World Footy News

The annual Kelowna Cup  gets a little better each year.

We start with a report from Dan of the Calgary Kangaroos on this year’s event.

“On the men's side of the draw, the combined Edmonton/Vernon team took out the club competition, overcoming Calgary in the decider (5.6.36 v 3.8.26). The British Columbians won the Canadians only game over Alberta (9.4.58 v 3.6.24).

On the women's side of the draw, the combined Calgary/Edmonton team won the team competition against the combined Vancouver Vixens/Wildcats team (12.5.76 V 1.0.6). Alberta won the provincial game over BC (no score recorded).

 

Our numbers were slightly down due to the bridge wash-out on Highway 1 at Revelstoke (of all weekends!). However, we had plenty of dedicated players who made the 11+ hour extended drive to Kelowna! We had around 60 men and 40 women.

I'm unsure about any new players, but we certainly had a number of spectators that had heard about the tournament through the media.”

The media Dan is referring to is from the Kelowna Capital News and KelownaNow.

Aussie rules showcased at Kelowna Cup -  Kelowna Capital News

Calgary Kangaroos Australian Football Club director of operations, Dan McLeod, said the 14th instalment of the tournament was important for regional clubs as it gave them the opportunity to play against people that aren’t on their own teams.

“It’s great to play against teams from Alberta and BC as we get to come up against guys we may not have met before.”

Although Kelowna had no team of its own, with Vernon currently hosting the closest club, Mr McLeod was optimistic of the sport’s future in the city.

http://www.kelownacapnews.com/sports/aussie-rules-showcased-at-kelowna-cup/

Western Canada’s largest Australian Rules Football Tournament is coming to Kelowna. - KelownaNow and they added to Mr. McLeod’s remarks.
 “I can definitely envisage a satellite club of the Vernon Roosters starting up in Kelowna, and the two teams battling it out in competition… All it takes is someone to take the initiative and kickstart the club.”

https://www.kelownanow.com/watercooler/sports/news/Sports/17/06/04/Western_Canada_s_largest_Australian_Rules_football_tournament_is_coming_to_Kelowna
 

Also the event was  listed on eventbu  and http://allevents.in
https://ca.eventbu.com/kelowna/afl-canada-kelowna-cup-tournament/3256226
https://allevents.in/kelowna/afl-canada-kelowna-cup-tournament/1402055353150934

The Vernon Roosters are the latest addition to the Canadian football landscape.

Vernon Roosters recruiting Aussie Rules enthusiasts - The Daily Courier, 2nd may 2017
“There is a new Aussie Rules football club based in the Okanagan, known as the Vernon Roosters.

Founded by Max Peterson, the club hosted a meet-and-kick at City Park in Kelowna on the weekend and is still searching for experienced players as well as newcomers who are interested in learning the sport. The goal is to enter a team into the upcoming Kelowna Cup — an Australian Football League Canada tournament in Kelowna on June 10, which will feature teams from Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. The Roosters plan on practising at the Polson Park field in Vernon. For more information, check out @VernonAFC on Facebook.”

The Kelowna Cup has certainly matured from it’s beginning.

Here is an edited excerpt from the story of the  concept of the games in 2006.

“President of the Calgary Kangaroos is Canadian Gareth Williams. He told WFN that "the Calgary Bears are an expansion team in the development. What we are trying to do is get the idea started in 2006 and then split the Calgary Kangaroos into two teams in 2007. We've had one game of Bears vs Roos this season so far,....
Kelowna is a bit over halfway from Calgary to Vancouver, and the matches for the Kelowna Footy Cup will be staged at the City Park Oval on June 3rd and 4th. "That's been my goal and something I've pushed for all this year. I was made club president this year and as a Canadian I am keen to get more Canadians involved. To that end we're having a 10-a-side tournament in Kelowna with two or three all-Aussie teams competing and 4 all-Canadian teams playing separately. “

It seemed to have benefited Calgary according to  Matt Riggs.

“The Kangaroos have taken a page out of the Vancouver Cougars' book and are splitting into two sides for 2007, with a few trial matches for the new Bears team this year. The Kangaroos managed an impressive trophy haul this season, winning the Kelowna Cup, West Coast Challenge, Stampede Cup and proving their versatility by winning the Calgary Cup Gaelic Football tournament. They couldn't transfer that success into their first trip to the US Nationals (division 2) however, as their opening match lost to eventual champion Baltimore/Washington Eagles was enough to put them out of the Grand Final.”

And later.

“The biggest footy clash of the season in Western Canada took place this weekend at Thunderbird Stadium, home of the University of British Columbia's Canadian Football team, as the Vancouver Cougars hosted the Burnaby Eagles, Seattle Grizzlies and Calgary Kangaroos for the West Coast Challenge. The Challenge was a revamped version of the BC Footy Cup, with the cup still on the line. This came on the heels of a successful tournament in Kelowna, British Columbia that put Vancouver/Burnaby and the two Calgarys (Canadians and Australians) against each other. This would be the first time however, that the clubs would meet as a whole.”

In 2007 Troy Thompson reports that there was some media coverage.

“The Kelowna Cup was a very successful day for footy in Canada held last weekend Sat June 2. The Alberta Canadians won for the second year in a row defeating the BC Canadians. The BC Footy Aussie guys defeated the Calgary Aussies convincingly. Mark Block Canada's national team head coach was there and he was impressed, we may see some fresh talent heading to the Northwind squad for their upcoming clash with the US Revolution team later this year.
The Kelowna's Power 104 were there to promote the event and MYKwebTV filmed the event on Saturday. This report provided to us by 'Myk Aussie'.”

2008 saw the introduction of women states Salvatore Cappoferri.

The following are key tournament dates for Women's footy in Canada:
Kelowna: Saturday, June 7th, Calgary: Saturday, July 5th (Stampede Cup), Vancouver: Saturday, July 26th.
Among the new clubs are the Calgary Kookaburras. The Kookaburras are one of the stronger clubs and are from Calgary, Alberta. They recently sent a squad to the US Nationals in Kentucky and put up a good showing. With plenty of members, the club has plans to begin a small metro league in the Calgary region. The Edmonton North Stars (Facebook page) are a smaller club also from Alberta and currently recruiting players. The Westcoast Wildcats (Facebook page) are also in the Calgary area and will also be competing in the Runge League. Meanwhile the Ontario Ravens have been in formation in Toronto for some years now, and are starting to show signs of getting off the ground.

2013 was a year to be excited about in Edmonton according to Harley Vague.

“After much hard work in the off season 2012 was a breakthrough year with the Wombats enjoying successes at the Kelowna Cup and being super competitive in the Stampede Cup against Calgary later in the season.  Off  of the back of great performances by their National reps, the Emus had their first win over the Calgary Kookaburras at the inaugural Capital Cup.

The 2012 season saw an unprecedented eight players, five women and three men, play for the Canadian Nationals at the 49th Parallel Cup, and the club is aiming to have more representation on the National teams in 2013.”

In 2015 The name “Kangaroos” is now reserved for the  representative side to compete in inter-provincial and tournaments. Locally, the Bears, Cowboys and Wolves compete for the Calgary Men’s Championship  and the Wolves won their maiden title.