AFL Europe has announced that the European squad to take on the AIS-AFL Academy team in London during Easter on April 23rd will be known as the European Legion.

The title results from a poll conducted on their website, narrowly beating the Titans and Stars.

The elite young academy players will also visit Italy and Turkey during their tour. See AIS-AFL Academy to tour Europe in 2011 for more details.

The European Legion will be composed mainly of U-21 Players from the various European Leagues with a limited number of U-23 players to add senior experience. The team will be coached by former Melbourne Player and AFL Europe Commissioner Glenn Lovett. For those interested in having players considered for selection or for players interested in finding out the selection criteria you can e-mail team.manager@afleurope.org.

An AFL delegation, led by former Adelaide Crows champion Andrew McLeod, has addressed a United Nations forum on racism in sport. Andrew McLeod, a dual Norm Smith Medalist and premiership player, and the AFL’s National Community Engagement Manager Jason Mifsud spoke at the forum on `Combating Racism in Sport’ at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva on Australia Day.

The following is a transcript of Andrew McLeod’s address.

The Hull Mariners are one of England's newest Aussie rules clubs, and in addition to kicking off senior football in the town, the club is getting straight into junior development.

As part of the growth of Hull Mariners Australian Rules FC, Development officers Dan Beardshaw and Carl Hagar have being working hard to lay down firm roots within the local schools throughout the city of Hull.

“After initially contacting P.E. staff throughout the city, we were happy that we had the interest to put together our own school system, one that would suit anybody who wants to take the field," says Hagar.

“Whilst many players are happy to just play for their school, some may want to try and test themselves and play at a higher level and we want to give them the opportunity to not only represent their school, but the local community as well."

An AFL delegation, led by former Adelaide Crows champion Andrew McLeod, has been invited to address a forum on racism in sport at the United Nations in Geneva on Australia Day. The high level, interactive panel discussion on `Combating Racism Through Sport’ will be held next Wednesday, January 26, at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Panelists will include dual Norm Smith medalist and Adelaide premiership player Andrew McLeod, the AFL’s National Community Engagement Manager Jason Mifsud, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda Andrew McLeod joined the AFL as Community Engagement and Talent Co-ordinator and coach of the Flying Boomerangs in 2010 after a career spanning 340 games and two premierships with the Adelaide Crows. He is also a member of the Australian Football Indigenous Team of the Century.

The Croatian Knights are seeking sponsors for their 2011 International Cup campaign, with team manager Kolja Koracak currently rating his team only about a 25% chance to be able to attend.

"We never had big sponsors, but now we have none. We would stay with people in the Croatian community in Sydney and Melbourne, but have no funds for travel expenses, as most of my players are students, or recent graduates still unemployed," says Koracak.

There are about 40 active players in Croatia, although Koracak says that selection will be made mainly by who can travel. "There are 7 guys that will go no matter what, even if Croatia doesn't field a team they'll come to watch. And there are 10 guys that can go for sure if travel expenses get covered. We also plan to find few Croatian blokes in Australia that fit the criteria of eligibility," Koracak says.

The coaching panel is led by head coach Adam Loncar and assistant coach Josip Kravar, both of whom led the Knights at the European Championships and Euro Cup last year. Added are Josip Josipovic as a conditioning coach and Matija Mamic.

Croatia has been one of European footy newer power sides, performing strongly at the EU Cup and making their full-field footy debut at the European Championships in 2010. There has also been some strong domestic growth, with a fourth local club aligned with the West Coast Eagles to join the Zagreb Hawks, Agram Power and Velika Gorica Bombers in 2011.

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.

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.