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Academy for China

  • Sunday, June 17 2012 @ 03:54 pm ACST
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The AFL continues to put in place opportunities for athletes around the world to be exposed to Aussie Rules and for their abilities to be tested in the style of the new "combines".  This is part of a wider AFL plan to one day see star players emerge from international markets, thus helping promote the game in both those markets and amongst immigrant communities in Australia.

The latest piece in that puzzle is an academy in Guangzhou, China.  Opening on July 9, with a total of 30 athletes to be selected for the two-week program, the AFL will select two players to attend the annual draft combine at Etihad Stadium that follows the AFL Grand Final.

Tony Woods, the AFL's International Development Manager, said, ''We believe that if we can succeed in creating an opportunity for a Chinese-born athlete to ultimately play in the AFL, that will then help us connect our game more closely to the Chinese community in Australia''.

''They still have a really strong connection back to mainland China and so ultimately our game is about heroes and if the community can connect to someone from their generational homeland, that is only going to help in engaging with AFL.''