World Footy News

The much anticipated Aussie Rules debut of Sedgars Park, Potchefstroom, is almost here, as the Australian under 17s head to South Africa for the historic match on April 14th. The international, along with the warm-up trial for the touring squad, will be the first games at the cricket ground and hopefully the oval will come through the matches in good condition. AFL South Africa are also planning to use the day to officially launch "FootyWild", billed as "The New Game That Roars".

FootyWild is designed as the South African version of Auskick and will be tested in Potchefstroom. If successful it will be rolled out across the four Australian Football focus provinces - North West, Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It is aimed at boys and girls aged 8 – 13 and the launch will be the curtain-raiser to the Australian Under 17 National team's very first game against South Africa, which starts at 3pm. It's been a busy year already for footy in South Africa, with a junior tour to Australia already completed, the series against the Convicts and the arrival of new Operations Manager Anthony "Joel" Kelly.

The Australian under 17s side is the Australian Institute of Sport squad which represents the cream of junior footy talent in Australia. The AFL notes that the tenth AIS-AFL Academy squad includes eleven Victorians, eight West Australians, three Queenslanders, four South Australians, one player from the NSW/ACT region, one Tasmanian and two players from the Northern Territory. Before leaving the team played a trial against Perth on April 7th as a curtain-raiser to West Coast's win over Collingwood. Tuesday April 10th will see the challenge match between the Voss and McCartney squads, in which some of South Africa's young talent will get a run with the Aussies. This will be the first footy match we know of to be played at Sedgars Park. Saturday 14th April is billed as Carnival Day with under 10, under 12 and under 16 matches scheduled before Australia's under 17s take on a South African youth side, probably featuring some older players to balance the Aussies' advantage. Nearly 20% of AFL listed players have come through the AIS-AFL squad, with that percentage growing each year.

The trip replaces the usual Australia-Ireland junior meetings, on hold since the 2006 senior series when the GAA were unhappy with the matches. The full tour schedule can be seen at AIS-AFL Academy Squad to Tour South Africa.

Other media stories regarding the tour include Historic trip for footballer, Coast youngster on trip of his life and Eight AIS/AFL Academy.

The AIS-AFL squad for 2007 is listed on the AIS site here.