The Atlanta Kooaburras have cemented their club as legends of the South Eastern Australian Football League in the United States, winning an incredible four premierships in a row.
The first ever game of Australian Rules football played in the United States, at least in the "modern era", was between the Cincinnati Dockers and Louisville Cats, in 1996. In less than a decade the sport has spread to all corners of the country, with thousands of players competing. Alas Louisville went into recess a couple of years ago, but plans are underway to re-form this historic club.
Australian Rules football continues to grow steadily in the United States. Unlike many top American sports, Aussie Rules does not have a strong college presence. However several colleges have taken on the game, and September sees an exciting new phase for the sport, with the Inaugural Collegiate Invitational. This may well be the springboard needed to accelerate football's growth in universities throughout the US.
We recently reported on the Denver Bulldogs staging a demonstration of Australian Rules football at half time of a big soccer match. We also mentioned an upcoming Vancouver Cougars demo at a Canadian Football League match - by all accounts it was a great success.
The Western Regionals are being held in San Diego this weekend. This is the second leg of the series, to help determine seedings for the United States AFL 2004 Nationals, to be held in Atlanta in October. With each of the attending five teams playing against every other team once, the Regional should be a fair measure of the relative strengths of the teams. The draw follows.
West Coast USA was slower to take to Australian football, then it looked like it might outshine the East. Now the game is at the crossroads in the giant state of California - will it hit rock bottom or is the sky the limit?