World Footy News

Edmonton has "city of champions" as their tag line because of the number of athletes emanating from their city, the most notable being ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky. In some ways it's a lot like another sports mad city in Melbourne, with it's inhabitants supporting it's high profile sporting teams with fervor and just like Melbourne it has a fierce rivalry with a neighbouring city in Calgary.

It's just not men who are responsible for this reputation as there are many female athletes historically and presently in the mix. The founder of the first Australian Football club in Edmonton, Tristan Waldock for the Edmonton Emus is proud to point out that it's the women who first established the presence of Australian Football in Edmonton and it's the men who then followed. That may be an unique occurrence in Australian football history. That strong female sporting presence in Alberta probably goes a long way to explain the high representation from Western Canada in the the Canadian women's team.

The Canadian's women national team is named the Northern Lights and it is probably fitting that you can see those Northern Lights from Edmonton. Women have had a reasonable representation in rugby in Edmonton so Australian Football is seen as a reasonable alternative according to Tristan and of course a more attractive game.

Edmonton has a good representation of open space and playing fields but that doesn't seem to make it easier or cheaper to acquire a home ground. It is much warmer than usual this year, but even so the cold is no barrier to playing while the weather is fine. In fact it is quite delightful playing on fine cool days.
Even though there is only one women's team in the city and their main oponent is Calgary the women manage to have a 7 game season with the usual 9-a-side games as a fill-in.

Tomorrow the Edmonton Emus combine to have a hit-out with the Calgary Kookaburras in Calgary with a view to provincial and then national selection. The focus is definitely on improving the national performances even though the women are world champions and the men are competitive in first division.

Generally speaking, most Australians are ignorant of the dedication, involvement and costs incurred by some overseas volunteers in following their football passion. From an outsider's observation this may be responsible for premature burnout of some important staff. 

It's becoming increasingly common for some players from a number of countries to endeavor to have an extended playing experience in Australia. Currently there are at least three women playing in Melbourne and Sydney with an eye to the 2017 International Cup and even the new national AFL women's league.

After many years of playing and national involvement, Tristian has taken a step back with a view to relaxing more. So that is was exactly what we were found doing when we met with his mate Myk Aussie  to discuss all things football. Myk is reasonably well known as a sports commentator of sorts as well as having played Australian Football in Edmonton and Calgary. Originally doing any gig possible he has matured into a cable television niche market. Myk has been able to talk Australian Football in a market crowded with high profile North American sports.

That's because he can talk any sport and steer the conversation to AFL. That's valuable exposure in anybody's language. Here's an example  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EECNwrmwV0 . Wait for the 7 minute mark.

Other valuable exposure comes from Roger's TV. Rogers is a big communications company in Canada and airs the occasional game of local Australian Football played in Ontario.