World Footy News

Although there have been some tournaments between the North West and Gauteng provinces in the past, this week sees the first official AFL South Africa National Championships. The main tournament sponsor is Grandslots, and the games are being played at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom, from Saturday 5th – Tuesday 8th July 2008. All four of the current target provinces are in attendance, fielding teams in high school and open age groups.

After the tournament the 25 man South African squad to tour Australia for the International Cup will be announced, and in a surprise move it appears the Buffaloes will be no more, replaced by the Lions. In further exciting news, the Africans will be coached by former AFL star Jason McCartney.

We hope to bring you the results of this historic event shortly, but for now, here's some more information on what have been dubbed the footyWILD Nationals. Photos are from the Australian Indigenous tour and thanks to Sean Garnsworthy. Again, Nationals images should also be forthcoming shortly.

KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape and North West Province each fielded a footyWILD High (High School Age) and footyWILD Extreme (Open Age) representative team in a structured program of competition, workshops and development initiatives.

The National Championships engages 240 players, coaches, umpires, team managers and sports scientists in fierce competition as well as focussing on social and community development activities including HIV/AIDS and substance abuse awareness and ‘fair play’ workshops.

Newly appointed coach Jason McCartney said, “In the 150th year of Australian Football the AFL are very excited by the inaugural South African National footyWILD Championships where for the very first time we will see the best footy players in South Africa compete at High School and Open Age level. It's exciting to think that from this carnival selectors will choose the best 25 players to represent AFL SA in Australia later in the year in the International Cup”.

“I'm keen to implement a very attacking and exciting game plan for the International Cup. To do this we require athletic players who have good skills, can win the contested footy, are prepared to run long and hard all game and are willing to play with a ‘team first’ mentality”.

“The selected squad will stay on in Potchefstroom for a couple of days at the conclusion of the Championships to undertake High Performance testing. From this testing players will be given individual fitness and skills training programs to follow in preparation for the International Cup”.

No doubt some of the players and officials from other competing nations at the International Cup will feel a sense of envy or an un-even playing field with the AFL support for South Africa. That's been discussed elsewhere, but at the end of the day there's no doubt that it is a tremendous boost for the game to have any nation getting this kind of guidance by such high profile coaches. And of course, it could be argued that the coaches of the other nations will have the advantage of knowing their own players much better based on, in many cases, years of experience playing with or against and watching them.

Kevin Sheehan, International Game Development Manager said, “South African players have incredible natural attributes that suit them perfectly to the game of footyWILD. The AFL has observed the development of the game in South Africa over the last ten years with increasing excitement as we see the talent base increase exponentially across all four provinces. The inaugural National Championships are an important milestone in the development of the code in South Africa and the day that we will see a young South African playing in Australia at the highest level is not too far away”.

The Association for the Reduction of Tobacco-related Harm (ARTH), AusAID (the Australian Government’s Agency for International Development), Thuo Gaming and Costa Logistics support AFL SA and footyWILD across South Africa.

Giovanni Rizzo, Group General Manager, Grandslots said ‘Grandslots’ is extremely proud, and excited to be investing in the development of footyWILD in this country and at being a Major partner of the inaugural footyWILD National Championships. With major ties to Australia, through Tattersalls, it seems only fitting for us to assist in raising the profile of Aussie Rules across South Africa”.

Perhaps best capturing the experience was Morag Lark, from The Salamander Company, who told worldfootynews.com, "I wish you could be here to experience this, it is an amazing thing seeing teams from four provinces across South Africa playing each other at such a high standard. The atmosphere at the ground is fantastic, each Province has its own area staked out for a cheer squad and they sing and dance their way through their team's achievements and howl at the losses. The standard of competition between the teams has been excellent and shows the great progress being made by the newer provincial development areas in Gauteng, KZN and Western Cape".

More action from the Indigenous Tour earlier in 2008

A group of young Australian Indigenous men took on a South African developmental squad