The readers of USFootyNews.com have chosen the 2009 Coopers Goal and Mark of the Year. Congratulations to Seattle and Portland's Martin Coventry on kicking the Goal of the Year and to Calgary's Dane Rolfe for taking the Mark of the Year.

Portland Power and Seattle Grizzly, Martin Coventry, took out the 2009 Coopers Brewery USFootyNews.com Goal of the Year. Thanks to all the USFootyNews.com readers, Portland and Seattle fans for voting! Thanks also to Coopers Brewery for providing the prizes.

Although Coventry's huge kick in the 2009 USFooty National Championship was not enough to win the National Championship, it did win Goal of the Year. The kick beat out a lovely pocket snap by Revo and Baltimore Washington Eagle RJ Wheelock and a nice left footer from OC Bomber Colter Alison.

The US Revolution kicked off their 2010 season with a winter camp in Austin, Texas. New head coach, Matt Bishop, was keen to get the team together with a series of camps throughout the year culminating with the big game against the Canadian Northwind in Toronto in early August.

There were a number of new faces looking to impress the Revo coaching staff, including Minnesota's big man, Andrew Werner. Werner spent much of 2009 playing footy in the Western Australian country leagues and is looking forward to contributing to the Revos.

The Cincinnati Dockers, two-time defending USAFL Division 4 National Champions, have announced their schedule for the 2010 season.

They will kick off the season on the road at the John Harrell Memorial Cup Tournament in Louisville, KY on May 8th, play at home twice in a 7-match schedule, then return to Louisville in October for the 2010 USAFL Championships.

Based in Fairfield, Ohio and established in 1996, the Dockers are the oldest footy club of its kind in the United States. The match scheduled for September 25th this year between the Dockers and Kentucky's Louisville Kings will be the 14th anniversary of the first-ever Australian Rules Football match between two US teams.

AFANA have given us details of how the North American TV coverage of AFL matches is shaping up for the 2010 season. Firstly there is no NAB Cup coverage. The primary US coverage will be via internet broadband on ESPN360.com. This is free if your ISP has a deal with ESPN [about 50% of US homes] or if you live on a university campus or US military base. AFANA have coverage schedules for virtually the entire AFL season and will be posting those soon.

Round 1 will have Richmond v Carlton, Geelong v Essendon and Western Bulldogs v Collingwood live. Three matches live per round for the balance of the AFL season.

ESPN360 will change names on 4 April to ESPN3 but otherwise remain the same just with an upgraded web page. ESPN2, a broadcast outlet, will carry 4 AFL matches during the course of the season including the Grand Final (live). The first match will be the Round 15 Geelong v Hawthorn match on a delayed basis. Two more will be selected at a later date.

Over recent years, the AFL Queensland's various divisions have seen the likes of Canada's Scott Fleming, Sweden's Mattias Ewald and too many PNG youngsters to mention. Additionally, it has seen the lrish players such as Colm Begley and Pearce Hanley running around for the Brisbane Lions' reserves team.

The latest international to join the list is Bryan Dragus, a big American who, after one season with the Golden Gate Roos representative side and the GGAFL's Marin Mavericks, joins the Western Magpies - a club based on the west side of Brisbane.

The following story is courtesy of the Western Magpies.

The Western Magpies have signed 24 year old Bryan Dragus from Los Angeles California. Following his first training session for the club on Monday Night after arriving on Saturday the Magpies will be including the 198cm 98kg American on its 2010 QAFL Senior List.

He was identified by former Sherwood player Leigh Barnes who is involved the Golden Gate Roos who Dragus played for last season in the US. Former Western Magpies president Matt Vowles saw Dragus play for the Roos while on holidays in the States last year and came back spruiking about his raw talent and ability to club officials.

The USAFL has announced the 14th Annual National Championships will be held in Louisville Kentucky over the weekend of October 9th-10th, 2010.

While this may not be news to some (close readers of the USFooty website in 2009 would have seen that Louisville would host the tournament again), today's announcement has confirmed it as fact.

While there will be some, particularly those geographically distant to Louisville that would have hoped for a new location after playing there in 2007, there is also the positive certainty of returning to a venue that has previously sucessfully hosted the event which continues to grow.

Further details from the announcement can be read below.

While back in the US over the Christmas break in Collingwood's pre-season training, Shae McNamara appeared on breakfast television show "The Morning Blend" in Milwaukee. The host's reference to the Collingwood Mudpies is sure to upset a few fans of the Carringbush. Shae was very keen to see the sport promoted in the United States. A little free press on home soil is always welcomed by the USAFL and Shae comes across as a pretty good salesman.

The interview video can be watched here.

While clubs across Australia are into their preseason training in temperatures that today in many places are above 40°C, much of Europe and North America are in the deep freeze. Embracing that cold this weekend were the Columbus Jackaroos. The chilling event was covered in the following report by Chet Ridenour.


Columbus, OH – After a week of the biggest and most consistent snow falls of the season, the Columbus Jackaroos were keen as mustard to lace up their boots (literally), and have a rumble in the white, wintry tundra. Emerging from their warmed cars, dressed in plenty of layers, leaving only their rosy red faces exposed – a stark contrast to the abundance of skin shown in traditional attire – they stumbled in for an 11 am Saturday morning match. With about six inches of untouched powder on the local Thomas Worthington High School football field, these blokes, dressed in red and blue would square off in perhaps one of the most fun traditions yet for this young club, the Second Annual SNOW BOWL.

Women's Australian football is on the rise in Canada. It started as a co-ed programme in 2003, and then a school girls clinic in 2004 culminating in the first ever all-female footy match played in Canada. Now momentum is building for an epic rematch against the USA Freedom team.

The Toronto Rebels AFC in Canada are looking for a new coach and players for their 21st season in 2010. The Rebels are one of the most accomplished teams in the Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL) and, in 2009, the club celebrated its 20th season of football.

The role of Coach would run from April through to October with approximately a 14 round season consisting of one game and two training sessions per week. The Coach will be ably assisted by an Assistant Coach and captain that will be selected by the executive comittee and coach.

See below for more information.