World Footy News

Football continues to develop incrementally in the university dominated city of Dunedin on the South Island of NZ. CEO of AFL New Zealand, Robert Vanstam, visited Dunedin recently to speak with local sporting officials and help put the Otago Riot through their paces at training.

Down at Logan Park every Monday and Wednesday afternoon a group of keen young men are practising unfamiliar skills with a familiar looking ball. They're the Otago Riot, Dunedin's very own Australian Rules Football team and they're part of a quiet sporting revolution developing strong roots across New Zealand.
Recently Vanstam has overseen an impressive flowering of a game with surprisingly deep roots in New Zealand sporting history. He said that as far back as 1908 New Zealand teams were beating representative sides from Queensland and New South Wales.

“The game's been stagnant in New Zealand for 30 years, but today we're seeing a massive resurgence in our junior ranks,” Vanstam said. “There'll be 10,000 registered junior participants by 2011 – that outstrips Tasmania,” he said.

They're being attracted by AFL KiwiKick, an after schools program for 5–12 year olds teaching motor skills and ball skills that's fun and safe and encourages fitness and participation. Its Australian “parent,” Auskick, has 170,000 participants and is the most successful junior development program in the Southern Hemisphere.

At the senior level there are four leagues in New Zealand with enthusiasts in Otago keen to get a league up and running in the south. For now, however, it's just the Otago Riot waving the flag for Aussie Rules in the heartland of the Highlanders.

Otago Riot is a university-based team composed mainly of Kiwis and a handful of expatriate Aussies. Without a league of their own they're training hard twice a week for a handful of games this year against other New Zealand teams.

The team's driving force is its playing coach, former Wellington player Nathan Rose, a New Zealand International Cup triallist. He's keen to hear from anyone interested in furthering the game in Otago, whether they're a potential player, administrator, umpire, ground administrator or medical staff.

He can be contacted on 027 427 1429.

http://www.nzafl.co.nz/News/OtagoTeam...fault.aspx