After an earlier relationship may have seen the USAFL club Chicago Swans and the AFL's Sydney Swans drift away from each other, they have found each other once again.

The Sydney Swans website reports that: Long-time friend of the Chicago Swans and Sydney reserves coach Jared Crouch said the new affiliation was a relationship that benefitted both clubs. “For them, they want a little bit of support and for us it’s about getting our name and our brand out there and offering any help we can,” he told sydneyswans.com.au.

“(Australian Rules) football is actually pretty big in the US. Other clubs already have affiliations. There are the New York Magpies, the Nashville Kangaroos and Boston play in Melbourne’s colours, so it’s about getting our name and brand on that scene.” As part of the new affiliation, 'Windy City' native and Chicago Swans player Jason Wilhelm visited the Swans headquarters at the SCG last week, and was treated to a guided tour with Crouch.

Good Morning America's viewers were today treated to Jeremy Howe's spectacular mark against Sydney on the weekend as their "Play of the Day".

The USAFL's Nolan Ellis was last night featured on Denver's local news following his selection in the World XVIII squad.

The AFL tells us that the full team will be announced in the next couple of weeks, after final acceptances of invitations from internationally based players.

Australian based players are reportedly progressing well in the selection process with a large number of nominations received, including some players still involved in State trials.

This Saturday sees a big day of footy in Philadelphia.  EAFL rivals Florida, New York and the Baltimore/Washington Eagles will all be in town to take part.  And following on from their successful tour to Chicago last year, the Onatario Australian Football League will again send a team across the border to compete during a bye weekend in their own league.  There will also be a Reserves and a Women's match on the day.

The 2012 Philly Footy Festival as it is known will be played at the Hawk's home ground,  FDR Park.   The match schedule is as follows: 

The USAFL has revealed today on their website that they will have two representatives on the World XVIII team in the Australian Under16 Championships in Sydney this July. 

Brad Heicklen (pictured left) is perhaps not such a big suprise as it was revealed that he would be in the squad back in February.  Heicklin has been working for a number of years on punting and discovered footy through ESPN and subsequently hooked up with the Beachside Sharks in California.  This year he has been playing as an onballer with the club in the SCAFL and the 14 year old shows great promise.  His World XVIII audition tape can be seen below.

Stateside Footy presents its first match of 2012 between the New York Magpies and the Boston Demons  (w/ Lady Demons Highlights). This episode was recorded on location at Ipswich River Park in North Reading, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 28, 2012.

The latest Stateside Footy episode can be view below  "Boston Demons 2011 Year In Review"  looks back at the 2011 Boston Demons Footy season and shares the highlights of the year. The season is recapped game by game, and the standout moments of the year for the Demons and Lady Demons are all shown just as they originally appeared on "Stateside Footy".

The following is a press release from the Sacramento Australian Football Club

May 15, 2012, Sacramento, CA – The Sacramento Australian Football Club (SAFC) is pleased to announce that the men’s and women’s representative teams are now officially named the Sacramento Suns.

The SAFC is excited that the club will now boast both a men’s and women’s, nicknamed the Lady Suns, representative team that will participate in the 2012 USAFL National Tournament to be held in Mason, OH, during the weekend of October 13-14.
 

AFL Canada is the recognized representative organization of Australian Football in Canada and is seeking to fill the Head Coaching position for Canada Northwind, the national representative team for Australian Football. Applications are due no later than June 1, 2012.