교 Seoul 1977 Private 38,725 Eagles Royal Blue
Dankook University 단국대학교 Yongin 2015 Private 31,347 Kodiak Navy and White

Korea National Football League

In 2015, there were seven teams in the KNFL, divided into two divisions (북부리그 North Division, 남부리그 South Division). The top two seeds of each division played in a four-team semifinal playoff. Winners of the semifinals played in the Gwanggaeto Bowl Championship. The KNFL Champion played the Korean University League Champion in the Kimchi Bowl.

Starting in 2016, the KNFL changed to a full league format, with each of the seven teams playing one another. The two teams with the best regular season records face off in the Gwanggaeto Bowl. The KNFL Champion plays the Korean University League Champion in the Kimchi Bowl.



Gwanggaeto Bowl Finals

# Date Champions Score Runners-up Venue
1 1996.1.7 Seven Six 20 - 6 Leos Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
2 1997.1.19 Bluegons 18 - 6 Blue Friends Sajik Stadium, Busan
3 1998.1.11 Seven Six 6 - 0 Bluegons Kyungsung University Stadium, Busan
4 1999.1.10 Blue Friends 12 - 6 Caps Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
5 2000.1.9 Red Stars 32 - 22 Caps Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
6 2001.1.14 Red Stars 20 - 6 Scholars Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
7 2002.1.13 Seven Six 18 - 12 Red Stars Duryu Park Stadium, Daegu
8 2003.1.12 Scholars 18 - 12 Caps Pusan National University Stadium, Busan
9 2004.1.18 Caps (Seoul Golden Eagles) 17 - 6 Bluegons Pusan National University Stadium, Busan
10 2005.1.16 Halraes 14 - 7 Seven Six Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
11 2005.12.18 Seoul Vikings 33 - 21 Caps Yong In University Stadium, Yongin
12 2006.12.10 Gryphons 19 - 10 Seoul Vikings Seoul National University Stadium, Seoul
13 2007.12.2 Gryphons 23 - 13 ADT Caps Yong In University Stadium, Yongin
14 2008.12.7 Seoul Vikings 28 - 3 Seoul Golden Eagles Namyangju Stadium, Namyangju
15 2009.12.6 ADT Caps 13 - 0 Seoul Vikings Namyangju Stadium, Namyangju
16 2010.12.12 Daegu Phoenix 14 - 7 ADT Caps Namyangju Stadium, Namyangju
17 2011.12.4 Seoul Warriors 16 - 13 Domino Yongsan SIMS Stadium, Seoul
18 2012.12.2 Seoul Vikings 14 - 7 Seoul Warriors Yongsan SIMS Stadium, Seoul
19 2013.11.24 Seoul Vikings 26 - 23 Seoul Golden Eagles Yongsan SIMS Stadium, Seoul
20 2014.11.16 Samsung BlueStorm 28 - 13 Daegu Phoenix Jinyeong Stadium, Gimhae
21 2015.11.15 Seoul Golden Eagles 22 - 14 Daegu Phoenix Daegu Haany University Stadium, Gyeongsan
22 2016.11.20 Daegu Phoenix 34 - 20 Samsung Bluestorm Seochang Stadium, Yangsan
23 2017.11.26 Seoul Vikings 13 - 12 Samsung Bluestorm Seochang Stadium, Yangsan

Tiger Bowl

The Tiger Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in South Korea established in 1994. The game is the championship game for the KFAF's college programs.[1][2]

Finals

# Date Champions Score Runners-up Venue
1 1995 Dong-a University
2 1996 Keimyung University
3 1997 Kyungpook National University
4 1998 Dong-a University
5 1999 Dong-a University
6 2000 Kyungsung University
7 2001 Kyungsung University
8 2002 Kumoh National Institute of Technology
9 2003 Dong-a University
10 2004 Kumoh National Institute of Technology
11 2005 Dong-a University
12 2006 Dong-Eui University
13 2007 Dong-Eui University
14 2008 Dong-Eui University
15 2009 Pusan National University
16 2010 Pusan National University
17 2011 Pusan National University
18 2012 Hanyang University
19 2013 Pusan National University
20 2014 Dong-Eui University
21 2015 Dong-Eui University
22 2016 Dong-Eui University
23 2017 Dong-Eui University
24 2018 Dong-Eui University
25 2019 Sungkyunkwan University

[3]

Kimchi Bowl

The Kimchi Bowl is the final championship game of KAFA. The game pits the KNFL team that has won the Gwanggaeto Bowl against the university team that has won the Tiger bowl.

Finials

# Date Champions Score Runners-up Venue
1 1996.1.14 DongA University 12 - 7 Seven Six Sajik Stadium, Busan
2 1997.1.26 Bluegons 28 - 18 Keimyung University Sajik Stadium, Busan
3 1998.1.18 Kyungpook National University 47 - 6 Seven Six Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
4 1999.1.17 DongA University 35 - 22 Blue Friends Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
5 2000.1.16 DongA University 19 - 14 Red Stars Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
6 2001.1.21 Red Stars 13 - 0 Kyungsung University Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
7 2002.1.27 Seven Six 27 - 14 Kyungsung University Duryu Park Stadium, Daegu
8 2003.1.19 Gumoh National University 7 - 6 Scholars Pusan National University Stadium, Busan
9 2004.1.1 Caps (Seoul Golden Eagles) 23 - 17 DongA University Pusan National University Stadium, Busan
10 2005.1.30 Halraes 27 - 12 Gumoh National University Hyochang Stadium, Seoul
11 2006.1.8 DongA University 7 - 6 Seoul Vikings Keimyung University Stadium, Daegu
12 2007.1.14 Busan Gryphons 37 - 0 DongEui University Pusan National University Stadium, Busan
13 2008.1.6 Busan Gryphons 21 - 12 DongEui University Pusan National University Stadium, Busan
14 2009.1.11 Seoul Vikings 20 - 14 DongEui University Namyangju Stadium, Namyangju
15 2010.1.10 Pusan National University 34 - 13 ADT Caps Namyangju Stadium, Namyangju
16 2011.1.9 Daegu Phoenix 40 - 24 Busan National University Kyungpook National University Stadium, Daegu
17 2012.1.8 Seoul Warriors 14 - 0 Busan National University Seoul Yongsan SIMS Stadium, Seoul
18 2012.12.30 Seoul Vikings 23 - 0 Hanyang University Pocheon Stadium, Pocheon
19 2013.12.1 Pusan National University 14 - 6 Seoul Vikings Kyungil University Stadium, Gyeongsan
20 2014.11.30 Samsung BlueStorm 7 - 6 DongEui University Samsung Heavy Industries Stadium, Geoje
21 2015.12.6 Seoul Golden Eagles 27 - 6 DongEui University Seoul National University Stadium, Seoul
22 2016.12.4 DongEui University (Turtle Fighters) 17 - 6 Daegu Phoenix Kyungpook National University Stadium, Daegu
23 2017.12.5 DongEui University (Turtle Fighters) 21 - 14 Seoul Vikings Pusan National University Stadium, Busan

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stage Set For Tiger Bowl playoffs in Korea". American Football International. 6 November 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  2. ^ "South Korea". International Federation of American Football. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  3. ^ "재미로보는 역대타이거볼 대학 우승팀". dcinside.com. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

External links


Collegiate American Football in South Korea
Top-level American football leagues of Asia
Categories