World Footy News

ESPN have done a deal with Microsoft to provide its streaming ESPN3 service (which carries live AFL matches into the USA) to many Xbox 360 owners with Gold accounts in the USA. With the launch in November it will not give this viewing option until the 2011 season, and will only be available to customers whose ISPs also have a deal with ESPN to stream the service.

So it's not really a new service (but there will be some social and interactive features optimized for Xbox Live) because if you're a customer of one of those ISPs, you can already stream ESPN3 to your PC.

Although the arrangement might be attractive to Xbox owners who have their console hooked up to the giant plasma set, while the PC languishes in a home office, it won't bring ESPN3 content to the customers of Time Warner, Cablevision or many other major cable carriers. This weekend those who can view http://ESPN3.com in the US will see Round 13 AFL Matches Hawthorn v Essendon, Carlton v Fremantle and Brisbane v Richmond.

While footy clubs around the world work on setting up junior programs to bring youth talent to the game, one important source of youngsters should not be overlooked. That is school exchange programs. Each year there are hundreds of youths that come to Australia from overseas to attend school and a number of them inevitably end up playing Aussie rules with their local school or club competition.

Many of these youths show great promise, and it would be a shame to lose them to the game when they return home, often not realising that the game exists in their home country. German exchange student Bijan Muller is one such talented youth who has shown a natural talent for the Australian game. There will be many Socceroos fans out their who would welcome any dilution of sporting talent available to the German soccer team following their 4-0 defeat of Australia on Sunday.

The following article New cult hero at Hawks is from the Ararat Advertiser.

After many years of the same look, visitors to http://www.usafl.com/ will see an all new USFooty website from today. The new website features a number of new sections as well as up to date information and even a hint of a new USFooty team - the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes.

The biggest national tournament on the AFL Britain calendar is fast approaching, with this year's edition of the annual Brit Cup scheduled for Saturday July 3rd in Southampton. The tournament sees club and representative sides, drawn entirely for the EU players pool in the UK, compete over the course of a gruelling day.

It is also a key opportunity for players to prove themselves worthy of selection to the GB Bulldogs national team, who will be competing at both the EU Championships in Denmark and the International Cup in Australia within the next 18 months.

Teams can be either entered by a club, or representative of an area such as the Southern Region team which competed in 2009. The only stipulation is that all players must be eligible for EU status - no players classed as Australian or Rest of World are permitted. Games will consist of 12-a-side games using full AFL rules and be played on an oval, with a maximum bench size of 6 and a maximum squad size of 18.

The Sydney Swans are excited to announce they have signed one of the most gifted young athletes in NSW to their recently-established Academy. African-born Alex Jalloh, 14, has excelled at soccer, rugby, athletics and Australian football, but has opted to be part of the Swans Advanced Academy, which means he can be drafted directly to the Club in 2013.

The Academy’s talent identification and operations manager, Chris Smith, said Jalloh’s signing was a major win for the Academy. “This is a real win for the Sydney Swans Academy where a priority is attracting kids who have the ability to excel at a number of sports,’’ Smith said. “The fact Alex chose the Swans Academy in its first year of operation, over his other sporting options, is extremely pleasing. We’re excited to have the opportunity to nurture and develop Alex’s extraordinary athletic talent,’’ Smith said.

Former Sydney Swans star Michael O'Loughlin has spoken on the AFL website about the challenge and excitement of coaching the youth World XVIII at the upcoming NAB AFL Under 16 Championships, to be staged in western Sydney.

The video interview can be viewed here.

It's only a few weeks until the tournament begins - see NAB AFL Under 16s draw announced

Mr. Danish Football... from Andy Rew on Vimeo.

Despite the TV guides indicating the Werribee vs Geelong would be the ABC TV VFL match for broadcast this Saturday, a late change has seen ABC now set to broadcast the Karmichael Hunt VFL debut from Craigieburn. The telecast is for ABC in Melbourne and presumably across Victoria, as well as a live online stream to Australia. A few days later it should also be viewable across Australia online from the ABC's iview.

The AFL Sweden has announced its squad for the 2010 European Chapionships, with coach Daniel McClaer naming 26 players in what the league is rating as the strongest Swedish Elks side assembled to date.

Officially announced via the Swedish Footy Show, the squad is dominated by players from southern Sweden, with the Helsingborg Saints and Port Malmö Maulers providing sixteen players between them in the 26-man squad. The Göteborg Beserkers from the west have five representatives, the Stockholm league four and the Karlstad Eagles one.

Coach McClaer says this is the first time ever that they have had to do a proper selection process for the Swedish national team, with the majority of the squad chosen from national selection trials held on May 15th in Stockholm.

Captaining the Elks will be Johan Lantz from the Helsingborg Saints. Previous Sweden captain and Scandinavian footy veteran Andreas Svensson is also in the squad, along with another eight members of the Elks' 2008 International Cup team.

The Elks also have some international elements, with Englishman Daniel Scotford named alongside Americans Matt McMahan and Ross Levesque in the main squad, and Irishmen Aidan O'Reilly and Mark Rattigan listed as emergencies.

The Elks' draw sees them open the tournament against Croatia at midday on August 1st, followed by a clash with Germany two days later, then the final game of the pool rounds against Ireland on August 5th. The Elks and Irish would be early favourites to defeat both Croatia and Germany, meaning their clash on August 5th could see the winner go straight to the gold medal match. Whilst the Irish have traditionally been the team to beat in Europe, the home team Elks will be very keen to prove that they can match it with all comers.

The full squad list and Swedish Footy Show clip follow.

AFLPNG continues to develop its off-field efforts with the appointment of Tristan Tancredi to assist in its public relation duties and marketing.

Tancredi was raised in Melbourne, Australia. Tancredi’s main focus is to assist in developing the AFL code in PNG through media involvement as well as marketing.

This involves promoting the AFL throughout the provinces that are involved with the AFL code such as Lae, Morobe Province, Kimbe, West New Britain Province and Mount Hagen, Western Highlands Province.

This will increase community involvement and participation. Tasks that will assist in reaching these objectives include the redesigning of web content, increasing media awareness through newspapers, TV and interaction with local sporting communities.

Tancredi is a media and communication graduate from Melbourne University in Australia. He will be in PNG on a 12 month contract through AusAid funding program called Australian Youth Ambassador for Development (AYAD). For more see this article from the PNG's Post Courier newspaper.

There are still plenty of footy xenophobes out there who believe that Australian football should be played by Australians only. But anyone who has been involved with foreigners coming to the game seems to be quickly converted to the idea that the game shouldn't be restricted to those who live in Australia (which of course it is not). There is something special about sharing the game that has largely been a secret to the rest of the world, who for the most part take it up with great enthusiasm.

Luke Ball today wrote in The Age of his encounters with Collingwood team-mate Shae McNamara and surmises that the game can only be better off for the diversity that international expansion can bring. The following is an extract from that article Globalisation of our code can only make us better.

The following statement was released from Team GWS today;

Team GWS Chief Executive Officer Dale Holmes has welcomed today’s announcement from the NSW state government that the proposed upgrade of the Sydney Showgrounds facility will go ahead. "This announcement marks an important milestone for Team GWS as we work to build the first AFL club in Greater Western Sydney. This redevelopment is fundamental to the establishment of our club.”

“This is a terrific result, not only for our club, but for all of New South Wales as this will redevelop existing infrastructure into a multi purpose venue which will enhance the experience of visitors to the Royal Easter Show and open up the venue to a number of different sports including cricket, rugby league, rugby union and soccer.