No, the Revolution aren't backing down (that's never likely), but the USAFL has held their 2008 Board Retreat, where their committee members review the organisation and plan for the future.

Some of their key aims include 10,000 participants in the next 10 years, to be the best run amateur Australian football league in the world, including Australia, and to re-invest in umpiring, player development, women’s footy and the Revolution.

Some of those are lofty goals and all are worthwhile, though a couple are somewhat subjective and so open to interpretation. For example, does 10,000 include students briefly exposed to the game in school? As USFootyKids rolls out, that could be achieved within a couple of years. Similarly it's difficult to measure whether an organisation is the best run. Nevertheless, goal setting is an important tool and it certainly seems as though the USAFL administration is becoming better each year, building on past lessons and steadily growing their network of support. At the top level, the sport in America has been remarkably stable given the geographic spread and diversity of opinions. And of course on-field, the Revolution will most likely go into the third International Cup amongst the favourites. The summary of the retreat, courtesy of the USAFL, follows.

Vancouver junior Scott Fleming has been true to his word and followed his Aussie Rules dream to Australia, arriving on the Gold Coast and scoring a try out with strong AFL Queensland side Broadbeach. We've followed Scott's plans for several years now so it's encouraging to see the talented product of the North Delta Junior AFL getting his chance Down Under.

For the first time since 2004 the Mid American Football League will have a new kid on the block as the Championship competition returns to a 6 team deal and a revised schedule. Minnesota Freeze after their Division II victory in USAFL Nationals last year have made their next step towards being the best team in the land by upping their commitment to playing in the top MAAFL schedule. This means they will square off against Chicago United, St Louis Blues, Milwaukee Bombers and Nashville Kangaroos.

The sixth team in the MAAFL draw this year is Cincinnati who in another first will team up with their friends the Louisville Kings to play road games in the MAAFL. This undoubtedly is uncharted territory for both teams and the MAAFL and sure to be worth keeping an eye on through 2008.

The MAAFL welcome in the new year with a remodelled website that has all the contact details of all clubs, latest news and will bring the latest scores and stats as games are played in 2008. Check it out at www.midfooty.com.

Report courtesy of Wayne Kraska at USFootyNews.

The Ontario AFL (check out their new website) has appointed Emile Studham as its Director of Marketing and Game Development, their second full time employee. Emile has a long history of success with Australian Football in Canada, including a track record in junior development that the League is keen to revive.

Emile Studham has been associated with the Ontario AFL and the Northwind program since he first played for the Toronto Dingoes in 2001. During that year, he won the League Best & Fairest award, returning to Australia in the middle of the season due to player commitments in his home town of Wonthaggi. But it turned out that his association with footy in Canada had only just begun.

On Friday February 8th USFooty held its first ever press conference to announce the 2008 USFooty National Tournament in Colorado Springs, CO. USFooty bills the tournament as the largest Australian Football Carnival in the world. While an early to mid October date is expected, USFooty is waiting on Air Force and the Mountain West Conference to announce the 2008 football schedule. The tournament will be played on the lush grounds of the Academy's vast Cadet Athletic Fields.

USFooty's announcement was reported in the local press and on the AP wire, as follows.

If there was an official International Footy Mark of the Year, former Canada AFL President and Northwind stalwart, Bruce Parker, would vie for the 2007 title (we'd love to see other contenders that are better). The mark was taken during the Northwind's inaugural win over the Revolution. The game was played in front of a few thousand fans at Vancouver's Thunderbird Stadium in August last year. A shame the video wasn't zoomed in, but the audio is great to hear - the classic roar of a footy crowd.

Bruce Parker's mark

Related earlier stories: Northwind blows over Revos and Central Blues boost OAFL.

In what could be a major boost for US Footy, Michael Johns (also known as Mike Lee), a past player at the Atlanta Kookaburras, has made it to the top 24 contestants in season seven of American Idol.

It seems that the 29 year old's talents extend beyond the footy field.

Singing the Queen classic Bohemian Rhapsody at his San Diego audition, Johns has been one of the more popular contestants so far in this year's series. A YouTube video of his American Idol audition has over 130,000 views.

Johns, who moved from Perth in Western Australia to the USA at the age of 18, last played Aussie Rules for Atlanta between 2001-2002, kicking 24 goals from Centre Half Forward. He stopped playing to concentrate on his burgeoning music career. His American Idol performances and popularity may not only put his footy further on hold, but could bring the USAFL and Australian rules football much needed media exposure in the USA (where Aussie Rules is still frequenty confused with rugby) and indeed around the world.

The show is watched by over 37 million Americans. In Australia, American Idol is being screened exclusively on Foxtel, and Michael Johns continuing in the competition could also prove a big hit for the pay-tv network here.

The story has featured prominently in Perth media. Perth Now published the stories WA singer on American Idol and Michael Johns in top 24 on American Idol and news.com.au also featured the story Can Michael Johns be the first true blue American Idol ?.

Last year the United States Australian Football League celebrated 10 years of Australian Football, and one gesture to mark the occasion was the naming of the USAFL’s Team of the Decade. The team was named under USFooty’s 50/50 (American/Australian) rule with former AFL star John Ironmonger named in the forward pocket and former Collingwood/Brisbane player Cameron Trickey O’Brien named at Center Half Back. Other notable players included former Revolution stand out and Denver’s National Championship coach, Tom Ellis, who was named on the back flank, and West Perth’s American imports Jared and James Brunmeier who were named on the wing and the forward flank respectively. Aussie James “Pato” Patterson was named in the Center, and we recently caught up for a chat.

USFooty got at great write up for the 2008 National Championships last Friday in the paper local to where the event will be held. The Colorado Springs Independent ran the article following the USAFL’s launch and media briefing in Colorado Springs last week at The Penrose House. It explains why the date has not yet been locked in and throws in some nice self deprecating humor about their own town, which shows how in tune the locals already may be with the Aussie wavelength.

The tournament will be held at the Cadet Athletic Fields at the United States Air Force Academy, with the final date to be announced following the release of the Air Force Football schedule in March. The event will fall on either the second or third weekend in October, opposite a home USAFA home game.

The full article text can be found here.

The 2008 footy season is starting to get underway across the US (particularly in the warmer parts). The Arizona AFL kicks off their league this Saturday 16th Feb at McQueen Park in Gilbert. The metro league is made up of three teams selected at last week’s preseason draft. The teams this year will be the Marshals captained by Darren Toohey, the Devils captained by Adam Smark and appearing for the first time and playing in the Arizona Hawks strips are the Kingsnakes, captained by Joe Swierupski. The season opener will be between the Marshals and the Devils.