The city of Hiroshima, located in western Japan on the main island of Honshu, will forever be etched in history as the first city to be bombed by a nuclear weapon. On August 6th, 1945 the USAAF B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped the device which caused such massive death and destruction.

But since that tragedy the city has become an international symbol of growth and rebuilding, winning the enduring respect of the world to return from such total destruction and become one of Japan’s most beautiful cities.

The oleander is the official flower of the city as a symbol of growth, as it was the first flower to bloom after the disaster. Maybe there could be the spirit of the oleander in the Hiroshima football club as it begins to grow and bloom in this Japanese city of over a million people.

Australian football is back in the beautiful city of Hiroshima. Several years after the inaugural friendly between an Osaka team and an eclectic assortment of eager participants from Hiroshima City, Australian Football has returned. As a city with a very vibrant international community and very strong links with Australia, it is hoped that the team will grow rapidly.

AFL Japan kicked off the 2014 season last on Sunday 20th April in a match where 2013 Top League Premiers, Tokyo Bay Suns defeated the Eastern Hawks by a whopping 110 points. Final score: 21.26 (152) to 5.1 (42).

Anzac weekend saw two matches, Senshu Powers taking on R246 Lions on Saturday 26th while the Tokyo Goannas battled it out with Komazawa Magpies on Sunday.

AFL Japan has undergone some structural changes during the off season, splitting the Top League into two regional leagues. The West League comprises the Osaka Dingoes and the Nagoya Redbacks, whilst the East League is made up of Tokyo Bay Suns, Komazawa Magpies, Senshu Powers, Eastern Hawks, Tokyo Goannas, R246 Lions and for the third year in a row accepted a brand new team, the Poseidons.

Nine teams/clubs is the greatest number of clubs in AFL Japan history and augers well for the growth and development of footy in Japan.

The Tokyo Goannas held their season 2014 Launch on Sunday 6th April with an open training session (including Auskick drills for the kids) at Futkotamagawa riverside to kick the day off then back to the clubhouse at the Hobgoblin at Roppongi for a sausage sizzle and a Goannas Pint and Parma Special washed down with a beer.

Goannas merchandise was on sale and committee members collected player and social membership subscriptions during the day.

The Greater Western Sydney Giants have become the first AFL club to launch on Chinese social media.

 The Giants have created a club account on Weibo, one of the largest social networking sites in the world used by more than 500 million people.

The Giants have teamed up with the Shanghai-based Mailman Group which has created Weibo accounts for some of the biggest sporting clubs in the world including Liverpool and Manchester United.

The Jakarta Bintangs recently featured on Channel 9's Adelaide news, with a focus on the role played by former South Australian policeman Adam Bray.  Possible International Cup opponents of Indonesia would view this with interest.  The locals look to be of slight build but fast and hard at the contest, and a few players displayed good skills (allowing for very slippery conditions).

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Here are a few youtube videos showing some of the coverage AFL India (ARFAI) has secured recently and a presentation to a UN Next Step Conference.

News piece on a Bengali New Channel which was aired for 4 consecutive days and later bought by another Bengali channel and shown on their channel as well.

Bengali article
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Tom Calder, Australian Trade Commissioner in India and also ARFAI President speaking at the UN Next Step Conference on sport for development, organised recently in Delhi by Magic Bus (famous international sports NGO).

Melbourne Football Club is excited to announce China Southern Airlines as a new Platinum Plus Partner in 2014.

The world’s fourth largest airline will become the Club’s second highest commercial partner.

China Southern will become Melbourne Football Club’s presenting membership partner and gain extensive exposure through the Club’s media backdrop, scroll and parapet signage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), digital advertising through the website and extensive match day activations.

Thanks to the Williamstown Football Club for the following story.

 

The Williamstown Football Club is pleased to appoint Jiaming (Jamie) Pi as the club’s Multicultural Advisor. Jamie will be working closely with the club towards the lead up to our Multicultural Community Day on Sunday 13th April and when the club hosts the China National Team at the International Cup in August this year.
 
Jiaming (Jamie) Pi is leading the pack with diversity in footy. Jamie first came to Australia as a 13 year old with his parents from the far North Western corner of China. After falling in love with the game of Aussie Rules in  the school yard, Jamie used our great game to learn English and settle into Australia.

Mickey Randall writes for The Footy Almanac - a great piece written around the modern international world of Auskick on Australia day with the Singapore Sharks and taking Mickey back to his own junior days in Kapunda, South Australia.

The following article was written by Kym Morgan, published in Adelaide's Sunday Mail and is reproduced below.

SOME arrive without boots.

Others are slightly weary after having travelled six hours just to be there.

But every member of the Jakarta Bintangs Aussie Rules team beams with excitement - and tonight is only training.

"The level of enthusiasm and the love these kids have for Australian Rules is pretty phenomenal,'' team coach and Adelaide expat Adam Bray says.

Bray moved to Indonesia with his wife 18 months ago and, as a former amateur level player in Adelaide, decided to join the Bintangs to stay involved in footy.

Today, he finds himself not only coaching the Bintangs but helping drive the growth of AFL among 12-23-year-old Indonesians.