WorldFootyNews.com and USFootyNews.com are teaming up to present the 2008 USFooty Top 10 Poll. To kick things off we are having a Top 10 Countdown for the Preseason Top 10. Who are the best teams in USFooty? Today we start with the club our judges ranked at 10th.

Women's Footy in Canada, at least in western Canada, has grown rapidly and 2008 promises to see the game grow further. This story kindly provided by one of our readers.

Many would be surprised to discover that women's footy is played in Canada at all, let alone that the first game began as a junior girls match between two high schools in British Columbia, St Clements and Bishops Strachan in November 10th, 2004. The mixed junior league, North Delta Junior Football League also began that year.

The "official" USFooty league season kicked off this weekend with the Florida Redbacks travelling to take on the Atlanta Kookaburras. Actually, while many in the country are still kicking the ball around in the snow, down south footy is already underway. In Atlanta they have been playing and practicing since February. The AARFL season is already into Round 3 with the Midtown Bombers dominating the Clairmont Loungers and the Roswell Rebels. At the International level, the Revos have had their first two practice sessions including a hit out against the Kookaburras a few weeks ago. In Florida they have been playing and practicing since Nationals.

The Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL) has launched its new league website.

As local and international interest in the league is rapidly growing, the website has had a major overhaul and redesign to assist with promoting Australian football on Canadian soil.

Click on the following link to experience the new website.

www.ontariofooty.com

This time, however, it isn't Ben Cousins or under controversial circumstances (as reported earlier in AFL stars a hit with US blogs). Instead, it is none other than USAFL star turned American Idol singer Michael Johns featuring on US blog TMZ.com.

TMZ is rated by many to be the #1 online celebrity gossip rag in the world and attracts a massive audience.

Following up our previous story "Could a former USAFL player be the next American Idol ?", Johns is still very much in the running and after several strong performances is tipped by many to win the competition.

The TMZ article, called "Idol" Michael Johns: Big Ballin' includes a photo of the American Idol contestant flying in a marking contest and makes a very strong connection between the popular singer and Aussie Rules. The article describes his performance for the Atlanta Kookaburras in one game "the equivalent of 6 or 7 touchdowns".

This level of exposure will surely have flow-on benefits for the USAFL, but Johns is still yet to acknowledge his participation in the sport on the hit TV show.

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.