2019 CAFL season
LeagueChina Arena Football League
SportArena football
DurationNovember 13—23, 2019
Number of games4
Number of teams4
Finals championsWuhan Gators (1st title)
  Runners-upBeijing Lions

The 2019 CAFL season was the second season of the China Arena Football League (CAFL).[1]

Background

After the 2016 season, the Dalian Dragon Kings and Shenzhen Naja relocated to become the Shenyang Black Rhinos and Wuhan Gators, respectively.[2] In June 2017, it was announced that the 2017 season was being moved to the spring of 2018.[3] In January 2018, the league postponed the start of their second season to continue to establish business partnerships in China. The league has targeted a return to play in the autumn of 2019.[1]

In September 2019, the CAFL released an abbreviated schedule, with a two-game regular season and a playoff tournament featuring all four teams, with games played November 6, 9, 20 and 23. Uniquely among professional football leagues, the CAFL playoff seeds were set as part of the schedule, with the semifinal round (December 6) consisting of the two matchups that did not play in the regular season. The winners of the semifinal round will play for the championship two days after the semifinals, and the losers for a consolation game the same day.[4]

On November 8, the CAFL announced that the first game had been postponed to November 13. Two days later, the league announced that the regular season was canceled and that two of the four games scheduled would be played as exhibition games. In lieu of a regular season or semi-final playoffs, the CAFL instead held a single round-robin tournament with each team playing the other for 12 minutes, with no overtime in the event of a tie. The standings following those contests will then be used to seed the championship: the two lowest-ranked teams played a consolation round, and the two highest-ranked played for the CAFL championship. Both games were 24 minutes long, separated into two 12-minute halves, with overtime if necessary (which it was for the championship). The entirety of the CAFL tournament took place in Suzhou over the course of three days.[5]

Standings

+ = Shenyang secured third place by way of defeating Shanghai in the consolation game.[6]

Draft

2017 CAFL Draft

The 2017 CAFL Draft was held on July 10, 2017. 36 players were drafted with 18 of them being Americans and 18 players from China or who are of Chinese descent.[7]

Round one

Pick #TeamPlayerPositionStatus
1Shenyang Black RhinosChris DiekerQBIN
2Wuhan GatorsBoqiao LiDECN
3Guangzhou PowerTang CanmingOLCN
4Shanghai SkywalkersYang ShunjunLBCN
5Qingdao ClipperCheng Chi SingWR / DBCN
6Beijing LionsMike ChiangDBCN

Round two

Pick #TeamPlayerPositionStatus
7Shenyang Black RhinosLiang JianbangWRCN
8Wuhan GatorsDu Xuan TingOLCN
9Guangzhou PowerHuang ZhiqianWR / DBCN
10Shanghai SkywalkersMarrio NormanDBIN
11Qingdao ClipperFen ChaoOL / DLCN
12Beijing LionsHuang LingjieDLCN

Round three

Pick #TeamPlayerPositionStatus
13Shenyang Black RhinosChad KolumberOLIN
14Wuhan GatorsZhang ZhengzhiRBCN
15Guangzhou PowerShi YiqingQBCN
16Shanghai SkywalkersRaymond McNeilOLIN
17Qingdao ClipperBrenden DaleyDLIN
18Beijing LionsNick SeitherOL / DLIN

Round four

Pick #TeamPlayerPositionStatus
19Shenyang Black RhinosKyle MarleyOL / DLIN
20Wuhan GatorsDionte SavageOLIN
21Guangzhou PowerDexter DavisDLIN
22Shanghai SkywalkersZhang ChenxuWR / DBCN
23Qingdao ClipperElbert MackDBIN
24Beijing LionsBryce GauwWRCN

Round five

Pick #TeamPlayerPositionStatus
25Shenyang Black RhinosSu MengtongOL / DLCN
26Wuhan GatorsMonte LewisDLIN
27Guangzhou PowerDarius ReynoldsWRIN
28Shanghai SkywalkersLi XinC / OLCN
29Qingdao ClipperBret PiekarskiOLIN
30Beijing LionsDeAndre PerryQB / WRIN

Round six

Pick #TeamPlayerPositionStatus
31Shenyang Black RhinosZheng Yu FanWRCN
32Wuhan GatorsJarred EvansDB / QB / LBIN
33Guangzhou PowerAndre MartinDBIN
34Shanghai SkywalkersByron Johnson IIWRIN
35Qingdao ClipperLuo Lein Wen YuDL / OLCN
36Beijing LionsPoppy LiversWRIN

Note: CN indicates Chinese national or of Chinese descent while IN indicates international players

Source:[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "CAFL PLANS FOR LONG TERM SUCCESS". China Arena Football League. January 25, 2018.
  2. Moninghoff, Mick (July 14, 2017). "Second CAFL Draft Produces "Firsts"". caflfootball.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  3. "CAFL AND CRFA EXTEND START DATE OF SECOND SEASON". caflfootball.com. June 21, 2017. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  4. "CAFL RELEASES 2019 COMPETITION SCHEDULE - CAFL – Professional American Indoor Football in China".
  5. "CAFL 2019 COMPETITION BREAKDOWN! - CAFL – Professional American Indoor Football in China".
  6. @inside_arena (December 6, 2019). "Final scores from the @ArenaFLChina championship tournament:Shenyeng 6, Shanghai 0Wuhan 6, Beijing 0 Beijing…" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  7. "2017 CAFL Draft to be held July 10 – 8:00pm EST". caflfootball.com. June 14, 2017. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  8. "2017 CAFL DRAFT RESULTS". caflfootball.com. July 11, 2017. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
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