US Athletes to Attend Inaugural Australian Football Combine

College athletes will attend the inaugural Australian Football US Combine in their first step in pursuing a career in Australia’s leading professional sport.

The Combine will test more than 25 student athletes with basketball and football backgrounds in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles on Tuesday August 28.

The pilot program will mirror the Australian Football League’s (AFL) Combine testing. Similar to the NFL Combine, AFL Combine testing includes standing and vertical jumps, sprinting, agility and endurance.

The schedule for the three days of the Combine will include a presentation by the AFL on the opportunities and pathways that lay ahead, an introduction to the basic skills of the game and the combine testing for skills and endurance.

Attending the event from the AFL will be Tony Woods (AFL International Development Manager), Tadhg Kennelly (former Sydney Swan), Mick Ablett (AFL-AIS), James Hepner and Amy Hattam and attending from the USAFL will be ​Andy Vanica (President), Matt Bishop (Revolution Head Coach), Dan Sarbacker  (Development Team Head Coach) and Doren James (Operations Manager).

The full list of athletes attending is as follows:

AFL International Development Manager Tony Woods said the historic testing session is the first genuine attempt to identify American athletes.

“This is the first step in establishing a series of annual Combines to be held in the US and will create a new pathway for athletes from the US to play at a professional level in the AFL.

“The AFL recognizes this is a new pitch into the US market. We need to relate to a certain type of athlete, sell the opportunity of a professional career in Australia and demonstrate that players can transition into another code successfully.

“We are deliberately targeting taller, elite athletes who play as centres or power forwards in basketball. We feel these athletes have the best chance to transition into our game. In addition we have identified athletes with a football background who have exceptional skills.

“We know that Australian Football is a challenging and unique game, however if you can test equal to or better than Australian players, and you have the desire, you give yourself every chance of succeeding,” he said.

The successful transition to Australia’s most popular sport can be seen in two current international AFL players; Canadian Mike Pyke (rugby) from the Sydney Swans and American Shae McNamara (basketball) from the Collingwood Magpies.

Both Pyke and McNamara feature in an AFL campaign that explains the game and the opportunities that exist for players wishing to pursue an AFL career.

For the first time 10 positions will be available for international athletes to test at the AFL National Draft Combine which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, between October 2-5. Two athletes from the US Combine will be selected to attend.

Former AFL player Tadhg Kennelly will attend the US Combine.  Tadhg was a talented Gaelic footballer who relocated from Ireland to Australia and successfully made the transition to playing in the AFL with the Sydney Swans..