Ahead of the Championship Game on Sunday (September 22nd, kickoff: 3:30 pm), the ELF Honors will take place. An event to honor the most impactful protagonists of the season and recognize their extraordinary achievements. 

A great event for the league, its fans, players and coaches. But also a great honor for the nominees. Three of them give an insight into their thoughts.

Vienna Vikings Nikolaus Terlitza has been nominated in the “Defensive Rookie of the Year” category. Before the honors, the young linebacker is humble: "I mean, I am honored to be there, but still couldn't be there without my coaches, without my teammates and everyone, who supported me my hole career. I am grateful for those and I guess it's a compliment for all of those, not just for me."

Vienna Vikings coach Chris Calaycay has a chance of winning the "Coach of the Year" award. The experienced head coach sees his mission clearly: "A nomination means I have a group of people around me, that have the same goal. As a head coach, you set that goal and set up a situation where they can be successful. I think just to be nominated, or any of our players, is an extreme honor. There are great players and coaches in this league. I think the European League of Football does an amazing job, putting all these players and coaches upfront and show Europe what American Football can look like here. The sport is growing and the guys who put effort in this, deserve honor and a nomination."

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One of his rivals for the award is Championship opponent Jim Tomsula. He has also been nominated for "Coach of the Year". However, the Rhein Fire coach puts his team in the spotlight: “ It's always an honor. I don't want to diminish it, but every time someone gives you an award, in a team sport like football? It's a team award. I am always a little bit uncomfortable with those things.” Tomsula knows what it's like to be honored on such a stage. After an undefeated regular season in 2023, he received the Head Coach of the Year award at last year's Honors. 

Not just to his credit, says the experienced coach. "Last year the Rhein Fire got the coach of the year award, not Jim." He goes on to highlight the team spirit of the sport: "Nobody in this game does it by themselves. It's always a group effort. Everybody makes this thing work." Tomusla emphasizes once again that it is still an honour to take part in the Honors.