Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph has reported that the Sydney Swans have signed Patrick Mitchell, one of the three athletes to come out of the AFL's US combine earlier this year.

The three athletes trialled at the Swans and in front of other AFL clubs in June. Swans' head of recruiting told the Telegraph "The other two were impressive as well, but we felt the thing with Patrick was he was going to give it absolutely 100 per cent."

Beatson's opinion on whether he would make an AFL footballer "Is there a guarantee Patrick is going to make it? No, there's not. But we're going to give him a go and provide him with the resources to give him a realistic chance of making it."

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This weekend's international match in Edmonton between Canada's Northwind and the US Revolution will be streamed live.

The event will be be broadcast live from 10:00am on Youtube @ http://www.youtube.com/edmausfc with streaming commentary and video of the games.

 

Broadcast Schedule

10:00 am MDT (GMT-6hrs) 
Canada's Northern Lights versus USA Liberty 
 (Women's Development match)

12:00pm MDT (GMT-6hrs)
Canada's Northwind versus USA Revolution 
(Men's Development match)

2:00pm MDT (GMT-6hrs)
Canada's Northern Lights versus USA Freedom
(Women's Championship match)

4:00pm MDT (GMT-6hrs)
Canada's Northwind versus USA Revolution
(Men's Championship match)

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This weekend international Australian football in north America will be highlighted as Canada and the United States compete in the 49th Parallel Cup on Canadian soil in Edmonton.

The Canadian national team, the Northwind, has been working hard since January for this game. The coaching staff feel they have one of their best teams, one which has been built around a group of players working hard to become solid unit. There is a belief amongst the squad that they can beat any team they face

Over the past year the Canadian team has been focusing on improving their skill sets and football knowledge, key areas in which Canadian national coach, Benjamin Roberts, believes will make this one of Canada’s most competitive teams.

GSCN will last week provided a live stream of the USAFL match between the Columbus Jackaroos and the Nashville Kangaroos. You can now hear the audio on demand at this link - http://www.gemcitysports.com/7132013-columbus-vs-nashville-australian-football/

 

 

Mike McFarlane tells the story of his dad and his cousin playing kick to kick for hours down in Port Melbourne. Nothing out of the ordinary there, until he hits you with the news that the cousin was none other than Bob Skilton: three time Brownlow Medallist, South Melbourne superstar and legend of the game. It is now easier to sense that those Skilton genes have something to do with this remarkable story out of British Columbia, Canada.

“Bob Skilton is my second cousin and grew up with my father in Port Melbourne. My dad often told us stories of going to the park with Bob to kick footies for hours at a time. We have met him a few times and I think he is proud that relatives of his have had some success in footy even though it is in a different country. My daughter, wife and I are huge Swans fans and this is not only because they wear the Canadian colors, red and white but also because of our proud family connection to the Swans!”

That lineage has just produced another great feat with the selection of Hanna McFarlane, the daughter of Mike (and that would be niece of Bob) to represent Canada in the Northern Lights women’s national team in the upcoming Parallel Cup against the USA Freedom.

Tara Salmon never considered playing football back in Wagga but after moving to San Francisco in 2011, she joined a local footy team, the Iron Maidens, to meet people in her new city.

Two years later she is one of the top players in the country and is on her way to the Parallel Cup to represent the USA Freedom when they play their annual match against the Northern Lights. If she impresses the coaches, she might even be on her way back to Australia to play in the International Cup.

The Iron Maidens play in San Francisco’s Golden Gate League and play regular metro and interstate games. Though there are many women who are new to the game, Salmon isn’t the first Golden Girl to break through to the top. Golden Gate Roos’ player Jessica Estrada is also a Freedom regular and represented her country in the 2011 International Cup.

More information on Salmon’s story and her time at the USA Freedom’s training camp can be found here.