Bergen Storm - History Line

History Line

• pre 1992: A merge between Bergen Bulldogs and Bergen Flyers in 1992. The team became Bergen Blackhawks and performed well landing the team as no. 3 in Norwegian 1st division.
• 1992 - 1994: Coach Joe Spinella Took over the team as a head coach. The team had their so far best record in this era. Jon Bakken was president of the club.
• 1995-1998: Bergen Storm failed to perform very well and was tormented by instability and changes of presidents and coaches. With the exception of 1996, Bergen Storm did not manage to complete a single season. On the brighter side, the era saw the birth of Storm U-19 and the 2nd division championship winner for seniors.
• 1999 - 2001: Kaj Hopland, Rolf Endresen and Atle Mølholm created stability for the club as coaches and an efficient board. Bergen Storm competed in the 2nd division in 1999 - 2001. During this time Bergen Storm U-19 noted their best records as vice-champions three years in a row.
• 2002-2004: Bergen Storm senior made a three-year run into the 1st division but was clearly seen to small to compete against the better Norwegian teams Eidsvoll 1814s, Oslo Vikings, and VIF Trolls. Bergen Storm launched their first U-16 program and Bergen Storm Cheerleading became active.
• 2005 - 2009: Bergen Storm decided to move back into the 2nd division for the 2005 season. An experiment was made to split the Bergen team into two teams: Blizzard and Thunder, to compete in a 3-team conference along with Åsane Seahawks. Only one formal game got played and a joint Storm team traveled to Hamar Ruins to take on the 2nd division championship game, which the Ruins won. 2006 saw the first paid coach for Bergen Storm when Timo Sorri was brought in to help out Bergen Storm. 2007 and 2008 has been played in 2nd division with local coaching and personnel. In 2009 former NFL draft pick and Southern Carolina standout Ryan Bethea took charge of the team going 4-0 in the second division. Bergen Storm won their first Championship on any level when Storm won the U-16 championship in '05. 2008 also saw the first season of the 8-man regional football league in Bergen, with five teams participating: Bergen Replacements, Bergen Gators, Bergen Leftovers, Åsane Seahawks and Kvernbit Knights.
• 2010–2012: The Bergen Storm side decided to move back up into the 1st division in 2010 under the leadership of 2nd year HC Ryan Bethea. Bergen Storm assembled a team consisting of players from Storm, the Kvernbit Knights and Os Wolverines. The club fielded Norwegian players only playing the local quarterback Øyvind Haugland as starter. The team went 1-5 through the season after an 8-6 upset win over the VIF Trolls in Oslo. Peter Holmberg succeeded as HC for Bergen Storm in 2011 and 2012. In addition, Bergen Storm brought in American import players for the first time in team history. The team went 2-4 through 2011 season with a double win over the Nidaros Domers which qualified for the last spot in play-offs.. Further, Bergen Storm went 3-3 in 2012 after beating the Nidaros Domers, VIF Trolls and AFC Show but did not qualify for playoffs due to the increased number of participating teams in the league. However, the team saw a reduction in the junior program in this period of time. The U-16 program folded after 2010 campaign and the U-19 program did not manage to field a team for the 2012 campaign after reaching playoffs in 2011 under the leadership of Christian Detjen. Bergen Storm Cheerleading increased both in size and quality during this time and won the national championship in cheerleading for one category in 2012.