National football organisation: ‘Bears Armed Association for Soccer’ (= ‘BAAS’).
(Chairbear: Arrannah Graye [Chairbear of River City S.C.])
National anthem (for sports): ‘The Banner Green And Gold’.
Yes, it still is an all-female team. As I’ve explained before, this is because the main ball-game that's traditionally been played in Bears Armed is actually a form of Rugby, but [for several reasons] the professional league for that sport is all-male and so some of the female players decided that switching to Soccer — and trying to establish a professional league for that sport for themselves instead — might be a viable alternative: They were right, because that professional league was founded shortly after WC44 and so has now been in operation for over fifty years.
All of the players are actual Ursines (i.e. anthropomorpic, bipedal Bears)], except for any whom I actually specify as being members of other ‘peoples’ instead. The Harr'aynau people are physically human (more-or-less, anyway, although inclined towards heavy builds & hairiness), but are spiritually & culturally Ursine instead.
According to Bears Armed’s timeline, the qualifiers for WC59 take place in 2069-’70AD, and the Cup proper in 2071AD: All figures given here for people’s ages and lengths of experience are the values applying in the first of those three years.
EDIT: Except for the new players #16 & #17, who joined the team a year after that start.
Staff
Manager & Chief Coach: Urra ‘Honey’ SunBlesséd _ A female Ursine from the Sun Clan, she has 64 years of experience in football and played for the Bear-Belles from BoF#31 right through into WC#57. She is now 81 years old but, although not amongst the people from the team’s former staff who were “rejuvenated” in 2042, still seems quite ‘young’ both physically and mentally. She is right-pawed, with ‘honey-brown’ fur, and has very good eyesight even by human (rather than Ursine) standards. She is a very accurate kicker, and was therefore one of the usual first choices for taking free kicks & penalties. Her nickname comes from her fur-colour, and her very sweet nature: Originally it was also because (as we must admit…) she was rather “thick”, but then she ‘grew-up’ mentally during WWC12 & the qualifiers for WC50 so that now she has a verrry good mind indeed… She acted as manager for the [“unified”] U21 teams that Bears Armed entered in DBC13 (=> runners-up) and DBC14 (=> quarter-finals), whilst WC58 (with its qualifiers) was her first competition in charge of the country’s senior team.
Deputy Manager (Admin): Amarra Marra o Harruor
(female Ursine, from Clan Harruor Erruur; formerly a staff member at BAAS, appointed to this job just before DBC21; age = 28, fur = medium-brown).
Doctor: Rebearrch’hra o RedRose
(female Ursine, from the RedRose ‘Free Sept’; age = 33, left-pawed, fur = medium brown with reddish highlights; hired just before DBC21.)
Physio: Behrthye NorthWalker
(female Harr’aynau [humanoid], from Clan WildWoods; age = 29, right-handed, hair = ginger; hired just before DBC21.)
Routemaster (this job involves handling all of the squad’s travelling arrangements): This is currently a part of Amarra Marra o Harruor’s duties.
Chaplain, ‘One Plus Seven’: Urrsulha Nightfall
(female Ursine from the Silver-of-Night; age = mid-30s, left-pawed, fur = silvery; assigned to this job, by the Great Medicine Society, just before the qualifiers for WC57.)
Chaplain, Ursion: Derrik Ommin
(male Ursine, from Clan Artorran; age = 35; right-pawed, fur = light brown & fairly short, he is a bit closer to ‘human’ in shape than is the average Ursine; seconded to this post from the staff of the ArchPriest of New Sarrum, who is the Earthly head of the Ursion Church; he is a keen student of Football, both nationally & internationally, and can bore for
Security Chief: Major Arran Warrd
(male Ursine, from Clan Herrchaum; age = 34, left-pawed, fur = dark grey; easily overlooked, most of the time; seconded from [an unspecified unit within] the Confederal Army to this job just before the qualifiers for WC57.)
Caterers: Jorrdon Blue.
“Mascot”: ‘The Wise Grorrfinn’ (male ‘TrueBear’; age = undisclosed [but considering some of his appearances in old stories apparently somewhere over 1’500, at least...], ambidextrous, fur = medium-brown); during WC54 it was revealed that he is the maternal grandfather of Urra ‘Honey’ SunBlesséd.
Roster
(#1) Marra o Mara _ Clan = BerryGlades; Home team = ‘Belgium FC’ (The Babbage Islands) (transferred shortly before WC#56’s qualifiers began), category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 21 years, proven as a verrry good goalie; age = 35 years, left-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown. (DBC17 was her international debut.)
(#5) Arren Herthnhry _ Clan EastDale; home team = NorthPort Navigators, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 15 years; age = 29 years, right-pawed, fur = medium-brown shading to “red” on shoulders & back of neck. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as an [un-named] reserve, and was then lead goalkeeper for the ‘Baby Belles’ in DBC 19.)
(#32) Marranna NorthStar _ Clan = NorthStar [‘Free Sept’]; home team = NorthPort Novices, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 6 years; age = 19 years, right-pawed, fur = very light brown, she has very quick reflexes and keen senses. (She made her international debut in DBC21.)
(#3) Beorra BigBear _ Clan = GreenWoods; Home team = Barrdenn Barbariennes, category = Defender, usual position = Right Back, experience = 28 years; age = 40 years, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown. (She made her international debut as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#2) Jhargeena o Wirrene _ Clan = Herrchaum, home team = Mighty Herrchaum, category = Defender, preferred position = Right Back, experience = 19 years; age = 34, right-pawed, fur = very light brown with some reddish hints; languages spoken = Verrene, Ursine ('HeartWoods' dialect), and English; religion = 'Wookha' ; she sometimes seems to have a sort of "sixth sense" about what's going to happen on the pitch during the next few moments; off of the pitch, she favours loose skirts and draped scarves in bright (& often contrasting) colours, with more jewellery than is typical for Ursines (i.e. her people's equivalent of a 'Gypsy chic' look…) in emulation of her [rather distant] relative Arna-Maggra… (The only new addition to the team for WC56, she had actually been short-listed for DBC17 but had to stay at home instead back then due to a family emergency…)
(#3) Irrie o Herrin _ Clan = Urrset (Northern); Home team = NorthGate Nomads, category = Defender, usual position = Left Back, experience = 16 years; age = 29 years, left-pawed, fur = russet. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as a substitute, and also then played as a starter in DBC19.)
(#16) Bruinhilda Addarich’-darthhrurr _ Clan = Vasrbora. Home team = LakePort Lionesses, category = Defender / (Defensive) Midfielder, preferred position = Left Back, experience = 6 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = very light brown, relatively light build. (This is her international debut.)
(#17) Samarh’hra GreenFells _ Clan = GreenWoods. Home team = River City, category = Defender, preferred position = Right Back, experience = 5 years; age = 20, ambidextrous, fur = medium-dark brown & quite [but not “excessively”] long. (This is her international debut.)
(#4) Hirrdhra o TrueHeart _ Clan = BerryGlades; Home team = Merlchester Rovers, category = Midfielder or Defender, usual position = Lynchpin, experience = 19 years; age = 29 years, left-pawed, fur = medium-brown with [natural] ‘strawberry’ highlights; seems to have a knack for anticipating opponents’ actions; also qualified as a Dream Interpreter. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as a starting Midfielder & the Captain, shifting to Lynchpin -- & still Captain – in DBC19, but some of you may also remember her as a spectator from WC54...) She is now this team’s Captain.
(#20) Taborra Sheerh _ Tiggrahth'hrra (i.e. anthropomorphic Tiger) _ Clan = Tiggrahth'hrra; Home team = Kingly City, category = Lynchpin or Midfielder or Forward, usual position = Lynchpin, experience = 12 years; age = 36 years, right-pawed, fur = black with orange stripes; "Fast and furious", she was widely credited with playing a major role in powering Kingly City's rise back up through the Upper Division from relegation-threatened to a regular place in the top four. (She made her international debut in WC57, joining the Belles after the qualifying stages of that tournament....)
(#26) Darrarlha o GoodSword _ Clan = Sun; Home team = Sun Valley Smashers, category = Defender or Lynchpin or Midfielder, usual position = Lynchpin, experience = 6 years; age = 20 years, ambidextrous, fur = blonde; a superlative player, and a good tactician. (She made her international debut in DBC21.)
(#6) Cierra o Vorross _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = River City, category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Left, experience = 25 years; age = 38, left-pawed, fur = light brown with paler reddish highlights. (She made her international debut as a last member of the smaller-than-planned team that represented Bears Armed in DBC15, having travelled to that competition as a supporter but then been “drafted” to fill one of their vacant places due to her status as the ‘National Under-15 Keepy-Uppy Champion’…)
(#7) Karramarrsar Tharrarra _ Clan = Ostbora; Home team = OstPort Dynamo, category = Midfielder, usual position = Right Half, experience = 16 years; age = 29 years, right-pawed, fur = light brown; first cousin of # 14, with whom she works verrry well. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as a starter, and also filled that role during DBC19.)
(#20) Herra Harrhlach _ Clan = March, Harr’aynau humanoid; Home team = Mighty Marchers, category = Midfielder, usual position = Left Half, experience = 15 years; age = 29 years, left-footed, hair = russet; good enough that she’s already a professional player — albeit not in one of the country’s very best teams — at her current age. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as a reserve, and was also with the ‘baby Belles’ – this time as a starter – for DBC19.)
(#21) Urma Lightning _ Clan = Gunnar; Home team = Hero’s Park Heroines, category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Right, experience = 8 years; age = 21, right-pawed, fur = light brown. (She made her international debut in the Brevity Cup.)
(#11) Harrashia o Redwood _ Clan = Redwood; home team = Merlchester Rovers, category = Forward /Winger/Midfielder usual position = Left forward (‘Inside Left’), experience = 13 years; age = 26 years, ambidextrous, fur = medium-brown with hints of russet; she is a great-great-niece of Harroya “of the Rovers” o Redwood, former captain of the Bear-Belles, but gained this place on merit. (She made her international debut as a substitute in DBC 19, joining the Belles for WC57.)
(#12) Imbrhra/Umbrhra _ Clan = Chargh’ghrarr; Home team = Heroes’ Park Harlequins, category = Forward, usual position = Centre Forward, experience = 17 years; age = 27 years, left-pawed/right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown & rather long; somewhat over 7’ tall and broad in proportion, but certainly not slow or clumsy; actually a pair of identical twins who count as a single person for legal purposes and who often act as though they share a single mind, the two halves of this player will normally stay close together on the pitch and might keep passing the ball back-&-forth. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as a substitute, and was then a starter for the ‘Baby Belles’ through DBC19, joining the Belles for WC57.)
(#13) Amarra Sunwatcher _ Clan = Sun; Home team = Sun Valley Sunbeams (Junior League), category = Forward, usual position = Right Forward (‘Inside Right’), experience = 10 years; age = 21 years, right-pawed, fur = “oatmeal” colour, eyesight good even by human standards, very fast on her feet, very accurate in ‘set pieces’ for which she is therefore one of the favoured takers. (She made her international debut in DBC20.)
(#24) Marrai Longday _ Clan = Sun (Northlands branch), home team = NorthGate Nomads, category = Forward or Winger, usual position = Left Forward [‘Inside Left’], experience = 25 years; age = 38, left -pawed, fur = blonde; sometimes [still] seems a bit ‘dizzy’ in personality, but a versatile player who is not only good at getting the ball but generous about sharing it with her team-mates too. (DBC16 was her international debut.)
[#25] Syrrae o Wirrenne _Clan = Herrchaum; Home team = Merlchester Rovers, category = Forward, usual position = Left Forward (Inside Left) but also good as Centre Forward, experience = 6 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = ‘platinum-blonde’; seems to have an [almost?] psychic instinct about where the ball and other players will be next. (She made her international debut in the Brevity Cup.)
(#27) Teddorhrra Thunder _ Clan = Gunnar; home team = Newton Arsenal, category = Forward or Winger, preferred & usual position = Right Forward (Inside Right), experience = 13 years; age = 25, right-pawed, fur = dark brown. She is the team’s Deputy Captain. (She made her international debut in DBC19, as a substitute, and was then a starter in DBC20.)
(#14) Karramarrsar Thyrrinthra _ Clan = Ostbora; Home team = OstPort Dynamo, category = Winger, usual position = Right Winger (‘Outside Right’), experience = 16 years; age = 29 years, right-pawed, fur = light brown; first cousin of #7, with whom she works well. (She made her international debut in DBC18, as a starter, and then filled the same role in DBC19, joining the Belles for WC57.)
(#15) Harrietta Karra o Hara _ Invisible Wabbit; Clan = BerryGlades (by adoption); home team = WideWindle Wanderers, category = Winger or Midfielder, usual position = Left Winger (' Outside Left'), experience = 5 years; age = ???, ambidextrous, fur = light grey; she is INVISIBLE to most "mundane" people, but those should still be able to see the kit that she's wearing; less likely to resort to "ridiculous" trickery than might be the case in an all-Wabbit team, but still quite likely to do things like using her long ears to hold the ball in place on top of her head or running along on her hands whilst juggling the ball with her feet, both of which would of course make tackling her [within the rules] rather difficult. (This is her international debut.)
(#30) Marra-Harra o Dusk _ Clan = Urrset; home team = Sun Valley Sunbeams (Junior League), category = Winger or [Attacking] Midfielder, preferred & usual position = Left Winger (Outside Left), experience = 6 years; age = 18, left-footed, fur= reddish-brown, good at getting in where she isn’t expected. (She made her international debut in DBC21.)
(#31) Terra-Uthrh’hra Lightning _ Clan = Gunnar. Home team = Newton Arsenal, category = Winger or [Attacking] Midfielder, preferred position = Right Winger (“Outside Right”), experience = 5 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = light brown. (This is her international debut.)
Usual Starters = #1-4, #6-7, #11-15.
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Style: Offensive, modifier = +3… ("A good offence is the best defence"...)
Their usual formation will include a front row of at least 5 (normally arranged as 3 strikers & 2 wingers), with 2 midfielders, 2 backs, and either a ‘Defensive Centre’ (whose starting position would be at the midpoint of an imaginary cross drawn between those other four non-forwards’ positions) or a third midfielder depending on the Manager’s decision before each match.
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Opponents may _
Choose my goalscorers: Y (but the Forwards, and then the Wingers, are likeliest to fill this role...)
Godmod Scoring Events: Y
RP injuries to my players / Godmod injuries to my players / Hand out Yellow cards to my players / Hand out Red cards to my players: Y to all, at least to start with, but remember what I've written here and keep it in limits accordingly... Any serious offences by my players would probably result in injuries to your players, and causing any serious injuries to my players would probably require such obviously-deliberate attacks that your players would get yellow or even red cards as a result too. Don’t kill anybody, or inflict injuries that would be serious enough to end careers, without checking with me & getting my approval (which is unlikely to be granted…) first.
Godmod Other Events: Y, I suppose, at least as long as you do so in an AMUSING way... but please remember that Ursines are fully sapient beings, as much as Humans are, not instinct-driven animals. Oh, and of course female Ursines are not sexually interested in Humans (of either sex), and it's very unlikely that female Harr'ayanau would be either. Please don't have them run amok or outright revert to animality, without checking by TG first, don't make assumptions about their views on politics or religion, and don't do anything that would make more than one of them incapable of playing in their next game...
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Kit: This incarnation of the team will normally wear the usual set of designs (from ‘ediraf’) that the Belles have favoured in the past, with the ‘Association’ badges correctly staying ‘BAAS’ rather than [the now obsolete] ‘BAMAS’. See "here" for details. However they will switch into copies of the NorthBears old violet-and-orange strip instead for Pink Cup matches.
Bears Armed has traditionally used base-8 arithmetic, for several reasons, and this has affected the set of numbers used for this team’s players: The number “22” has traditionally been left unassigned out of respect for its first [& only] wearer who died a heroine’s death during the year immediately following WC44, and now the number "10" has likewise been withdrawn from use…
Home grounds
All 'home' games will be held at Wimbley, except for the qualifiers against Megadia (on Match-day 4) and Felbah (on Match-day 9) which will both be held at NorthPort instead.
1/. Wimbley Stadium:[/b] Located a few miles to the north-north-west of Council Groves (our capital city), to which it is connected by rail as well as by road, this stadium was built from scratch — on part of a former Confederal Army base’s site — shortly before the qualifiers for WC52 began as a replacement for the Bear-Belles original “home” at ‘Plumtrees Park’ which has now been demolished. Its current capacity is approximately 60'000 for Ursines: Fitting about 40’000 humans into the visiting fans' half should be possible, and so that's as many as we'll let into the country. Accommodation for visiting teams & their staffs will be provided in a new hotel, less than a mile away, which has staff who are accustomed to dealing with Humans as well as with Ursines. The various other hotels in that complex and those at Council Groves can now provide about 12’000 rooms at a time, at varying prices, although of course some of those may already have been booked by people who have nothing to do with the Cup. Accommodation (at a fairly basic level) for up to 15’000 supporters will be available, at reasonable prices, in students' residences for the National University’s campus in that city: if any more than all of those facilities put together can house want to attend a match then they’ll have to borrow space in the area’s remaining Army camp instead...
There are still no direct inter-regional flights into Council Groves, so that visitors will have to travel by way of one of our neighbours and then continue onwards by one of the limited number of "local" air-flights or by rail. (People planning to arrive by rail will still have to travel via the nation of Mikitivity, but extra services will be organised on that route...)
2./ ‘NorthLands National Stadium’: Located at NorthPort, the most cosmopolitan city in The Ursine Northlands, this facility was originally built for use by the 'Northbears' WC49’s qualifiers. Unfortunately the place has since seen rather less use than was originally hoped, but it is still in good condition and will hold about 43’000 Ursines or over 60’000 humans (or, of course, proportionate numbers of a mixture of those two species) because it was deliberately built to be rather larger than 'Plumtrees Park' which was then the Mainland's 'national' stadium…
Foreigners coming to this stadium may either travel to the ‘Mainland’ and then continue hence via a set of ancient [& probably magical] ‘Gates’ that link the country’s two sections — completing their journey by either rail or riverboat after that — or take ship directly to NorthPort.
NOTES
Ursines may tend to be a bit less agile & slower to accelerate than humans on average, but this team's members were carefully selected so the gap between them & their opponents in this respect should be narrower than some people might expect. They do tend to have [slightly] poorer eyesight than humans, on the whole (although the members of both Clan Gunnar and the Sun Clan are generally an exception to this rule, and the eyesight of the latter group is actually often at [slightly] better-than-human levels instead), so long-distance passes & shots at goal will tend to be rarer behaviour for them than they are for human teams... but their typical size & strength mean that when they're running with the ball it will probably take a very brave human — as well as a very skilled one — to tackle them successfully (or, at least, one who has reasonable experience of playing against Ursines…), which should balance that factor pretty well. They don’t jump very well, but then they’re generally rather taller than most Human players to start with so they shouldn’t need to jump as often in order to intercept [relatively] high shots...
Ursines are physically robust, of course, which means that they're much less likely than humans are to suffer injuries in falls or collisions. The females of this species are more even-tempered than the males, and the team's members will try to stay on their best behaviour not only in order to do well in this contest but also to impress upon the watching humans that Ursines aren't just "dumb beasts". They will not 'dive', or feign injury in other ways, because suggesting that they could be harmed so easily goes strongly against the grain. ‘Northlanders’ are maybe not quite as "civilised" as the 'Mainlanders'… or, at any rate, that’s the traditional stereotype..
Cold weather should pose no problem to them, even if there's snow or ice on the pitch, but tropical heat might prove awkward...
Unless our hosts at the match in question object, this team's members (including the designated substitutes for the match in question) will perform a [fairly short] ritual that's called the 'harrdiharr' on the pitch just before play begins... This is a traditional war-dance, meant to over-awe opponents, that has come to be a customary prelude for team games as well (similar to the [RL] New Zealanders' 'haka'...). : )
As has now been seen during various tournaments, some of our fans like to take drums — and possibly also 'Urrs-horns' [which are similar to Alpenhorns, cow-horns, or other "musical instruments", too — along to the matches…
The team is accompanied by a number of sapient ravens, who are there both to gather information about the rival sides and to provide air cover in case of hostile waterfowl.