The USAFL has announced their hunt for a new national team coach is over.  Tom Ellis, former Denver Bulldogs captain and US Revolution team captain has been given the nod.  He takes over the position from Matt Bishop who coached the Revo’s at IC11 and IC14 (and the years in between).

Ellis has coached the Revolution once before, in LA against a team of Australians that play in the USAFL back in 2007.  But this time around he is set for to coach at least a full International Cup cycle.  It would come as no surprise to those that know Ellis that he would one day coach the USA in international competition given his long time commitment to the game and passion for the Revo’s continual push to make it to the top of the International Cup tree.

Last Weekend’s Games: USAFL Week 7
This past weekend, there were two scheduled tourneys plus the Atlanta vs. Baton Rouge full game. There was a last minute addition and a postponement…the addition was Seattle vs. BC Eagles outside of Seattle, but the postponement was in Houston. The first round of the Texas Cup was postponed due to 11 inches of rain in a week in Houston that made Veterans Park unplayable.

Just 3 years ago, Houston and the state of Texas was in a Stage 3 Drought. Now, they have received 11-17 inches of rain during the month of May, including at the USAFL Nationals HQ in Austin, where the league will be in just 5 months from now.

The Texas Cup Round 1 has been rescheduled for a week from Saturday, 30 May. With that, here’s a recap of last weekend’s games, including extended tournament coverage of the Harrell Cup.
 

Alex Aurrichio made another important step forward this evening when he was named in the Northern Blues VFL senior squad for this week. Aurrichio who played with the USAFL National Championship winning New York Magpies last season, has impressed in the first five rounds of the VFL Development League in 2015.

The Development league is mostly made up of younger players around average age of 20. Aurrichio playing mostly in the ruck is a little older at 25 and but in terms of his footy experience is a long way behind most of his team mates and opponents. So his learning curve has been steep and his application impressive. His 198cm, 105kg frame is not huge by AFL standards but in the VFL Development league is on the larger side. At VFL senior level he will be playing against more players used to handling opponents of his size.

Last week, we had a number of teams playing games in three cities: Toronto, Des Moines and Seattle. The match between Columbus and Toronto was cancelled.

Montreal Women’s Tournament

The Montreal Women’s Tournament, (also included a men’s game with the Quebec Saints take on the Boston Demons).

The New York ladies took on the Quebec ladies.

Game 1: New York 1.6.12 Hamilton 0.2.2
Game 2: New York 5.13.43 Toronto 3.2.20

.
 

Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report brings us the latest news from US footy.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day here in the USA, we wish all mothers around the world a Happy Mother’s Day.
 

USAFL Revolution Training Coming To Nashville
As of yesterday evening, it was announced on the USAFL website that the USA Revolution team will have their Training Camp being held in Nashville, most likely at the home grounds of Elmington Field at Vanderbilt and Ted Rhodes Park at Metrocenter. The dates are 6 and 7 June 2015 as they prepare for the Parallel Cup in August.

The 2015 AFL US Combine in Brandton, Florida has wrapped up after three days of testing the tallest crop of American athletes so far.  Well mostly American.  The tallest John Crnogorac is from Sydney.  He would not be an international rookie as such if listed by an AFL club but a Category B Rookie (and not the first basketballer to be speculatively listed as such by an AFL club).  Crnogorac also would come with some Aussie rules knowledge (even as an NRL fan) and without the need to adjust to life in Australia. He has been playing college basketball in the US.

Jalen Carethers would seem to be the obvious choice for the AFL clubs that attended the Combine to select to come to the Australian draft Combine in October, or even earlier ala Mason Cox in 2014.  If for no other reason than his surname Daquan Holiday could be another selected to make the trip.

 Picture from @BradAmes14 on Twitter

Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report wraps up the USAFL ANZAC Round matches from this past weekend.

Cincinatti Metro postponed

The Cincinnati Dockers, the Louisville Kings and the Indianapolis Giants were set for a Metro tripleheader last weekend but the tournament was postponed because of a major severe tornado threat and nearly 4 inches of rain had deluged Point Pleasant Park in Cincinnati. These games will be rescheduled at a later date.

The following list of ANZAC Day commemorations across the USA is thanks to the USAFL -the original article appears here.

100 years ago, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, better known as the ANZACs, fought against enemy forces in the Battle of Gallipoli. The bravery and sacrifice of the men who fought that battle in 1915, and every man and woman who has served afterwards, are remembered and commemorated every April 25th.

Though ANZAC Day is an occasion of solemn reflection and gratitude to for those who have dedicated their lives defending Australia, it is a also a celebration of the identity of her people that was forged over a century ago and that continues to grow and thrive into the future.

Australians everywhere will be marking ANZAC Day 2015 in a variety of different ways, and the US is no exception. From memorial services to games of 2-up to watch parties for the always enormous Bombers-Magpies game from the MCG, here is a look at what's going on this weekend:

Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report recaps the weekends matches and provides his latest USAFL Standings table (with comparison to the new USAFL rankings poll). He also looks at the matches ahead for the weekend, tells us about his personal Road to Austin walk and previews his Youtube streaming show for this week.

 USAFL Last Weekend

What can I say about the Eastern Regional Weekend except…”Expect the Unexpected…” 2 Upsets and the USAFLWR standings are turned on its head, including the USAFL Top 20 as well. Here’s how the weekend’s games went:

Eastern Regional Tournament: Fort Lauderdale

Game #1: North Carolina 4.1.25 New York 10.8.68
Game #2: Fort Lauderdale 6.7.43 New York 2.6.18
Game #3: Fort Lauderdale 7.6.48 North Carolina 3.7.25

The United States Australian Football League officially got the 2015 season under way this past weekend with the Eastern regional tournament being held at the Central Broward Park Cricket Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  2015 will see a full slate of regional (Eastern, Central and Western) tournaments held across the league; these events, and a new USAFL poll-ranking system, will help determine divisional seeding at the National Championships in Austin, Texas later this year.

While three teams (#1 New York Magpies, North Carolina Tigers and the #20 Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids) competed as full units, numerous players from other squads made the journey down to sunny Florida for an April footy-cation.  With two 2014 national champion sides in attendance, the stage was set for a wonderful day of Aussie Rules, with sunscreen and hydration the order of the day. 

Match results of the day surprised many observers of the USAFL.