As revealed in January, Melbourne (and surrounding) schools have been in talks to host an International Cup match in August.  This will happen in the second round of the tournament, known as the 'Schools Round' on August 9th.

Mount Clear College and St Patrick’s College have been successful in their respective bids, which will see matches played in the city as part of the series during August.

AFL’s head of community and international development Grant Williams said for the first time in 2017, the carnival will include a school round, where matches will be played at venues across Victoria.

With one of the longest selection processes amongst the IC nations, the USA has named their national team to represent them in Australian football at the 2017 International Cup in Melbourne this August.  Following a final camp last weekend in Texas where 50 players pushed their case for the trip to Australia in three months time the final 30 have been announced.

There are plenty of names that will be familiar to IC watchers and plenty of new talent too.

The final squad is as follows

 

The Nauru Chiefs have named their final 30-man squad for the 2017 AFL International Cup to be held in Melbourne from August 5th.  Fourteen returning members of the IC14 squad such as Yoshi Harris, Trent Depaune, Johnny Dagiaro (this will be Johnny's fourth International Cup) and Kenneth Oppenheimer will give the side some solid experience. 

While there will also be plenty of excitement from newcomers such as Richmond Spanner, Niga Haulangi and Shawnkemp Maaki.

The Chiefs finished seventh at IC14 defeating the USA, Great Britain (twice), Indonesia and losing only to eventual runners up Ireland by 27 points in Bendigo after being just three points down at 3/4 time.  They will be looking to push higher at IC17.

The Chiefs should be feared by all teams that give themselves a realistic chance at the IC17 title as their hard fast football will be complemented by a more thinking game around the stoppages.  Domestically in Nauru the game has probably never been better organised both at senior and junior level I expect this squad will show the benefits of that.

The full squad is: 

The AFL today announced the venues for the Grand Final's for both the men's and women's divisions at the 2017 AFL International Cup to be held in Melbourne from August 5th.

The previous men's final was played at the MCG in 2014 with PNG defeating Ireland. The women's final was played earlier that day with Canada defeating Ireland at Punt Road oval. Details of competing nations and schedules are still being finalised and should be known in the coming weeks.

The full announcement follows.

For the first time in the history of the International Cup, the AFLG are this year sending the German men's national team Down Under to compete for glory.

Footy has had a toehold in Germany since the Frankfurt Redbacks and Munich Kangaroos formed in the 1990s, and the domestic scene has grown over the past 20 years to also involve clubs in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, Freiberg and Dresden, with some clubs also running local metro leagues.

However, until now the Germans only competed at European-based tournaments.

This is set to change in August, with the Eagles naming their initial 23-man squad, with another 5-7 players to be added in the coming weeks.

The European Crusaders team is on a mission. Slava Belov, the founder of the St Petersburg Cats in Russia, is also part of the management team for the European Crusaders for the upcoming IC17 tournament in Melbourne later this year. He is seeking players for the team and is scouring the world in pursuit of those who want to be a part of the honour and excitement.

According to Slava, “we are now gathering players for the Crusaders team for IC17. We want to give a shout to Europeans in Australia or elsewhere in the world who could possibly join the squad with the question “[are you] interested in heading to the AFL International Cup with the European Crusaders IC17?”

The Irish Banshees women’s team has had its initial list of selected players announced. More players will be added to the list in coming months, but for now the squad as it stands has been announced. Following is a release from the ARFLI Facebook page detailing selections to date.

                                               

The management and coaching staff of the Banshees are delighted to announce the updated list of Irish and U.K. based players who have earned their seats on the plane to Melbourne for IC17. 

Great Britain today added 12 more women to their International Cup squad that will play in Melbourne in August. The selections followed the successful camp held in London on the weekend and were announced on the GB Swans Facebook page.

"In association with STA Travel & LWC Drinks Ltd the Great Britain Swans are proud to bring you a new squad announcement. After an exciting selection weekend the Head coach Garth Nevin and assistant coaches Ian Mitchell, Lauren Spark and Chloe Hall are proud to announce 12 more players, who will compete in the AFL International Cup 2017 in Melbourne, Australia, August 2017."

Congratulations to the following players:

We welcome Laura Turner (pictured below) as our newest contributor to World Footy News.  Laura is Captain of the GB Swans and England Vixens and an avid women's football fan.

This weekend 29 Women attended the Great Britain Swans Selection Weekend in London vying for the final 12 squad places for IC17. The trialists were put through their paces on Saturday with a variety of skills drills and the obligatory time trial.

The fastest women through the gates were Lisa Wilson, Danni Saulter, Laura Turner and Rose Lewis. On Sunday both teams played a practise match against a London Allstars team. In blustery conditions, not dissimilar to those the girls will expect in Melbourne the Allstars team ran out winners by 5 points.

With a little over 5 months until the tournament kicks off, International Cup teams continue to shape up with more announcements this week.

 The Irish Banshees this week announced the first four women chosen to represent Ireland at IC17.  Ireland were winners in the first women’s International Cup in 2011 and runners up to Canada in 2014.  The first four named are;

Australian Community Football Operations Manager, Andrew Hughes, told EMTV Sports that the 2014 AFL International Cup Champions, the PNG Mosquitoes, are looking forward to defending their International Cup title.

Hughes said, tournaments will be hosted to make selections for top players to form the final squad, which will go into training in preparations from August 5th to the 19th in Melbourne, Australia.

[youtube:9eLg0JGv3Ck]