The Under 15 players in cairns competing in the National Diversity Championships certainly present an amazing spread of heritage and culture. Whilst the Kickstart squad is comprised of players with indigenous Australian backgrounds, the All nations squad has the criteria that one or both parents had to be born overseas (or the player themselves) to qualify.

On that criteria, the spread of multicultural talent is quite astonishing, and a pointer to the future uptake of Australian Rules football.

Throughout a series of interviews conducted at the championships, accompanied by information provided in the official record booklet, the list includes (but is not limited to):

Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), South Korea, Cambodia, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, France, Sudan, Congo, Lebanon, South Africa, Burundi, Cameroon, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Samoa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, England, Egypt.

 

AFL Round 3 kicks off with Collingwood hosting St Kilda at the MCG in Melbourne Friday night.

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au.

The broadcast schedule for this round can be seen below.

 

 

It starts today. My new role as an AFL Multicultural Community Ambassador for 2015 kicks off with the opening ceremony and function here in Cairns to kick of the AFL Diversity Cup. Bought forward a little as my induction is not until next week, but footy won’t wait. Being a resident of Cairns I am front and centre for this carnival, living five minutes from Cazalys Stadium, it makes sense to start today.

The five days of gladiatorial combat between the state Kickstart indigenous teams will be a brilliant showcase of future talent. The best talent on show will make their way into the Flying Boomerangs national indigenous team or the World Team programs. To be present helping the AFL with various media roles will be an honour and a great way to start twelve months as an ambassador and try to initiate ideas, projects and programs which may assist the multicultural growth of the game here in Far North Queensland and maybe beyond.

 

AFL Round 2 kicks off tonight in Perth with West Coast Eagles hosting Carlton.

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au.

The broadcast schedule for this round can be seen below.

 

 

 

AFL footy is officially back in Melbourne on Thursday night.  The season opener is Richmond vs Carlton at the MCG.

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au.

The broadcast schedule can be seen below.

 

 

The NAB Challenge winds up in this fourth week, matches beginning  on Thursday night with Hawthorn taking on St Kilda at Docklands stadium.

We bring you the international broadcast schedule for these matches (below). 

The NAB Challenge heads into week three on Thursday night starting with Geelong vs Adelaide at Simonds Stadium in Geelong .

We bring you the international broadcast schedule (below). 

The NAB Challenge will move into week two Thursday night (Perth time) at Fremantle Oval in Western Australia where Fremantle will host Melbourne.

We bring you the international broadcast schedule (below).  GWS vs Suns and Port Adelaide vs West Coast will not be telecast internationally on the television networks. 

The AFL this week announced that Australia Plus has assumed the rights to broadcast matches in the Asia/Pacific region from Australia Network.  The announcement follows and appears to be a broadening of the audience.  We would like to hear from our Asia/Pacific readers how this is likely to affect them by posting a comment below.

Under the new arrangement that covers key markets across the Asia/Pacific region, Australia Plus will broadcast six matches per week during the Toyota AFL Premiership season, along with all matches in the Toyota AFL Finals Series. It will also broadcast a weekly highlights program across 28 weeks.

The following article written by Jon Ralph at the Herald Sun looks at the possibility of a new national AFL competition for women as early as 2017. The extraordinary rise in numbers for the women’s game nationally certainly warrants an extension of existing pathways for women to follow.

 

Here in Cairns I have had the pleasure of coaching some tremendously talented young women. Some have continued with existing pathways and opportunities, whilst others have sadly left the game. To have the ability to aspire to a national level will see more women remain in the game and pursue a broader dream.

 

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has set in train ambitious plans for a national women’s football competition as early as 2017.

 

Women’s football is taking off in Victoria, with 52 senior women’s teams in seven divisions and plans for massive expansion in coming years.