World Footy News

The following article, is translated as closely as possible from the original story in Arabic for the www.filgoal.com website – an Egyptian sports website. Certainly, the appearance of this story in the Egyptian sports reporting market indicates a growing interest in the game, built almost entirely on the back of an Auskick program run by Professor Mohammed Hashem at the American University Cairo.

Can you imagine a game that holds the mix of football and hand [handball] togetherω Australian football, that you will probably [be hearing] about for the first time, will give you that mix. 

Australian football is a wide-ranging game in its country [played Australia-wide], with the highest scoring rate in the country, and the Aussie’s [game is] the fourth-highest in all sports after the NFL, Bundesliga and English Premier League.

Ben McKay from AAP has reported on the www.afl.com.au website about the decision by the Gold Coast Suns not to return to China in 2019. The decision will be a hiccup in the AFL’s expansion plans into the Chinese markets, though there is plenty of time to find another suitor ready for next season. The original article can be found at: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-09-02/gold-coast-not-keen-on-a-return-to-china

GOLD Coast has walked away from future AFL matches in China after two years of playing Port Adelaide in Shanghai.

Suns chairman Tony Cochrane used the club's best and fairest awards night to declare the club's interest in the overseas venture over.

Last week, World Footy News reported on the development of the game in Egypt through the work of Professor Mohammed Hashem and hundreds of enthusiastic kids embracing his Auskick In Egypt program (see:Spirit Of Ancient Egypt). Since then, things have moved quickly in Egypt.

As this story is being written Professor Hashem (Mo Hash) is in the far south-western Egyptian location of New Valley within the greater New Valley Governorate. He is there running Auskick-style clinics to another gathering of wildly excited kid embracing the game. What makes this clinic particularly special is the location.

New Valley is around 1000 kilometres south of the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. It is roughly due west of the Nile city of Luxor. The region sits within the eastern fringes of the Sahara Desert, close to both Sudan and the Libyan border. If I had been asked to find a more remote part of the world, New Valley would go close – as a kid I was enthralled by the magic of the isolated (now dry) Lake Chad in near-neighbouring Chad, south of Libya.

In what many would see as a big upset, the Berlin Crocodiles will have a chance to defend their AFL Germany title after downing the Munich Kangaroos in last weekend’s semi-final in Cologne. Form leading up to the match favoured the Kangaroos, as did their record across the season, which saw them narrowly defeat the Crocs on both occasions.

However, the boys from Berlin knew they could match the Kangaroos and did so with a barnstorming first half. Keeping the Munich team to a single goal for the first half, the Crocs went to the main break with a huge 39-point lead. It would take something super-human from the Kangaroos to get back in the second half.

The 2018 Andes Cup has been won again by the Bogota Bulldogs from Colombia. It makes it three wins from three tournaments against the Santiago Saints representing Chile. The two nations are leading the way in growing Australian Football on the South American continent – more than a few nearby nations will be watching the result.

Their battle on the weekend saw one club (Saints) on the back of a long history playing the game in Santiago without regular competition up against the club (Bulldogs) that has seen the creation of the AFL Colombia competition this year. Their players had come off an entire local season and a couple of games from a new one. On face value, the Bulldogs probably had an advantage in sheer match play and conditioning.

After a dominant year, the Belfast Redbacks finished the job when they defeated the Galway Magpies to win the 2018 AFL Ireland premiership. Having gone through the home and away season undefeated, the Redbacks were expected by most to win the title. But the biggest job of all is producing when it matters on grand final day, and the Redbacks did that.

However, the Magpies made sure the Redbacks earned the premiership. The final margin was 39 points, set up by a brilliant first half by the Belfast team. At the main break, the Redbacks lead by 38 points at the Mallusk Paying Fields in Belfast.

According to AFL Ireland, “[The first half was a] tough physical battle with both teams giving their all across the ground. [There were] nine scores to six but the Redbacks [were] more clinical with their shooting so far and take a lead into the main change over. Very wet conditions to start but the rain has now stopped.”

The Japan Warriors Universities team have managed to notch up a second victory in their regular annual tour to Australia – this time defeating Box Hill North (41 – 33) in the second of two clashes against the Melbourne suburban club played on August 18th.

Goal scorers listed (on AFL Japan Website) for the Warriors in this match are: Horiguchi 2, Fuji 2 and Inagaki 1.

Tyler Ames was a standout player with the Denver Bulldogs of the USAFL. He then became part of an exchange program with the USAFL and is in his second season with the Montrose Demons. Recently we had the chance to catch up with Tyler.

Image Source: ntnews.com.au

Tell us about your first season (2017) at Montrose. Was it everything you hoped it’d be? Did you feel like you got better each week?

My first season was an amazing experience. It took me a fair amount of time to settle into the standard of the league and really learn where I needed to be positioned on the field. For most of the initial games, I really struggled getting around the ball and even started many games from the bench. I’m sure I was much like watching little kids play chasing the ball around the ground without getting much of the ball. Fortunately as the season progressed I really started to find my form a bit. I was able to get around the ball and impact plays with my size and physicality and was even able to snag around 6 goals for the year most of which came in the back half.

 

The following article was written by Christian Saggese for the Zuriost website in Switzerland. It looks at the efforts of the Winterthur Lions club to grow the game in the nation and potentially develop beyond the levels of lone Swiss clubs. This article is an imperfect translation from the original story written in German. To view the original article, go to: https://zueriost.ch/sport/2018-08-21/wir-wollen-in-der-schweiz-eine-liga-gruenden 

Australian football player from Winterthur

“We want to start a league in Switzerland” 

Does Switzerland soon have its own Australian Football Leagueω Winterthur are well on their way to putting this dream into reality.

Switzerland is soon to be richer by one sport. That is the wish of Stefan Burgener and Till Roost. The two Winterthurs founded the first Australian Football Club in Switzerland a few months ago under the name "Winterthur Lions".

The return to competition after a short recess for the SAFF (Stockholm Australian Football Federation) has seen the Norrtälje Dockers record a stirring 10-point victory to boost their premiership credentials significantly.

The catch-up game against the Blues has seen the Dockers inch ahead of the field into first place, just ahead of the Blues and Axemen. They can consolidate that position should they defeat the Axemen in their Round 7 clash this weekend. A loss, however, could prove costly, falling behind the Axeman and potentially the Blues as well if the Södermalm crew can defeat the last-placed Årsta Swans.

The September finals are now on the horizon and every match from here is of critical importance to the teams finishing in the top three. The minor premiership winner will go straight into the grand final, whilst second will meet third to decide the other premiership contender.

The following article from www.aflengland.org details the latest initiative to grow the game with a new league and competition to kick off later this year. The original article can be found at: http://www.aflengland.org/afl-england-launches-national-university-league/

Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham Named as Inaugural Participants

League Runs November 2018 – March 2019 

AFL England are committed to growing the game of Australian rules football up and down the country; from grass-roots and junior projects, to major regional London, CNE and Southern leagues.  

That is why we’re delighted to announce the launch of the National University League (NUL) featuring teams from Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham University, with a view to expanding to include sides from Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan and the University of South Wales.

Whether you use the analogy of a strong wind blowing in from the Sahara, a tide relentlessly crossing the Mediterranean or a powerful new current flowing down the Nile, there is definitely something flowing into Egypt – a new game taking root in the land of one of the world’s oldest civilisations

Professor Mohammed Hashem from the American University in Cairo takes up the story. “Yes, AFL is alive and well here in Egypt thanks to our fantastic university and our great team. Egypt is rich in sports culture and the two predominant sports here are soccer and of course handball which the Egyptians are very good at on an international level.”

(Pyramids Picture Credit -www.mustseeplaces.eu)