World Footy News

Australian Football Sri Lanka continues to build on their dream to establish the game of Australian Football in Sri Lanka. Following on from their previous visits to Sri Lanka where they ran clinics and formed a representative squad ahead of the 2017 International Cup, and again visiting later in 2017, the Fonseka brothers are back in Sri Lanka.

Accompanying them on the AFSL Annual Tour 2018 is the Essendon Football Cub captain Dyson Heppell and his brother, Essendon's 2018 VFL Best and Fairest winner Aaron Heppell. The tour is sponsored by AFSL.

The crew spent the past few days finding their feet on the ground in Sri Lanka where they will spend 2 weeks networking with strategic individuals and organisations, promoting Australian Football and running clinics to help introduce the game to the locals.

Below we hear the thoughts of the Heppells on the tour so far.

After an exciting day out in Cork, Ireland, the Euro Cup is done and dusted with the Denmark Vikings once again taking out the Men’s Division whilst the Irish Banshees won the women’s title. Both teams have now claimed their third titles with Denmark winning their first title since their back-to back tournaments in 2014/5. The Irish Banshees also won the women’s title in 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal and in London in 2014.

The Denmark Vikings won their way through the round matches and finals to meet the Irish Warriors in the final. They defeated last year’s winners, the England Dragonslayers, in the semi-final before defeating the Warriors by 14 points in the final.

The Irish Banshees and England Vixens had little trouble advancing to the women’s final with big semi-final wins, but the Banshees were far too good for 2017 winners, the England Vixens, taking the final by a commanding 25 points.

The Indonesia Volcanoes have claimed the Division 1 AFL Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpar by 16 points over the Philippine Eagles. In the inaugural women’s competition at the Asian Champs, the Vietnam Swans have downed the Hong Kong Dragons in a thrilling final to win the title by just two points.

The Division 2 title was won comprehensively by the ODG PNG Muruks, downing the Thailand Tigers in the final by 70 points 12 5 77 to 1 1 7.

Despite the presence of rain at various stages, the tournament was a huge success – the largest in terms of teams and player numbers to date. According to AFL Asia, "Weather as it does in Asia during this time of the year didn’t have much of a bearing on the overall scheme of things. However, it must be stated when the heavens opened in the Division 2 Final the PNG Muruks we’re playing with a dry ball, whilst the Thailand Tigers were playing with a wet footy. The PNG Muruks put on an absolute show in their grand final."

Sam Nichols reports on the Vice Media website about the growth of the game in North America – specifically the New York Magpies as a microcosm of the challenges facing the growth of the game as a whole. As the USAFL Nationals kick off in Racine, Wisconsin this weekend, this excellent story marks a good time to reflect on the journey of one club as an example of the journeys of others.

With just under 2000 registered players and 42 clubs, Australian Rules has taken a foothold in America without fans or money. 

At a public park in Brooklyn, parallel to the East River, the New York Magpies—the city’s only Aussie Rules team—gear up to train, just like they do every Monday evening. 

 

“There’s usually more people at training,” Shane Lowry, a longtime player and recently appointed coach, tells me. “We had a big weekend of footy in Philly, so I reckon a lot of people are tired.”

Having been on the receiving end of consecutive premiership defeats now for too many years, the Multiplex Bulls needed some success to believe that they can turn their fortunes around. In Bahrain yesterday, the Bulls achieved just that by taking out the AFL Middle East Pre-Season Cup. It isn’t the same thing as a premiership, but it is a result that sparks belief and confidence and sets a strong platform for what will follow.

On a hot day in Bahrain, the Bulls played in a three-way round robin tournament against their nemesis, the Dubai Dragons, and a combined Dubai Dingoes/Bahrain Suns team. The drinks tables, air conditioners and shady spaces got a heavy workout as the teams slugged it out.

 

You know you are finally cracking the veneer of the American sporting market when you have the attention of the New York Times. On the eve of the USAFL Nationals in Racine, Wisconsin, that is just what is happening with journalist S B Tang getting Collingwood’s American Pie onto the sports pages of one of the biggest and widely read newspapers in the United States.  

Below is an extract from Tang’s story. To read the article in full, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/sports/mason-cox-football-australia.html#click=https://t.co/MOUZRQyQGb

 

How an American Basketball Player Became a Star in Australian Rules Football 

 

MELBOURNE, Australia — As Mason Cox sprinted toward the football, one thought ran through his mind: attack it.

Listen up, Australia! The AFL Grand Final has passed. The Eagles are premiers. Most followers of the game are currently watching Facebook feeds or websites to see which player is being traded to which club. Most of the Australian population waits for next September for the next biggest day of the year.

The more enlightened footy follower, however, knows that this weekend is arguably the biggest weekend for footy seen for many years. Just like the planets aligned earlier this year and Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus were visible in the same sky on the same night, this weekend sees that rarest alignment – the biggest carnivals for AFL Europe, AFL Asia and the USAFL have aligned this weekend.

AFL Asia 2018 iflix Asian Championships & Inaugural AFLW Asian Championships

Article Courtesy AFL Asia

The AFL season may be over, however it’s the business end of the football season in Asia, with the AFL Asia’s 2018 iflix Asian Championships & Inaugural AFLW Asian Championships taking place at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this Saturday, October 13th.

This year’s biggest ever ‘Asian Champs’ will see 5 Division 1 Men’s Teams, 12 Division 2 Men’s Teams and 4 Women’s Teams fighting it out for the ultimate glory in Asian Football. The AFL Asia’s showcase event is expecting over 500 participants from 13 different countries to attend, including approximately 100 females, which is an outstanding result.

Article Courtesy AFL Europe

Only 4 days remain before 350 players from 15 nations descend on Cork, Ireland, and the first ball is bounced at one of the world’s premier international football spectacles, with AFL Europe’s Euro Cup 2018 earmarked to be the best in the events eleven-year history.

The city on the southwest coast of Ireland will play host to 64 matches on the day at the Cork Institute of Technology sports facilities, as Europe’s premier national teams face off in the nine-a-side format chasing the title of champions of Europe.
That crown currently belongs to England in both men’s and women’s divisions after their Dragonslayers (men’s team) & Vixens (women’s team) both took the spoils in Bordeaux at the 2017 edition of the tournament.

Lions from across Europe descended on Denmark last weekend with the second instalment of the Lions Cup. The tournament was created and commenced in Lyon, France, in 2017, with the tournament decided by for and against results. The North London Lions were deemed inaugural winners. Last weekend it was the Odense Lions from Denmark taking the title.

The tournament saw the host team, Odense Lions, the North London Lions and the ALFA Lions from France competing in a three-way round-robin. Odense won both of its matches on the day to take the cup ahead of the North London Lions in second place and the ALFA Lions third.

One of the more interesting teams headed to Ireland for this weekend’s Euro Cup in Cork is the newest Australian Football entity in Israel, the Tel Aviv Cheetahs. Whilst they are a genuine new team on the world stage, based in a city not known or its connection to the game, in truth, they are a phoenix rising.

The team that runs out in Cork to do battle with the best teams Europe has to offer owes much of its existence to the Peace Team, formed in 2008, and more recently their incarnation as the Jerusalem Peace Lions. But make no mistake - this team from Tel aviv is itsown entity, grown out of its own grit, sweat and determination.

After having performed admirably at the 2017 Euro Cup in Bordeaux, France, where they managed to finish in 11th place overall with an historic win against Sweden, the Lions returned to Israel to a period of change. With key players leaving Jerusalem to travel elsewhere on life paths, some relocated to Tel Aviv and, inevitably, a footy got kicked in a park somewhere. From there, the Tel Aviv Cheetahs came to life.

The USAFL's National Championships will see seven divisions of men's and women's footy in Racine, Wisconsin over the coming weekend, October 13-14 at the SCORe Complex. 

This year's tournament features 45 teams spanning seven divisions, representing nearly forty clubs across the USA and Canada.  Two women's divisions, four men's divisions and one men's reserves division. 

Everyone will be out to hunt down Golden Gate who took out the 2017 titles in both the Men's and Women's Division 1.  And those divisions are very strong with six stand alone clubs in each all eager to take that title.