The Game is On!

Fort Lauderdale Australian Football Club Announces Inaugural Stadium Classic at Central Broward Regional Stadium

Building upon the success of the National Championships, the Fort Lauderdale Australian Football Club (FLAFC) announced the inaugural Stadium Classic Australian Football Tournament at the Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.

Six years in the making, the tournament is scheduled to be played on June 22, 2013, from 9am to 5pm. The Stadium Classic will pit the host Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids against the Florida Redbacks, Dallas Magpies and an Invitational Team (The Conquistadors) made up of players from around North America in a round-robin tournament for the Stadium Cup.

This tournament marks the first time that an USAFL competition will be played inside the only ICC-approved stadium in the United States, built for the purposes of hosting International Cricket and Australian Football games. Fighting Squids president and founder Cameron Pinnock says, “We’re excited to finally install the permanent AFL Goals at the Ground. Very few clubs in the world have the facilities that the Cricket Stadium can offer and the Fort Lauderdale AFC is pleased to bring this tournament finally to fruition, injecting life into the stadium and local community.

“Moving forward, the club aspires to invite many of the 36 clubs from around the USA to South Florida to compete for the pre-season [March] tournament. We hope that will serve as a rightful opening to the Australian Football season and a compliment to the USAFL National Championship held in October every year.”

The Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, boasts a main event field that’s 560 feet in diameter with a state-of-the-art scoreboard and offers 5,000 covered seats with the ability to expand up to 15,000 seats for spectators

About the Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids

Founded in 2005, as the southernmost team in the USAFL the Fort Lauderdale Australian Football Club was established to act as an amateur Australian Football and Social Club and grow the sport and community in the South Florida Region. FLAFC is a member of USAFL; the Eastern Australian Football League (EAFL) and has competed in five National Championships. The South Florida Metro League was setup in 2012 with teams from Fort Lauderdale and Miami and play 10 months a year. The SFML aims to have a club in Orlando/Jacksonville to compete in the 2014 competition.