Americans Playing Footy Down Under

USAFL Players wishing to experience a season playing in Australia are able to do so through a number of avenues.

There are a number of people in Australia based in the states of Western Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory who are engaged in assisting players in this program involving local football clubs and USAFL players.  

Doug Drinkwater of the USAFL Australian Advisory Board will be the main contact (doug.drinkwater@usafl.com) to assist as many players as we can with football clubs in both the USA and Australia. The process in place aims to match up the USAFL Player with the local Australian Club and vice-versa.  

It is important that the USAFL player fully participates in the Australian club that they are assigned to as they will be provided the opportunity to understand how Australian community Clubs operate, both on & off the field.  

The premise of this exchange program is that when you return to the USA you will re-engage with your local club and pass on the knowledge and experience you have gained so as to improve the skills and participation level of local USA football clubs and subsequently at the National level.  

All travelers other than Australian and New Zealand citizens need to present the following documents to officers in immigration clearance:

• a valid passport or other acceptable travel document
• a valid visa or authority to enter Australia (including electronic visas)
• a completed and signed Incoming Passenger Card, including health and character declaration 

As a basic requirement players from Australia or the USA are required to obtain their own Visa. 

Working holiday visa options:

You may be eligible to apply for a working holiday visa if you:

• Want to work and holiday in Australia for up to a year
• Are a young person (18 to 30 years old)
• Hold a valid passport from an eligible country
• Have enough money to:
  • Support yourself in Australia on a working holiday (about AUD 5000)
  • Buy a return or onward travel ticket at the end of your stay
  • Do not have a dependent child staying with you during your time in Australia

The Work and Holiday (Temporary) visa (subclass 462) is for young people who want to holiday and work in Australia for up to a year.

It is a temporary visa that encourages cultural exchange and closer ties between Australia and eligible countries.

Working in Australia – six months with one employer: You can generally only work six months with one employer. More information is available at Working in Australia – six months with one employer

The FIRST step is to ensure that you qualify for an Aust Govt 462, which provides for a 12 month working holiday Visa.  No need to apply just make sure you qualify.

If you do not qualify you can only enter Australia on a holiday visa which can enable you stay for up to 3 / 6 or 12 months and not work.  more information on these types of visas (eg sub class 600) can be found on the Australian Government web site link as follows: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visi/Info

To meet the requirements of most types of visitor visas the traveler has to be basically self funded.

If you are able to get a 462 visa or other temporary visa the local Australian club will be obliged to offer you free accommodation for a period of 4 weeks to enable you to settle in and find suitable accommodation - generally can be found with families or players from the host club.  If you have the 462 visa then generally the club member networks can find you work, however, in most cases it is physical type employment.

It is therefore important that you will be able to support yourself after the first month noting that depending on your visa you may not be able to hold wage paying employment.

For further information, contact Doug Drinkwater at doug.drinkwater@usafl.com

Below is a list of USAFL players who have lived or are currently living in Australia playing footy. You can read players blogs by clicking on any name with a hyperlink:

To learn more about the exchange program contact the USAFL Operations Manager »

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