World Footy Census
We started the year by publishing our World Footy Census. This showed New Zealand and Papua New Guinea racing away from the other countries in terms of exposing kids to the indigenous Australian game. Also on a steep upward curve were South Africa and in senior numbers the United States were doing well. Rounding out the top ten for total player numbers, besides Australia, were England, Canada, Japan, Nauru, Denmark and Samoa.
North America
In the US the Northeast and Southeast leagues merged to former the US Eastern AFL, a step which should help consolidate growth there. Several new clubs emerged including Bakersfield, Las Vegas and stirrings in Minnesota, while Chicago's two clubs merged to form what should be a powerful franchise in the years ahead. Relatively new club Florida began to show its potential with a strong EAFL showing and fast growth of playing numbers and metro sides in cities around the state. There was also an increasing trend of North American sides playing reduced-number demonstration games at major events such as large soccer and Arena Football matches. The western US clubs continued a somewhat fractured schedule and getting that settled will be important for 2006. Nevertheless Denver stamped their authority as the dominant side in US Footy's short history, with another Nationals Division 1 title. There were also some early promising signs in junior development and efforts to push the game into colleges. In Canada the Vancouver Cougars continued to grow with plans to split into two sides and their junior league expanded further, while the large Ontario league worked on consolidating its numbers, as did the Alberta clubs.
Oceania
On the Pacific islands of Tonga progress was steady with junior development continuing and a young player sent to Victoria on a scholarship. Their year's highlight was a schoolboys tour to Samoa where they lost in a competitive match against the juniors being developed there through a schools program supported by AusAID and the AFL. In New Zealand most of the indicators have been very healthy, with increasing school participation and the new Waikato league getting started, and of course the national team the Falcons having a great year. Unfortunately not all was positive for the region, with the early developments in Fiji being shelved and perhaps the Solomon Islands going the same way.
Asia
Japan maintained its lead as the dominant Asian footy country in terms of developing local players. The new Uni league expands the number of teams and there is plenty happening in Osaka too. The Samurais side won the Narita Cup and came third in the Asian Championships, held in the Philippines for the first time. Expat-based Singapore was too strong for Bali in the final. Alas for the Geckos their Bali-9s tournament later in the year would be cancelled after another terrorist bombing there. Elsewhere in Indonesia the promising junior league set up in Pancawati looks promising, with talk of spreading to Universities and senior competition.
Europe
In Europe the Central European Championships were re-born as a 9-a-side EU Cup, with many of the fledgling one-club Australian Football nations attending, with Belgium coming out on top. Junior development grew in England whilst in a curtain raiser to the AFL match played in London, Ireland defeated Britain in what will hopefully become an annual event. In France three sides have now been formed, and in Germany the AFLG continued positively. Up in Sweden the Stockholm league continued to establish itself, as did the new team in Göteborg, and down south the Skåne teams looked well set. The Danes remain leaders in junior development in Europe, although the DAFL executive appear frustrated at the lack of support at senior level around the country.
Elsewhere
There have been an unprecedented number of success stories in 2005. Somewhere high on the list must be South Africa. With significant and growing grass-roots involvement, several funding sources such as Tattersalls and a major increase from the AFL, a high-profile advocate in former Melbourne champ Brian Dixon and their first wins in international competition, everything has been on the up.
Also noteworthy was that in a possible first for inter-continental footy, British side the Reading Roos travelled to Atlanta to play US side the Kookaburras. The clubs later announced plans to stage an annual international club tournament in Bermuda from 2007.
Second International Cup
All year there was a steady build up towards the second International Cup. Excitingly there was a new country attending with Spain adding colour to the tournament, even releasing a video clip. Unfortunately as the event drew closer it became obvious that financial and organisational issues would prevent 2002 attendees Denmark and Nauru from sending teams. The major headache was Nauru's late withdrawal, requiring last minute shuffling of the draw after it had already been widely distributed in the media.
Regardless the opening day arrived and there was a relatively high level of media interest, with numerous stories in the Melbourne press. The standard of play varied across the 10 teams, but it was clear to those that witnessed 2002 that the quality was greatly increased. Several nations fielded very professionally organised and well-drilled sides and impressed talent scouts such as Kevin Sheehan who although not likely to recommend players be drafted soon, could clearly see that Australian Football was on the right track to produce AFL potential in the not too distant future. The tournament also went to the country with a day of matches held in rural Wangaratta with thousands of locals turning out to watch the games in what was a very successful venture.
In the end New Zealand proved too strong, winning the Grand Final over Papua New Guinea at the MCG in a high standard match to remain undefeated for the series. Dropping off the top pace were Ireland and big improvers included the US and South Africa.
International footy assistance from Australia
Increasingly international players have begun filtering into various levels of the Australian system, with Papuans normally going to Queensland, Kiwis to Canberra and Americans to Victoria (although there have been exceptions). A young South African also undertook a scholarship in country South Australia and there are several other examples of players heading Down Under to improve themselves.
News that the AFL will consider allowing international apprenticeships could be a very significant step forward, making it much easier for a young player from outside of Australia to get the elite training that the best young Aussies receive. Although not yet confirmed, this program would be a logical step following the implementation of the international rookie list, which so far has seen four Irishmen of Gaelic football / hurling backgrounds listed by Brisbane and Carlton.
Other major news for the year included the WA Football Commission expressing an interest in playing a WAFL match in Mumbai, India, and their desire to investigate supporting international footy in the region, perhaps even with a bid to host the 2008 International Cup. Similarly we reported that the Melbourne Football Club are developing a plan for Australian Football in China, both to promote their club and the game in general, leveraging off the sister-city relationship with Tianjin.
Towards the end of the year the AIS-AFL camp was held for some of Australia's best young prospects from the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships. Seven international players joined the camp which should significantly help their game, but also begins to show AFL talent scouts the potential of the Aussie game overseas.
Realistic Expectations
A difficulty in promoting the international concept of Australian Football is that many Aussie fans don't believe anyone else really does play the game. But on the flipside, once convinced, some assume the level to be near-to-professional. The truth is somewhere in-between, with the top countries now producing some good players that perform well at high amateur levels in Australia. But a sobering example for all is seen in New Zealand given a football lesson by the Maffra Eagles in July. New Zealand went on to win the International Cup undefeated. It should be noted however that the Kiwis were "out of season" and Maffra has been a dominant club for several years. Nevertheless, it indicates that the game has a long way to go, but there is no doubt it is heading in the right direction, and Australian teams like Maffra willing to travel to New Zealand to play is a very healthy sign. Yet another advance on this path has been NZ being admitted to the Australian Country Champion ships, where they will effectively be representing international footy in the eyes of Aussies looking on.
Future developments
So where would we like, realistically, to see international footy go, in 2006. In the past year its profile has increased dramatically in Australia, and a much larger percentage of the public are aware that the game is spreading overseas. A year as good as 2005 would be tremendous, with a repeat of a lot of initiatives being a great step, e.g. international players again being invited to the AIS camp, and return matches for London and Los Angeles being scheduled.
With the future TV rights deal being settled and a large increase now guaranteed for the AFL, it would be tremendous to see an increase in the international footy budget. Predictably most sectors of the Australian Football community have already come forward indicating they will bid for increases, such as the clubs, the AFL Players Association and there have been calls for more to be done at a grass-roots level. If anything extra was forthcoming internationally it would almost certainly be heavily targeted at programs that show strong structures around junior development.
2006 will see the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament staged in Canberra. Organisers would like this to one day lead to a Youth World Cup for footy, and hopefully we will see several countries sending their best under 16 talent to the event.
One sentence to summarise 2005? A breakthrough for international footy with unprecedented AFL and AFL club interest, consolidation in many regions with increasing junior development, and a successful second International Cup with New Zealand worthy winners.
Source: Brett Northey, worldfootynews.com
