World Footy News

 

Who would have thought that an eight week old club could reach the grand final of a long established competition in their maiden outingω Well, that’s exactly what happened in Dubai when the BM Bulls, the newest team in the AFL Middle East competition, reached the Grand Final against the Dubai Dragons. It was a highlight of a great day for AFL Middle East, and a carnival which has fans and organisers alike looking forward to a huge season for 2014/15.

 

 

Congratulations go to the Dubai Dragons. Keen to make a statement after missing their chance at a third consecutive premiership last year, losing to the Doha Kangaroos, the Dragons went through the event undefeated to add more silverware to their collection.

 

The Philippines Australian Football League proudly hosted the 2014 Asian Championships last weekend where teams met to decide which was the best Australian Rules football nation in Asia. Described as “the pinnacle of the AFL Asia calendar”, it was the Singapore Wombats who revelled in the glory of being 2014 champions.

 

The event was somewhat sandwiched between the battle for European supremacy (Euro Cup) and North American bragging rights (USAFL Nationals) but drew a strong and enthusiastic following for a great day’s football.

 

 

Following are the results from the 2014 Asian Champs that were held in Clark, Philippines on 11 October 2014. 

 

Touring teams provide AFL New Zealand High Performance players with the best opportunity to test and push their skills, and VAFA were certainly effective at that. With the annual two game series this year the Ammos certainly provided some lessons to the Kiwis in how to play footy.

However, the experience gained by the New Zealand players will be invaluable in their journeys as AFL players and athletes. Many of the players in this side will go on to be Senior New Zealand Hawks representatives, a few already have been. For now, many players within the squad will be returning to club matches around the country, and will be in a fantastic position to apply what they have learnt through regular time on the field.

In the first game of the series played in slippery wet conditions, the VAFA were unstoppable moving the ball into the attacking area, and were simply too classy despite a valiant effort from the New Zealanders.

The International Cup held in Melbourne sadly lacked a NZ Women’s team but the NZ U 18 Kahu recently completed their two game series for the AFL International Youth Girls’ Cup against the Australian U 18 national side, The Breeze.

Though the results were totally one-sided it provided the Australian girls with a chance to represent their country and a way for the New Zealanders’ to benchmark their development.

The first game was played with a fiercely competitive spirit, with both teams playing their hearts out until the final hooter. The result was a large win to Australia, with the talent and class of their players evident throughout the game. At no stage though did the Kahu ease off on the pressure, and they made it clear to the Breeze that they were in a contest.

The New York Magpies have taken the 2014 US National Championship title defeating Orange County by just three points in a tight arm wrestle Grand Final Match.

Grand Finals results of each division in the table below.

 

Grand Finals
Division 1	Orange County	2.1.13	New York	2.4.16
Division 2	Columbus	1.0.6	Los Angeles	11.3.69
Division 3	Sacramento	7.1.43	Philadelphia	0.5.5
Division 4	Denver B/KC	4.6.25	North Carolina	7.2.44
Women's	Denver	2.3.15	Golden Gate	0.4.4

 

Tomislav Vlaović, current president of the Slavonski Brod Tigers in Croatia, knows his club has benefitted from the AFL Europe grants program. “We received both grants: the Goal Post Grant (GPG) and Start-up Club Program (SCP).”

“Included in the Start-up Club Program we received the 6 footballs. We obtained the Richmond footy kits ourselves, thanks mainly to my dad, Andrija Vlaovic. AFL Europe made first contact with the Richmond Tigers before I came to club but never got past that.”

“The Goal Post Grant (GPG) included financial assistance in helping erect goal posts on our current playing ground. We applied for 4 x goal posts and 4 x behind posts. Our application was successfully approved and we are very grateful to AFL Europe in helping us to build the first AFL full size ground in Eastern Europe.”

Myles Treanor from the Dublin City University (DCU) is the current club chairman and has put together the following information regarding the fledgling club from Ireland. DCU were the recipients of a Start-up Club Program grant (SCP) in 2014 which will kick along their progress as they compete on a broader scale and grow.

“[In] September 2014 aims we received a grant from AFL Europe over the summer with 6 balls. This was our first year of our own gear. We have used it regularly during trainings so far. DCU’s sport staff are currently helping us design jerseys and fund further equipment.”

Myles goes on to detail the origins and growth of the club.

“The club was founded in September 2013. Myles Treanor and Caoilte O’ Baoill competed for Ireland in the Euro Cup 9’s in Bordeaux. When we returned we set up the club in DCU with no funding or backing. It was made an official DCU club in September of this year.”

“It might not be the biggest of grants, but it was so important when we were only nine guys running around talking about making Odense Lions into a big club. We don't use the footballs we got anymore (we got new real Sherrins now) and we will replace the jumpers next year with new ones. So we are moving on from the first start grant we got, but even that small grant was very important for us. We would have had a hard time without it. It can seem little now with 35 players and two teams (male and female) but it was so important back then.”

These are the words of the Odense Lions and their gratitude for the Start-Up Club Program grant from AFL Europe. Whilst the grant may seem small compared to the resources that might follow, Odense have succinctly summed up the value of the grant, and this is echoed by other clubs across Europe.

Since the early days when the grant helped kick-start the Lions, their adventure has been a success story for Australian Rules football in Europe, and particularly their home nation, Denmark.

Day 1 of the US Nationals is complete with Calgary, New York and Orange County all undefeated in Divison 1.  On today's form Orange County would be expected to beat Minnesota in their match tomorrow morning to go into the final.  New York and Calgary will play each other with the winner headed for the final also and at this stage the likely winner of that match up is too close to call. 

Division 2 reigning champions Columbus and challenger Houston were both undefeated on Day 1 and will play each other tomorrow morning for a spot in the final.  LA Dragons are also undefeated and are looking good for the final if they can get over Nashville tomorrow.

In Divison 3 Philadelphia and Sacramento were unbeaten and will play off in the final if they can win their respective matches tomorrow morning.

North Carolina dominated Division 4 with two big wins and Tulsa were also convincing and undefeated.  The Denver B/KC team also had two convincing wins on Day 1.

 

Division 1		Day 1
Calgary	7.4.46	Golden Gate	1.0.6
Denver	3.0.18	Orange County	2.11.23
Austin	4.1.25	Minnesota	1.1.7
Denver	3.2.20	Minnesota	4.6.30
New York	4.7.31	Dallas	1.4.10
Austin	4.0.24	Orange County	8.6.54
New York	9.7.61	Golden Gate	0.1.1
Calgary	8.5.53	Dallas	0.5.5

The provision of grants by AFL Europe to new and emerging football clubs has seen some successes in recent years that have helped to populate national leagues with new clubs, expansion and greater opportunities for players.

It will be interesting to see which clubs are successful in obtaining grants in 2015. There are always whispers of new clubs coming to fruition across Europe, and there is no doubt that some of these clubs have made it under their own steam. But it is also true that the “Start Up Club Program (SCP)” has helped launch many of these new clubs.

There have been whispers of new clubs in France for some time now. The ALFA Lions and Nancy Bobcats have arrived, but interest remains over the teams from Toulon and Pau. There has been some talk of a club starting in Zenica (Bosnia & Herzegovina), and there have been overtures in Bergen (Norway) for a possible club to start, though that is not much past conversational stage at the moment. But this short list (and there are others, without doubt, that I have not mentioned) could potentially be the candidates for SCP grants for 2015.