HOW DO you give footy a kick along in China?
Build a ground and point former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy at it.
That's exactly what the AFL is doing with a $1.5 million project in Tianjin due to be completed next year.
The ground, with goalposts and a pavilion, is a collaboration with golf course architects Thomson Perrett and the City of Melbourne.
Sheedy, an AFL ambassador and perpetual salesman of the game, said the facility meant that one day the League could look at playing exhibition or NAB Cup games in China.
"Ten years ago we weren't in South Africa and now we're going to play a game there. There's no reason why we can't be rolling into Tianjin to play in three or four years," he told Friday's Herald Sun.
"We've got to get off our backsides and take the game to the world.
"China beat India in the International Cup recently. They won a game in their first year in it. And I'm sure it will happen in the future when we get two international teams playing as a curtain-raiser to an AFL game."
The actual construction of the ground is being supervised by Thomson Perrett, headed by Australian Hall of Fame legend and five-time British Open winner Peter Thomson.
The company's recent construction of the 18-hole Fortune Lake course means it has extensive knowledge of soil, drainage, landscaping and grassing strategies needed in northern China.
"The reason we've chosen to build this AFL ground is because it has all the same materials," Thomson said.
Melbourne Football Club had a delegation in China in 2007, and AFL community facilities development manager Ken Gannon said the Demons could use the ground for their pre-season conditioning trip.
He added that the League was looking forward to having local development officers run clinics and games at Tianjin's oval next year.
"Collingwood and Western Bulldogs go to Arizona, Carlton and others went to South Africa – there's no reason why Melbourne can't go to Tianjin for training," he said.
