World Footy News

On Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th May the inaugural Australia.com Canadian National Championships of Australian Rules Football were played over the Victoria Day weekend at Humber college Toronto with great success. Eight teams from southern Ontario participated over the two days of competition and withstood strong wind, heavy rain and low temperatures to provide sponsors and spectators with a great event which is sure to be repeated next year.

On the Sunday, the final match was played in beautiful conditions between two of the powerhouse clubs in the Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL), the Broadview Hawks and the Toronto Eagles. The highly skilled and competitive match was a close fought affair, with the Hawks ending up with their noses in front with a score of 50 to 25. In what was an indication of things to come, the Hawks scored the first goal in the first 2 minutes of the game and were rarely challenged by the experience Eagles squad. With an enthusiastic crowd looking on, it was an exciting finish to a great event.

“Having the opportunity to host the first ever National Championships in Toronto was an absolute honour” said Brendan Bell, coordinator of the event. “Despite some challenging weather conditions, we were proud of how the two-day event went off and congratulate the Broadview Hawks Football Club on claiming the first ever Canadian National Championship. We’d also like to thank every club for participating and making the weekend a success”.

Over the weekend, 11 matches of football were played, with football in Canada being the winner. In particular, the event introduced a number of fantastic sponsors to the sport in Canada, which we hope to continue to build the relationship to make the event bigger and better in years to come more and more Canadians begin to take up the challenge of Australian Football.

Australia.com, the main sponsors of the event were present on the grounds Saturday afternoon, hosting their own marquee tent and offering their distinguished guests a gourmet meal and the opportunity to sit back and watch the games. It was a challenging day with the heavy rains and wind, but overall attendees were happy to get a taste of typical Aussie weather, sport and culture, with the tournament's secondary sponsor, Foster’s beer, providing a great backdrop to the action on the field.

This event could not have occurred without the enormous support and sponsorship of Australia.com, Foster’s, the OAFL and AFL Canada who all contributed to a successful weekend event. “We are hopeful this will carry on and become an annual event that Toronto will be proud to host. With having fantastic sponsors and more and more people interested in Australian Rules Football, we are sure to have greater success in the future” said Martin Walter, coach of the Hawks and General Manager of the Canadian National team, the Northwind.

The big winners from the Australia.com Nationals - Brendan Bell (event organizer), Martin Walter (victorious Broadview Coach), Mark Block (winner of Australia.com trip for 2 to Australia), and Scott Jobin-Bevans (OAFL President).