Alistair MacGlashen Interviewed by Big Footy News
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Footy reaches the Windy City – Australian Rules in Chicago
Story courtesy – Jason Lassey
In this installment of the series on international footy i talk to Alistair MacGlashan, the co-coach of the Chicago Swans. This is part 3 of a sub series on the USAFL. We talked to the President of the USAFL here and the co-coach of the Austin Crows here.
Australian Rules took form in Chicago as early as 1998, with a club called The Mob formed by keen players from Milwaukee and Chicago. For some time two Chicago sides existed – the Sydney affiliated Swans and the Chicago Sharks before combining in 2004 to form the Chicago Australian Football Association with a single team representing chicago.
Alistair MacGlashan is currently the co-coach of the Swans, although like many in the overseas footy industry he’s held a wide variety of positions in his 14 years. Chicago is a fair distance from the Geelong District Football League he played in his early years.
Alistair says the difference between being involved at community level in Australia and in Chicago is that you are trying to grow a football culture that naturally exists in Australian local footy. He says that Chicago is probably one of the less Australian influenced areas in the USAFL.
Alistair says that the hard part is getting the Americans to take part in something that they know little about, but once you get them into it and involved, they love the game.
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