World Footy News

For many years Australian Football had a good toe hold in Canada, but it was limited to Ontario and very little beyond that. In recent years a lot of progress has been made in British Columbia and Alberta, so bringing players together from across Canada in a club or provincial championships would seem to be well overdue. So it was pleasing to see AFL Canada announce the 1st Annual Canadian National Championships of Australian Football. It's scheduled to run in conjunction with G'Day Toronto Australia Week 11 -16 May, and sponsors include Air Canada and Crowne Plaza.

Notionally it's an excellent opportunity to showcase the sport's development, pit the newer clubs against the established Ontario ones, and put on a big event, like the US Nationals. In fact US clubs are also welcome. Disappointingly though it appears that only local teams will be playing, with the Calgary and BC sides not likely to make it, nor Ottawa or Quebec, or any US clubs. worldfootynews.com spoke to some of those involved to find out what the situaton is.

Gareth Williams is acting President of the Calgary Kangaroos (in the province of Alberta), and he explained there were several reasons contributing to the decision not to send a team - primarily distance/cost and the early season timing.

"Calgary has decided not to attend the Canadian Nationals because of the cost associated and the difficulty of getting a team together so early in the season (there is still lots of snow here!) We generally don't start our own matches here until mid-May and it would be a big demand on new players to ask them to spend $1000 right away. Calgary plans to attend the US Nationals and have traditionally treated it as an exciting end of season trip / party. Calgary is sending some players to Vancouver this (last) weekend, but only a small number could make such an early tournament and many are driving to save money".

Unfortunately the tyranny of distance makes a drive from Calgary to Toronto out of the question - a 4000 km round trip.

We haven't received a lot of feedback from BC, which is even further west, but Mike McFarlane, now involved with the new club the Bay Hawks, explained that there is a lot on already at this time of the year.

"I haven't had much to do with the senior men's national championships. The Bay Hawks are not planning on attending as we wanted to make sure we got on a solid footing and had everything organized before we started thinking about traveling. We are focusing on the junior/women's nationals that are going to be held this year as well. They are going to be held June 20th in Vancouver and of course that will be our main focus".

One of the Nationals organisers and also AFL Canada Secretary, Bruce Parker, explained what teams had signed up so far.

"There are currently 8 teams confirmed, all from the OAFL - the Toronto Eagles, Toronto Dingos, Toronto Rebels, Broadview Hawks, Hamilton Wildcats, Guelph Gargoyles, Etobicoke Kangaroos and the Central Blues. The High Park Demons are uncertain if they will have the numbers that weekend and are questionable. The Columbus Jackeroos of the USAFL have expressed an interest however are short a few players and are also questionable. The rumours are correct, no western teams are attending despite the strong push for a Canadian Nationals coming from the Western Clubs and agreed to by the western clubs.

"Calgary was originally going to host it however could not secure grounds. When it was not going to be held in Calgary the Calgary mens club pulled out citing too much travel, too early in the season and too expensive to ask rookie players to attend. The BC clubs who were the protagonists for the Canadian Nationals have decided to focus on developing a league structure similar to the OAFL and therefore have no time or interest in attending Canadian Nationals. I do understand that they fully intend to defend their US Footy title again this fall. The Ottawa Swans declined due to the fact that they have to travel back to Toronto the next weekend for the opening round of the OAFL season. The Quebec Saints felt that they were not developed enough to participate and have focused on a series of preseason matches against the Swans and a local Gaelic club instead.

"The Ontario clubs are greatly disappointed that the Western Canadian clubs and those in the States are not participating. The top OAFL clubs felt that they would be tough to beat, especially playing under 1/3 - 2/3 content rules. The OAFLs content rules is one of the strictest out there, which has helped to develop a strong and deep Canadian player base."

The tournament includes an Australian themed Championship party at Gracie O'Malleys, Toronto Saturday May 16, and matches will be held at Humber College on May 16 and 17. Junior football clinics will be available for kids of all ages through The Aussie X - Australian Sporting Programs, the official junior development partner of the OAFL.

So a lot of effort has gone into making it a great weekend, but at this stage the Nationals are looking a bit more like the Ontario championships, which is a real shame. However it must be remembered the US Nationals, which have become the real jewel in the crown of the game in the States, used for marketing and big enough to attract bid cities, certainly didn't grow overnight. So perhaps this will be the modest first step in what could be a flourishing event in years to come.

The other option would be to instead hold provincial championships, a successful concept in some other countries such as New Zealand. Bruce Parker again:

"As I said the motivation for the Club Championships was driven by the western clubs in a bid to play more games this year and to get more interaction between the Eastern and Western Clubs. A provincial championship is considered to be a necessary event as the missing link in the Pathway for local AFL players. The jump from Club team to National team is a big one and having an intermediate step would greatly assist in player development. The AFL Canada board will look at this event and the Women and Junior Nationals being held in June in Vancouver and evalute the merits of each. If the demand for a Canadian Mens Club Championship is not there due to the shift in priorities by regional leagues then maybe a Provincial Representative/Select competition would make more sense".