World Footy News

Australian rules football is coming to South-Western England, with the formation of a new club in the port city of Plymouth. The CSSA Plymouth Seagulls have been holding training sessions and hope to soon kick off a year of friendly fixtures before joining the AFLB Southern Division in 2011.

The Seagulls have been training for three months, with 19 players registered so far, and a core group of 11 every week. In addition to those, they have had several rugby players say they will be down once their season is over. A committee has been voted in, and a major sponsor located in the Civil Service Sporting Association (CSSA).

Coordinating the Seagulls is Will Sykes, an Australian who moved to England to play cricket in 2004, and settled in Plymouth. Sykes previously played for Swan View FC in Perth, as well as a stint with the Swan Districts FC colts in the WAFL.

This weekend will see the continuation of one of European footy's oldest rivalries, when the Denmark Vikings take on the Sweden Elks in Copenhagen. The Vikings and Elks finished 2nd and 3rd respectively at last year's inaugural European Championships, and both sides will be keen to get bragging rights as Scandinavia's best nation going into the 2011 International Cup in Australia this August.

Before the Sweden-Denmark match kicks off at 2.15pm, British power club the West London Wildcats will be taking on a DAFL All-Stars selection from 12pm. The Wildcats have a strong Australian contingent, and are always very hard to beat on their annual European challenge matches.

Australian ambassador to Denmark, Mr James Choi, will be on hand to toss the coin.

The DAFL and AFL Sweden are both hoping for expansion in 2011, with the East Coast Bulldogs and a new club in Odense potentially starting in Denmark, and the Karlskrona Magpies to become the first Australian rules football club to be based in Sweden's south east.

Three players from the Huddersfield Rams have been included in the European Legion under 23 squad to face the AFL / AIS under 23 representative team.

Sixteen year old schoolboy Sam Gill, who has impressed selectors with some outstanding performances for the Rams, was one of the first named in the squad. The centre will be joined by twenty-three year old Great Britain and England half forward Danny Armitage, who can now add this experience to his list of domestic and international honours.

Huddersfield Rams club founder and president, current England skipper Karl Haigh, has been drafted in as assistant events manager as part of the back room staff.

The trio head to London on Wednesday 20th April where they will have three days of intense, gruelling training before facing the AFL in Barn Elms, London, on the Saturday.

Thanks to Oliver Hughes from the Huddersfield Rams for this report.

A key aspect of Papua New Guinea's development over the last 10 years has been providing elite pathways for juniors via participation in Queensland competitions. It started off with PNG contributing to regional sides in the QLD state championships, leading to PNG entering full sides in state championships and having players go on to represent Queensland.

Now the rest of the South Pacific nations will get a similar opportunity through participation in New South Wales. As a "football frontier" within Australia, NSW development people will have a good understanding of supporting raw talent and taking the sport to new areas, and also benefit from AFL development dollars.

First up an Oceania Under 16s side will compete in the NSW state under 16 championships. These commence on April 18th, with the visiting players arriving in Sydney on April 16th. Besides matches, the players will also have training, excursions and education sessions.  Most players will depart on April 22nd.

The following announcement was made this week on the USAFL website.

USA Freedom Coach, Leigh Barnes, announced the USA Freedom squad for the 2011 AFL International Cup today.  The team will travel to Australia in August to compete in the first ever women’s International Cup competition in Sydney and Melbourne from August 15-27.

The team was selected from a talented group of players spread out all across the USA.  Many of these players secured their position on the squad through attendance at the 2011 Training Camp in Austin, Texas, displaying their dedication to the cause.

“We went in to the training camp as a bunch of unknowns, the coaching staff did not know the players and vice versa, but at the end of the weekend, the enthusiasm of the players absolutely blew me away, and we put in place our plan for the IC tournament, as a team, not as individuals. Since then, I have been grateful that the word has been spread that we are in this to win, have a good time, and represent the USAFL Woman’s program to the best of our ability” coach Barnes opined. “I welcome all to the International Cup, set your sights high, enjoy your teammates, your coaches, and above all, enjoy representing your Country, no higher honor indeed in this great game of ours.”

The Welsh Australian Rules Football League will expand to seven clubs in 2011, with the debut of the Bridgend Eagles and the admission of western England's Bristol Dockers to the competition.

The WARFL committee voted unanimously to admit the Dockers, with new WARFL secretary Josh Davey stating the league wants to maintain a healthy rate of expansion for the league, adding to an already competitive list of clubs. "Historically it was no problem, as in the first years of Aussie Rules in Wales the now defunct Swindon Devils from England were involved, even winning the League on occasions. It was unanimously agreed by all clubs to welcome the Dockers to the WARFL," Davey says.

The Bridgend Eagles will be making their competitive debut in the WARFL in 2011, bringing the number of teams in Wales up to six, and the number in the league to a total of seven. The Eagles played in friendlies last year, with some of their squad also playing for different clubs during the 2010 WARFL season, and even going on to represent Wales.

We all love getting on the pitch and hip-and-shouldering our opponent. We all love the social aspects of the sport which bring us together, making new friends that last a lifetime. We all enjoy the endless banter about the shot we missed and the superman block you accidentally tripped into. What pushes a person to sign up for more work than they already have in their already busy life, organising the footy so that others have the opportunity to play?

Love of the game.

My name is Adam Bennett and in November 2010 I was voted in as the President of AFL GB at the 2nd annual national conference. There were numerous changes in the AFL GB committee and I'd like to recognise up front the massive contributions from Glen Ocsko - the previous President who helped steer the organisation onto the path; Kat Wheeler - one of the most passionate supporters of footy growth and development I've ever had the pleasure to work with; and Sam Percy - who continues to be a stalwart of the sport in London, spending untold hours supporting the sport.

Richmond Football Club tonight confirmed that it is the club that has signed American born Irishman John Heslin. Heslin, an 18-year-old Agricultural Science student from University College Dublin, who has competed at hurling, soccer and Gaelic football at a high level, will be selected by the Tigers as an international rookie in next December’s Rookie Draft.

Heslin currently plays Gaelic football for his university team, as well as at senior level for county club Westmeath. As a junior, he represented Ireland in soccer, and made such an impression that he was noticed by a number of Premier league clubs and invited to trial at then English Premier League club Derby County.

In a first-ever for Australian rules football in Europe, the AFL’s future stars from the Australian Institute of Sport will take on a representative European side in London on Saturday April 23.

Newly-appointed AFL Europe General Manager Ben MacCormack views the event as a perfect opportunity for Aussies and locals with an interest in Aussie Rules to get a sneak peek at the future of the AFL.

“We are excited this event is coming to London as it is a great opportunity for not only the Aussie community living in the UK but includes locals being introduced to a sport that flows in the veins of so many Australians” MacCormack said.

The AIS-AFL Academy squad will be made up of the best 16 & 17-year-old footballers in Australia. In the past over 80% of players in this squad have been drafted on to an AFL list and some have become champions of the game. Players in previous academies include the likes of Chris Judd (West Coast/Carlton), Luke Hodge (Hawthorn), Joel Selwood (Geelong), Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), Adam Cooney (Western Bulldogs) and David Swallow (2010 #1 Draft Pick – Gold Coast)."

“AFL Europe are extremely pleased to have secured the services of Glenn Lovett (ex-Melbourne FC player) as coach of the European Legion which is a squad of Under 21’s made up of players from Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Wales. These boys have the talent to surprise a couple of the AIS young guns which will lead to a great spectacle” MacCormack added.

Over the past two years the Hawks Cup Secondary School competition has involved Secondary School students from years 9 and 10. The success of the competition sees 2011 as the first year of the Senior Secondary School Hawks Cup now catering for years 11, 12 and 13.

This could be the vital step in getting what appears to be a very talented mid-teenager group to stay in the sport within school and move into local senior competitions. In fact in areas such as Otago and the Bay of Plenty these students might be the ones that cause local competitions to be created.

Over March 22nd, 23rd and 24th, cluster tournaments have seen 16 teams compete in five regions through out the North Island.

The weekend of March 12th and 13th saw the Under 20 National Provincial Championships played in Auckland at Parrs Park, Oratia. After losing their first game of the weekend, the Under 16 NZ Hawks went on to win all of their remaining games including the Grand Final against the Wellington Tigers 9.8 (62) to 6.9 (45).

This is the third year the tournament has taken place with previous winners Auckland in Christchurch in 2009 and Canterbury in Wellington in 2010.

Teams from Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury and the New Zealand Under 16 team, competed in matches comprising of two 22 minute halves over the two days. After a round robin, the two top teams were selected to enter into the grand final with Wellington undefeated (including a tie with Auckland) and NZ Under 16’s with just the one loss to Wellington. In the third and fourth playoff, Auckland was too strong for the Canterbury Cobras.

Part 2 of the interview from SEN radio in Melbourne below.