World Footy News

The 2014 International Cup will take place from the 9th to the 23rd of August 2014. As with IC11, there will be a women’s tournament taking place alongside the men’s event. This year, the women’s games are planned on the 12th, 14th, 16th of August, with the semi-finals and final happening on the 19th and 22nd of August. So far, teams expressing interest in entering include Canada, USA, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, PNG, Ireland and the European Crusaders.

In order to start the process of holding trials and selecting a team, AFL Europe’s Women’s Football Co-ordinator Gaelle Hazimeh is trying to get an idea of the number of players in each country who would like to attend the International Cup with the Crusaders team. If you are a player of European nationality, based in Europe, Australia or anywhere else, and you would like to take part, please email Hazimeh via gaelle.hazimeh@afleurope.org

Players are advised to consider the costs of flights and accommodation when applying. Hazimeh estimates that flight will cost around €1300, though group discounts may be available. Each day spent in Australia will total around €70 (including accommodation, food, transport etc.), therefore total trip costs for each player are expected to be in the region of €2500-2800 per player. Players are encouraged to think about corporate and community sponsorship to help cover the costs.

In addition, AFL Europe are holding a raffle to help players on a budget to raise some money. Each ticket will be sold for 10€ (£8). AFL Europe will charge the player’s national AFL organisation 20% of the ticket costs to cover administration costs with the remainder to be used how the organisation sees it. AFL Europe will not charge on the unsold tickets so there is no financial risk for either party. If you do however order a second batch of tickets the first batch will need to be paid for. Each ticket will be individually numbered and tracked by AFL Europe.

AFL Europe are also holding a raffle for the Crusaders’ team sponsor. If your company would like to sponsor the European Women’s Crusaders, please see the AFL Europe website at afleurope.org for more information.