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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.

WSMV Channel 4

In October, over a hundred of Canada’s best women’s Australian Rules Football players will be in the nation’s capital to fight for the national championship title.

AFL Ontario club, the Ottawa Swans Australian Football Club, has won the bid to host the 2013 Women’s Canadian National Championships Oct. 11 to 13.

Australian Rules Football, also known as AFL or footy, is played widely in Australia through professional and recreational leagues. Internationally, especially on the women’s side, the sport has been rapidly growing.

“To say the team is excited is an understatement,” said Swans captain Lisa Dalla Rosa. “Knowing that this October we will be playing on our field, with our club, sponsors and city cheering us on will be great motivation not only for the tournament but for the up-coming season as well.  We cannot wait to host players from across Canada.  This is fantastic for women's footy in the capital."

The Ottawa Swans Australian Football Club was formed in 2006 by a group of Australian expats, and became a member of AFL Ontario and AFL Canada in 2007. The club has adopted the same name as the professional AFL club the Sydney Swans.

Both women’s and men’s teams play in the Ontario AFL, playing at home at the Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa and travelling to Toronto to face competition.

Our thanks to Chris Adams for the following submission (and for all his efforts in footy development) .

Saturday Morning Footy began in Washington DC in 2006 and over that time has counted among its moms and dads, NFL players, AFL players, NBL players, IMF executive board members, US cabinet secretaries, congressional staffers, journalists, and authors. The program has also provided a home-away-from-home for Australian military and foreign affairs personnel and their families while they are in the Washington DC area. Big shout out to the F-35!

In celebration of 4 years of Stateside Footy TV, the USAFL have released an article on their website commemorating the work put in by the show’s legendary commentator and producer, Bill Robert.

SSFTV started filming USAFL games in July 2010 and aired their first episode a month later in August. The 4th season of the show is due to be aired from next month. To date, 40 episodes have been filmed and the show has been aired on 81 public access channels across 21 states, and has been viewed online by over 20,000 fans.

For a quick fix of “Australian made, American played”, take a look at the show’s flashy new USAFL promotion video which will feature during breaks in the 2013 show.

For more information on Bill Robert’s contributions to the game in the USA, please read the original article written by Boston Demon and USAFL VP Mike Sheppard.

Alberta is a province in Western Canada that is in the encouraging position of having two cities hosting Australian Football clubs. The following article is from Jason Arnold and Chantal Spindler of the men’s and women’s teams who report on the interesting formation, proud achievements and exciting developments of the Edmonton Australian Football Club.

It’s been an active off season for the Edmonton Australian Football Club.  The club’s teams, the Edmonton Emus (women’s) and the Edmonton Wombats (men’s) haven’t let the long winter slow them down.  They’ve been conducting weekly training sessions, since mid-October.  Significant recruitment efforts have seen the EAFC double their numbers and record a constant 40+ at training.

The club was established as the ‘Edmonton Emus’ in 2008 by Tristan Waldock, who coached the women’s team for two years.  The Wombats (men’s) officially joined the following year in 2009, initially led by Hamish Martin, then led by Brad Havin upon Hamish’s return to Australia.  The Edmonton Australian Football Club was then formed.

After much hard work in the off season 2012 was a breakthrough year with the Wombats enjoying successes at the Kelowna Cup (Western Canada’s first tournament of the season, hosting teams from Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton) and being super competitive in the Stampede Cup against Calgary later in the season.  Off the back of great performances by their National reps, the Emus had their first win over the Calgary Kookaburras at the inaugural Capital Cup.