World Footy News

Alberta is a province in Western Canada that is in the encouraging position of having two cities hosting Australian Football clubs. The following article is from Jason Arnold and Chantal Spindler of the men’s and women’s teams who report on the interesting formation, proud achievements and exciting developments of the Edmonton Australian Football Club.

It’s been an active off season for the Edmonton Australian Football Club.  The club’s teams, the Edmonton Emus (women’s) and the Edmonton Wombats (men’s) haven’t let the long winter slow them down.  They’ve been conducting weekly training sessions, since mid-October.  Significant recruitment efforts have seen the EAFC double their numbers and record a constant 40+ at training.

The club was established as the ‘Edmonton Emus’ in 2008 by Tristan Waldock, who coached the women’s team for two years.  The Wombats (men’s) officially joined the following year in 2009, initially led by Hamish Martin, then led by Brad Havin upon Hamish’s return to Australia.  The Edmonton Australian Football Club was then formed.

After much hard work in the off season 2012 was a breakthrough year with the Wombats enjoying successes at the Kelowna Cup (Western Canada’s first tournament of the season, hosting teams from Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton) and being super competitive in the Stampede Cup against Calgary later in the season.  Off the back of great performances by their National reps, the Emus had their first win over the Calgary Kookaburras at the inaugural Capital Cup.
 

If you build it, they will come.

That was the motto used five years ago when the fledgling Montreal footy club was desperate to get visiting teams into town and build a unique 9-a-side event that put the spotlight on rookie Aussie Rules players.

Armed with the lure of a European-style city like no other in North America, for the very first time some applications for the 2013 tournament had to be refused as the tournament’s 4 women’s and 8 men’s slots filled in record time. Teams from New York, Ottawa, Boston, Baltimore and Halifax all committing to take on Montreal’s spread of home teams in the AFL Quebec Preseason Cup. An estimated 150+ players will be on hand for what will be Quebec footy’s finest hour.

Season 2012 Japan Top League saw the entry of the R246 Lions into the League achieving a measure of success in winning several of their matches and (for a brand new team) very competitive in others.

So too, season 2013 sees another new club, the Tokyo Bay Suns enter the league. The new club is the brainchild of two former Narita Hawks and current Samurais players, Yosuke Kuno and Junji Tanaka, between them about 15-16 years experience playing Australian football.

Club media spokesman and only Aussie on the playing list, Brett Snowdon, explained “the club is run as an ‘open club’, the idea that even though our game day squad is set, any members from other clubs are welcome to train with us. Players from university teams with less experience can learn from our experienced players so helping to improve the level of all teams in the league.” The club has already run a special training session where members from the Suns, Magpies, Hawks and Powers attended, around 40 players in all.

AFL Fiji has started a school holiday footy clinic in Albert Park, Suva, with the aim of increasing female participation in the game ahead of next year’s International Cup.

Despite low turnout on the first few days, as word has spread, more and more girls have begun turning up to the training sessions, many of them with experience playing other sports, such as rugby.

The boys also have a holiday clinic and some of them are staying on to help the senior players organise the girls’ training too.

AFL Fiji’s Lupe Wolfgramm told the Fiji Times that the school program to introduce the sport to women started in mid-April, adding that the response was overwhelming. On the back of their success in the Western Division, they are now turning their attention to Suva.

If the recruitment and training continues to go well, Wolfgramm says she would like to try the girls out in a game situation, possibly a women’s exhibition match during the Oceania Cup in December.

The provisionally-named AFL Scotland hopes to bring together and coordinate everyone's efforts in furthering the sport in Scotland.

Brought about by its two leagues, AFL Scotland is comprised of the Scottish Australian Rules Football League (SARFL) and the Caledonian Australian Football League (CAFL).

The SARFL is the National League format, comprising three 9-a-side teams in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The CAFL is Glasgow's metro 9-a-side league with three teams, Card Sharks, Mako Sharks and Tiger Sharks. The CAFL also has a women's division comprised of the Copper Sharks and Diesel Sharks.

The following is an AFL NT media release.

AFL Northern Territory is pleased to announced the recruitment of NT Thunder Ruckman and NTFL Rising Star winner, Neil Vea Vea, to the role of Multicultural Ambassador for the Northern Territory.

“In the newly appointed role Neil will be charged with a variety of Multicultural Program activations across the Territory, as well as providing key mentor and leadership support to up and coming multicultural players with in the NT,” said AFLNT Participation Manager Adam Moedt.

Vea Vea, 19, of South Sea Island descent (Vanuatu), feels privileged to be able to play a part in delivering the multicultural programs with in the Northern Territory.

On Wednesday, May the 15th, the AFL will select the top 50 female players in Australia, with AFL chief executive officer Andrew Demetriou calling out the names of the top 10 players.

Friends and family of the nominees will be invited to attend the draft at simultaneous presentations in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, which will be linked up by video conferencing.

The draft and the game are both initiatives of the Melbourne Football Club, main sponsor of Australia’s top women’s league, the VWFL, and the Melbourne sector of the draft will be conducted in the club’s boardroom.

From the draft, the two teams that will represent the Melbourne and Western Bulldogs Football Clubs during the inaugural AFL Women’s Exhibition game will be selected. The women’s teams will face off at the MGC as a curtain raiser to the AFL game played by the two clubs during AFL Women’s Round on Saturday June 29.

A rather odd article appeared in the Herald Sun today.  It quotes AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce function in Melbourne.  The headline read "The AFL admits it will not become an international sport".  That's pretty blunt and depressing for supporters of the growth of our great game.  But is that really what he said?

Yes and no.

Article courtesy of Glasgow Sharks’ Stacey Hughes.

The Haggis cup saw the Copper Sharks seeking revenge over the Diesel Sharks for a heavy defeat in Glasgow a week earlier. Leeroy Brown was traded for Zoe Rowe for this exhibition match in Edinburgh.

The Copper Sharks dominated early proceedings, outscoring the Diesel Sharks 20-2 in the opening quarter, which Saw Sue Noble score her first goal for the Copper Sharks.

 

 

Article courtesy of Glasgow Sharks’ Stacey Hughes and David Smith.

Victoria Park in the West End of Glasgow hosted the first ever Women's club match in Scotland on the 6th April 2013: Copper Sharks V Diesel Sharks.

The Diesel Sharks took the initiative early on in the match getting a couple of points on the board before Helen Cameron scored the opening goal of the match after a superb solo run, bouncing the ball twice before calmly slotting the ball between the posts. The Copper Sharks had no reply to a strong start from the Diesel Sharks who ended the quarter 20 points up.

An update from the Santiago Saints, based in Santiago de Chile.

The Saints have now been a club since 2008, with a mix of Chilean and expat players. We have had a number of players visiting or living in Chile involved with the mining industry and this has seen players with experience in the lower leagues in Australia pass on their knowledge to other players.

2012 saw a great charity match, with huge support from the Australian Embassy as well as other sponsors.

In 2013 the club is looking to lock in sponsors for a long term period, ensuring stability for the future.

Coach Leigh Barnes has announced that the USA Freedom will be holding a training camp from May 31 to June 2 in the San Francisco Bay area, in preparation for this year’s Parallel Cup, which will be held in Edmonton, Alberta, on August 3.

As well as existing squad members, the camp is also open to new players, and women from across the USA have been encouraged to attend. The coaches have indicated that the camp will consist of a mixture of football training, team building exercises and special events.

At the end of the weekend, the coaching staff will select a senior squad and a development squad to take to Canada. In addition, Barnes also hinted that they would be using the opportunity to look for potential representatives in advance of next year’s International Cup.