I wished my dad played for Collingwood!

Now, dragging this back to the topic, the South African version of Auskick was launched the other week - only they call it 'Wildkick' over there.

And from todays HUN -

Footy's South Africa safari
29 April 2007 Sunday Herald Sun
David Reed

THE AFL has committed to sending up to four clubs overseas for their community camps from the end of this season, with South Africa a priority destination.

There are several thousand players in 18 competitions in South Africa.

According to the AFL, Collingwood is keen to pursue Cape Town and the western cape district of South Africa; Fremantle has an alliance with the North West Province; and Carlton is interested in Johannesburg.

The AFL wants West Coast to examine possibilities in KwaZulu-Natal, which takes in South Africa's second biggest city, Durban. Overseas NAB Cup matches remain a possibility, but the AFL is most likely to hold exhibition matches as a climax to community camps. ...

My understanding of South Africa is that Cape Town is rough as guts working class, North West Province was founded 10 years ago in place of the former North and West Provinces, Johannasburg is full of wogs and Durban has a drugs problem with gang related crime.

Our Durban poster that we had before may disagree.

I heard Cape Town is the safest place in South Africa and a great city to go to, Johannesburg is a no go zone.

Alas I have never been to the country, they are having big success in Soweto which is basically a suburb of Johannesburg these days.

Is there a place that North Melbourne can go over there?

South African Kangaroos

Now wonder why West Coast wants to claim it.

Another idea for expansion - might seem unlikely, but the strange thing for me about the following article is that only 2 weeks ago, I was talking on the sidelines to a participant in the local American Football club (I have some pics of it if anyone is interested) and he said pretty much the same thing - after having lived in Germany from age 10 to early 20's (where he took up American Football).or 10 years.

He said that many Europeans are now looking for more physical contact sports than soccer, and American Football has become somewhat popular in certain parts of Germany and Austria, with some local (ie not the NFL backed European League but genuinely homegrown) clubs attracting up to 20,000. However, he also said American Football can't grow much more in Europe because - well its American (and expensive), and that alone turns many Europeans off.

He went on to say that rugby union is not an option for most people due to its historical cosey association with the Nazis who promoted it, and is still basically followed in Germany only by far right wing tossers , thus leaving a vacumn that he thinks the AFL could exploit, as Germans have no antipathy to Australians (unlike Americans).

I didn't think too much about what he said until I saw this in The Age -

AFL should target mainland Europe
Andrew Ryan | May 24, 2007 (Age)

LONDON, Dublin, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, now Dubai — the AFL still has the pipedream that Australian football can have an international identity. Year after year, it has announced yet another first-class junket for the masters and minions behind the doors of AFL House to some far-flung destination in the guise of promoting the game internationally. And all the time it has managed to avoid basic marketing philosophy.

The annual London junket (which I had the dubious pleasure of witnessing live in the late 1980s — yes, it's been going for that long!) continues to draw a crowd of expat Australians keen to show off their game to any mates they may have among the locals — and that has never changed. As a promotion for the game, it has been as effective as the non-existent increase in interest that accompanies its fleeting annual presence in Britain.

There has been the Irish experiment — a small island with a small population with its own indigenous sports seems an odd place to suggest introducing a new sport. The rugby argument holds up for South Africa as well and, as far as Dubai is concerned — great idea, let's promote the game in a country that doesn't have any grass — yeah, that's a winner!

While all this has been going on, one of the biggest markets in the world — with a population that has shown a propensity for a bit of physical contact sport in the past — has been going begging. Why there has not been at least an exhibition match played on the Continent beggars belief. Already, Denmark and Germany have small but fiercely competitive Australian football competitions and each year hold a European championship tournament.

Neither of these countries have a major contact sport to speak of. In fact, the "spine" of Europe — Denmark, Germany, Austria, Hungary, with a bit of spillage east or west — is an area ripe for exploitation by a sport that is fast, involves high-scoring and physical contact and isn't expensive to play.

Sure, soccer rules but Germany alone has a population of more than 82 million and there is a lot of uncharted territory there as far as sport is concerned. The AFLG (AFL Germany) has been going for 10 years, run by a dedicated band of Australians who set up the competition to try and get locals involved. The numbers aren't great but they continue to play the game without assistance or facilities and have attracted a small band of local enthusiasts as players and supporters along the way. Seeing a game in one of the local parks in Munich is a stirring experience for a lover of the game and never fails to draw a crowd of curious locals — most of whom mistake the game as American football. Their demeanour rapidly changes when it is explained that it is Australian football — apart from the curiosity factor, Australia has a popular image in Germany, probably beyond what it deserves.

So when it comes to the philosophies of marketing a sport — filling a gap in the market, for instance — it seems some of the AFL's efforts in the past have been well wide of an area that seems to be begging for it.

Andrew Ryan last year umpired the AFLG grand final between the Munich Kangaroos and the Rhineland Lions and an Australian football friendly between Munich and Madrid.

Do the people who write these articles belong to an AFL version of the GNAA?

The thread title here will have to be changed - its no longer 20,000, its 30,000! -

AFL chiefs look to South Africa
Stephen Rielly The Age
July 4, 2007


South African children enjoy an AFL football clinic during the AFL Indigenous Youth Tour of South Africa, February 2006.

NOTWITHSTANDING the relative success of the Irish experiment and the remarkable individual stories of Dublin's Jim Stynes, Kerry's Tadhg Kennelly and, of late, the new sensation, County Down's Martin Clarke, South Africa has become the AFL's preferred international recruiting field of the future.

This much was confirmed last week when a partnership with a South African company controlled by Geelong president Frank Costa was announced in the Johannesburg town of Alexandra. The partnership, between AFL South Africa and Costa Logistics, will underpin the immediate roll-out of an AusKick-like development program, FootyWild, across four provinces. The AFL hopes it will produce 30,000 participants between the ages of eight and 18 by the end of 2009. If that figure is reached, South Africa will have a player base similar to that of Tasmania.

The AFL's game development manager, David Matthews, said yesterday that being able to introduce Australian football to a foreign country without compromises or modifications — combined with South Africa's enthusiasm to bring about social change through sport — made the export a development priority for the league. "It's now clearly our priority international market. We're going to South Africa unashamedly. With an Australian football, an oval ball, in our hands and grounds, because of cricket, that are comparable to our own," Matthews said.

Which is why, next summer, Carlton, Collingwood and Fremantle are expected to conduct pre-season camps in South Africa and two of those sides will play a pre-season cup match there. "We're finalising plans for that game now," Matthews said. The AFL has committed $400,000 a year for three years to AFL South Africa, with four AFL clubs (Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle and West Coast) expected to pay $40,000 each for exclusive development rights in a province. With partnership funds from the likes of Costa's firm, Tattersalls and the South African Government, the overall development budget is close to $1 million a year.

The funds will employ as many as 10 development officers this year, who will be expected to take FootyWild to at least 80 schools and start to establish talent identification programs at under-13, under-16 and open-age level and an elite AFL South Africa Academy for potential draftees.

The AFL has sought to make South Africa more attractive as a potential source of AFL players by introducing an international scholarship scheme that creates a place for a South African draftee on club lists and allows them to be signed as early as 15. Irish players, by contrast, cannot be signed until they are 18. "What Collingwood has been able to achieve with Martin Clarke, they could achieve again and more in South Africa because the players can be signed earlier," Matthews said.

So the AFL are trying to win over the Wasted Farce season ticket holders?

"alright guys, big smiles, big smiles... you on the left... OY! blacky! yeah you mate, wanna turn that footy around champ? get the AFL logo pointing towards me.... yep alright, say cheese fellas!"

You must mean that one white kid in the pic.


Thought it might get that response.

"and bring us a white kid to show some racial diversity. Alright, Van Der Meerwe, just pretend your cool with this okay chief"

The white kids in the RSA youth team they played in Australia recently
weren't that much chop , because they were from rugby backgrounds .
Laid some nice tackles , but couldn't run , bounce , catch and kicked these high up and under hospital kicks .

.

With the spread of Australian Football to four provinces each under the control of Collingwood , Carlton ,West Coast and Fremantle , the number of registered players has risen to 10k .

Might sound like a stupid question. But why is AFL the main target for Aussie Rules?