World Footy News

Long time readers of worldfootynews.com may remember one of our original writers, Jake Anson. Born and bred in Warrnambool in country Victoria, Jake has been busy since 2005, joining the growing army of Aussies out teaching the world about Australian Football. We recently caught up with Jake to learn about some great results with juniors and women's footy in Alberta, Canada.

Back in late 2005 Jake landed in South Africa where he embarked on AFL South Africa's progam of taking Australian tourists to local communities. You can read more about his experience in Aussies on the Road.

Next stop was Europe, an inevitable pilgrimage for many young Australians. But he didn't stay long.

I lived in London and after travelling Europe I wanted to move on. Canada has a good visa exchange program with Australia, and Calgary was going through an oil-led economic boom, with plenty of job opportunities in my field. It seemed like a good fit.

I arrived as winter was settling in, so I didn't get involved with footy here until the Spring thaw, about May 2007.

The Calgary Bears welcomed him into the fold, but how do they compare to footy clubs back home?

It's difficult to compare club life in Canada with that in Australia. We don't have clubhouse facilities, have to compete for training space with other park users and training in the snow is really something else. There are a few very talented players with the Bears, and they are definitely a more social group than clubs I've played with in the past.

Every new recruit needs a nickname, and the club was looking to expand to have a women's team. Jake's timing was great.

I moved to Calgary just as the boys here were moving to form a women's team, and so I sort of just fell into a role coaching them. I wanted to expand my friendship group and get fit after the Calgary winter, so it worked out well. Yep, I got that (nickname Facebook) from recruiting many of the first girls to our team here from that website. It's a pretty good recruiting tool for clubs in North America.

So how is the women's team going now, and what about junior development?

Women's footy in Calgary is growing strongly. We have a core group of thirty girls who regularly make it out to training, plus another twenty on the periphery who train occasionally or who are recovering from injury. We've recruited strongly so far this year, and now that the snow is melting we hope to put a strong team on the field for 2008. Initially we will focus on playing intra-club matches, incorporating girls from Edmonton and other parts of Alberta, with the aim of sending a strong team to the US Nationals in October.

Junior footy is still in its infancy in Calgary. A handful of schools have introduced a four-week footy unit into their curriculum, and in the medium-term it would be good to translate that into a regular competition. But with a short summer (three months), much of which is taken up with school holidays, we will have to develop a novel approach to junior development here.

We wondered where the programs might lead and whether there is much women's competition emerging from other areas of Canada?

We have high hopes for footy in Calgary and across Canada as a whole. Moves are afoot to get a women's team formed in Toronto, and the North Delta junior league (in Vancouver, British Columbia) has produced some talented young women's footy players. The next stage is helping their juniors to form a senior club. Currently, our nearest opposition is in Arizona, so our long-term aim in Calgary is to form a regional women's league. So a key plank in our development plan for footy here is to assist the development of Edmonton and Vancouver clubs. To that end, the Kookaburras recently hosted a "Try Aussie Rules" clinic in Edmonton.

So what hope some of the Calgary men for Northwind selection?

Calgary boasts some very handy Canadian footballers. Gareth Williams, Matt Kidd, Matt Henke and Josh Symonds all had great seasons in 2007 and have been training strongly this year. It's probably fair to say that more Calgary boys would get a chance to represent Canada if the competitions here weren't so isolated geographically. Calgary has never played against a side from Ontario, and the Northwind coaching staff don't get out here as often as they might like to.

And finally to the third International Cup, which just happens to have two rounds staged in Jake's hometown.

I'd love to get back and see my family, but summer is a busy time for work and footy in Calgary. Warrnambool loves football, so I have no doubt they will put on a good show during the International Cup. I'll make sure my parents and friends get out to cheer on Canada during the tournament.

Who knows, maybe Jake can have a bigger impact for footy than some of those other notable Warrnambool footballers such as Victorian captain Jonathan Brown - now that's something he probably hasn't contemplated. And if that line doesn't get him some grief down at the Calgary Bears or Kookas, nothing will!

The Calgary Kookaburras

The Calgary Bears