World Footy News

The Norway Polar Bears, or "Isbjørnene" in Norwegian, will take the field for the first time ever on October 3rd, traveling to the city of Karlstad in Western Sweden for a full 18-a-side Test match against the Swedish Elks.

The Polar Bears are aiming for at least 50% Norwegian players in the team, as well as to include representatives from all three Norwegian clubs - Oslo, Ås and Tromsø.

The Elks for their part are selecting Team Sweden under IC rules, with AFL Sweden president Jörg Pareigis tipping the side to be very similar in composition to the Elks squad that visited Melbourne last year.

Simon Berger from the Oslo Trolls is optimistic that the Nowegian side will have representation from the length of the country. "I have talked to the Trømso boys and we are very much hoping that they can send a few players down for this historic game. Obviously the distance will be a challenge but we are hoping they can overcome this.

"As to the make-up of the Norwegian team, we are building upon our international stocks with Germans, Norwegians, some New Zealanders and possibly also a female player from Australia. We hope to have atleast a 50-50 mix to take to Karlstad."

The date scheduled for the match will sound familiar to fans of European Aussie Rules, being the same day as this year's EU Cup in Zagreb.

Berger explains that their decision was based purely on the availability of both sides. "We are disppointed not to be going to the cup, but are extremely happy to have this game organised instead! We had originally aimed for July but due to holidays in Scandinavia this severely impacted upon numbers. So after discussions we came to October 3rd."

From the Swedish side, league president Pareigis says the decision not to attend the EU Cup wasn't an easy one. "Sweden has a successful history in the tournament and AFL Sweden thinks that it is an important event for the development of footy in Europe. With the participation of the Swedish Elks at the International Cup in Melbourne, footy in Sweden has come to a stage where we really want to focus on 18-a-side football."

"Obviously, we have limited resources. Zagreb is not easily accessible from Sweden and the changed entry fee system makes it even more costly to participate. Unfortunately, we do not have the player base as UK has, so we cannot have two national teams. At the same time, there are new countries participating in the EU Cup, so us not participating does not harm the event."

"In the planning for the season, all teams kept the first weekend of the month free for national (team) events free. The first weekend of October was therefore planned long ago for a national team match."

"Playing against Norway in Karlstad hopefully helps the movement in Norway and keeps the costs for all players in both teams at a minimum."

"Karlstad have played the Oslo boys twice already and we are sure that they will give the Elks a good run on the day. It should be quite a competitive match and we hope to see many locals on their national team."

The AFL Sweden reshuffled their board this year, with a new constitution and a smaller board. Pareigis took over the role of league president from Jimmy Ljunggren, who is now president of the Karlstad Eagles club. As Pareigis explains, "we basically switched rolls. Joel Språng from Gothenburg is our secretary, Johan Lantz from Helsingborg our treasurer and Patrik Karlsson from the Bromma Vikings and Tony Persson from Malmö are the other board members."

Whilst the IC08 squad is likely to again form the backbone of the Swedish Elks, Pareigis notes that they do have some new young Swedish talent they are hoping to see pull on the boots in Karlstad.

"One month before, on the first weekend of September, we will also hold a training camp in Jönköping, where we held all national team training camps before the IC08. Here, players will have a chance to present themselves for the coaches."