World Footy News

St Kilda Football Club is excited to this year be taking their pre-season training camp overseas, with the Club travelling to New Zealand for a week. Departing for Queenstown this weekend, the Saints will continue their preparation for the 2011 season with an intense training schedule and range of sporting activities to be undertaken along New Zealand’s stunning south island.

As the first overseas training camp for the Club under the guidance of Ross Lyon, the Senior Coach said it was fantastic for the group to embark on the trip to assist their preparation ahead of the 2011 season.“The players will be taken out of their comfort zone and pushed to the limits in order to give them the best opportunity to continue to play Saints Footy throughout the coming season.”

A quick reminder of the success of the PNG lads in the Oceania U16s tournament in mid December, the following 4 articles tracked their performance in the PNG press via ‘The National’. 

Coverage is very important in PNG as being an aspirational sporting nation, looking to make it into the ICC cricketing top 18 and with a Government looking to take over the national rugby league with a view to establishing a PNG side in Australia’s NRL – it can’t be understated the importance of the PNG ‘AFL’ sides generating coverage.

Dec 17, “AFL Jrs in fine form “

Dec 20, “AFL Juniors in Final”

Dec 21, “PNG Jrs win Cup”

 

Editor: The International Rules series between Australia and Ireland sees the two nations adopt a hybrid set of rules that combines Australian football and Gaelic football to form a new sport that allows the two countries to compete internationally against similar quality opposition. The series has had many ups and downs but has a surprisingly long history.

The following article is an interesting reflection on that history with an emphasis on the cultural aspects of globalisation and opposition to change.  It's by one our writers, Professor Stephen Alomes.  Please note it was first published in 2000, and has not been updated so should be read in that context.

The Finland Icebreakers are about a 75% chance to be at the 2011 International Cup, according to national team coach Grant Siermans.

The Icebreakers made their IC debut in 2008, but with a small initial squad and a large number of injuries, it was a tough first-up tournament. They eventually broke through for their first win against India, finishing 14th overall from a field of 16 nations. Finland also appeared at the inaugural full-field European Championships in 2010, but finished the tournament without a win.

However, Siermans says there is a core of new Finnish recruits who are keen to represent their country on the world stage, and with some steady growth in domestic Finnish footy since the last IC, they are still hoping to make it down under.

Photo courtesy of Alban Schieber.

In our fourth and final roundup of European local footy in 2010, we've had a look at southern and eastern Europe, where a number of new domestic comps have kicked off in the past season or two.

Included in this group is the AFL Italia, which followed up their inaugural premiership season by hosting the Euro Cup (previously known as the EU Cup) in Parabiago, near Milan.

Team Austria have signalled that they won't be coming to the 2011 International Cup, with Martin Schittegg from the Graz-based Styrian DownUnderDogs citing a lack of sponsors and players who could afford the trip as the main reasons.

"We set ourselves the target that we had to decide by the start of December... By that deadline we had only 13 players definite, plus around 9 more who weren't sure if they could organise it, or whether they could afford it," Schittegg says. The potential squad was made up exclusively of players from the DownUnderDogs, with no players from the Vienna Kangaroos nominating to make the trip.

However, whilst it looks like 2014 might be the first time we see an Austrian team at the IC, Schittegg says there has been plenty of positive growth for footy in Austria, where the Dogs and Vienna Kangaroos are planning some new projects for local and regional footy in 2011.

With the 2011 International Cup approaching, the Dutch Australian Football Association is currently weighing up the pros and cons of sending the Flying Dutchmen on their first trek Down Under.

At the moment, it's looking likely they won't be at the IC until 2014, with Josh Carmichael from the DAFA saying that for a league at an early stage of footy development, the question remains whether the benefits of experience and exposure on the world stage outweigh the high costs of sending a team to Australia.

Josh Carmichael spoke to us about their plans for the Flying Dutchmen, and the pros and cons of mounting an IC campaign in 2011.

LEFT: The Dutch National Team at the 2010 Euro Cup in Parabiago, Italy. Photo courtesy of Daniela Scalia.

It has been a very wet start to the year for many parts of Australia. Areas of WA, Victoria and NSW have suffered from flooding, but Queensland has copped the worst in widespread flooding at extremely high levels.

“On behalf of the AFL I want to extend my condolences to those thousands of people who have been devastated by the floods, especially those who have lost family and friends,” Mr Demetriou said. “It’s also been heartwarming to see so many people give their time and resources to help. In particular, I want to acknowledge the great work by state emergency services and the Queensland Government headed by Premier Anna Bligh.”

The AFL and its 18 clubs have contributed $500,000 to the relief appeal and Mr Demetriou acknowledged the generosity of AFL players in donating a further $150,000 through the AFL Players’ Association. “The AFL, its clubs and the wider football community is committed to helping the people of Queensland get back on their feet over the coming weeks, months and years,” Mr Demetriou said.

Cyril Talon, president of the French Commission for Australian Football (CNFA) and national team manager, says Team France is "200%" certain to make their International Cup debut down under in 2011.

Les Bleus are one of a group of European nations who are hoping to make the pilgrimage to the home of footy for the first time this year, and have a big year of preparations in front of them, including international friendly matches, the ANZAC memorial match and national team training camps.

France has been home to Australian football clubs for some time now, with a few ups and downs along the way, but the past few seasons have seen rapid growth, with a number of club tournaments, the creation of a national league and seven senior clubs now in existence.

US tennis player John Isner, in Western Australia warming up for the 2011 Australian Open, has revealed that he's a keen Fremantle Dockers supporter. Isner is just another example of converts to the game when people get a chance to see it and are encouraged by someone they know, in this case his former room mate, an Australian.

For non-tennis fans Isner's name may not jump to mind, although he is ranked 19 in the world. But mention that he won the longest ever professional match at Wimbledon last year, the 11 hour epic, and most sports fans will remember him well.

He and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut took 11 hours, five minutes to complete their first-round clash at Wimbledon last year, Isner winning an inconceivable 70-68 in the fifth set. In their latest bout the American again won, 6-3 7-6 (7-5), but says the pair now share a friendship. "We've become really good friends off the court," Isner said. "You ask him. Before the match we never spoke one word to each other. Now we text each other quite often and I've got to know he really is a class act". See Big John reveals he's a Dockers fan.  For more, see Big John reveals he's a Dockers fan.  Thanks to our reader "nowherehome" for sending in the link.

2010 saw traditional heavyweights Munich and Paris continue to build their reputation in the German and French leagues, whilst over in Ireland, the South Dublin Swans broke through for their first flag in four years.

The Netherlands hosted its first-ever national competition, with the Amsterdam Devils prevailing.

For more details of the season's play in those leagues, read on.

In August 2011 the International Cup will be staged in Sydney and Melbourne, and one proven way for representative players to improve their skills is to play for an Australian club, with all the week after week of high standard training and playing. It worked wonders for many of the Nauruan players in 2008, as well as players from other countries.

Now the Coolangatta Australian Football Club in south-east Queensland is offering eligible international players the same chance in 2011. The following offer is from Scott Reid, President of Coolangatta. He has been one of the key men behind the re-birth of Papua New Guinean footy over the last decade, so he his knowledge of international Australian football is both deep and realistic.