World Footy News

Our game goes global

The development of Australian Football overseas is part of a structured AFL program. By Dr Ross Smith.

The AFL is looking forward to hosting this international competition and to showcase to Australian Football followers the extent of our game in countries around the world. Eleven countries are competing in this inaugural event.

The AFL has, for some time, supported the playing of Australian Football in a number of countries. Expatriate Australians have initiated and led this development but in more recent years the growth has also been driven by local people who have adopted our game. In some countries, the game has become as much part of life as it is in Subiaco, Glenelg or Frankston.

In recent years, AFL Game Development has worked closely with a number of countries to put in place structured development programs. A model of this support is represented in clubs, schools and the community in major city centres in New Zealand.

This structure is important to ensure that open age football has an underpinning junior development program. In the USA, the growth of the game has been exciting since the first club was formed in 1997. Now 34 teams across the country play in structured competitions. The USAFL is working to put in place development programs in schools to foster the recruitment and development of young players to ensure the ongoing viability of the game at open age levels. In Papua New Guinea, Australian Football has been played for a long time but only recently has it had an underage youth level competition.

The Australian Football International Cup provides the opportunity for the AFL, the football industry, as well as supporters, to gauge the standard of the game played overseas and to evaluate the effectiveness of the development programs.

It will provide AFL club recruiting managers the opportunity to see whether there is the likelihood that another Mal Michael (Brisbane Lions) is running around the forward line for the PNG Mosquitos, another Damian Cupido (Brisbane Lions) will appear for South Africa, or another potential 200-game player such as Wayne Schwass (Kangaroos/Sydney) is playing in the New Zealand Falcons team.

AFL clubs are always on the lookout for talented players and it will be no surprise if this competition does provide recruiting managers with some exciting new talent to consider for the future.

Players who come to participate in the International Cup are great ambassadors for our game overseas. They are the obvious indication of a groundswell of support for the development and growth of the game overseas. They, together with their families and friends and supporters, represent a wave of enthusiasm for our game in overseas markets. They watch AFL regularly on TV, purchase merchandise from AFL club internet sites and even become members of AFL clubs to maintain their connection with the game at its highest level.

We wish all the players and their support staff a most successful competition. Not all can be winners in terms of games won and only one team will hold the International Cup at the MCG on August 23, but the promotion and development of the game will be the overall winner.

Dr Ross Smith is the AFL's general manager, game development. He won the 1967 Brownlow Medal and was a champion rover for St Kilda.