2015 49th Parallel Cup - Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA

The 10th renewal of the 49th Parallel Cup carnival comes to the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida this weekend.  Nearly 100 athletes representing both nations will take part in a total of four matches over two days – Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st.  The USAFL, in conjunction with AFL Canada, will be streaming all four PC matches live on YouTube.  Both days’ coverage will begin at 5:45pm ET, with Brian Barrish and Denis Ryan leading the commentary team for the weekend.  There will also be live updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Live Stream: Full schedule and YouTube links on USAFL.com

Twitter: @USAFL1997 and @AFL_TEAMCANADA

Facebook: USAFL and AFL CANADA

Tournament Schedule:
Friday, July 31st:
6:00pm: Game 1 (Men's Development) -- USA Revolution v Canada Northwind
8:00pm: Game 2 (Women's Development) -- USA Liberty v Canada Midnight Suns

Saturday, August 1st
3:45pm: USAFL Curtain Raiser: Ft. Lauderdale Fighting Squids v Atlanta Kookaburras
6:00pm: Game 3 (Women's Championship) -- USA Freedom v Canada Northern Lights
8:00pm: Game 4 (Men's Championship) -- USA Revolution v Canada Northwind
​10:00pm: Closing Ceremonies and Awards

Location:
Central Broward Regional Park Stadium
3700 NW 11th Pl
Lauderhill, FL 33311

In a game that is centralized around one nation that is isolated from the rest of the world, it’s rare to see a situation where two whole countries band together to beat each other about on the footy field.

But that time is neigh, at least here on American soil.

Both of the USA’s national footy teams, the Revolution men and Freedom ladies, will take on their Canadian counterparts in the Northwind and Northern Lights, respectively, on Saturday night.  On Friday, the two countries’ development sides, the USA “Devos” and the USA Liberty, will face off against the Canada’s men and women in a battle of up-and-comers to the international scene.  All four matches will be live streamed via the USAFL’s YouTube channel, through USAFL.com.

For everyone involved, it’ll be the first test on the road to International Cup (IC) 2017 in Australia, and a chance to for both coaching staffs to see what talent is ready to emerge ahead of that world championship.  The Parallel Cup, inaugurated in 1999, is played in the two intervening years between IC tournaments.  The first women’s game was played in 2007 in Vancouver.  Development squad matches began in 2010 with the Men’s U-23 game, while the first such game for the women took place in 2012.

The USA Revolution are coming off a disappointing 8th place finish in IC14 last summer in Melbourne, but can at least boast of a 51-20 victory over their northern rivals during the tournament.  That was the only loss of the Northwind’s tournament, as they finished in fifth place, just narrowly missing out on the semi-finals.  The Revos have won eight of the nine Parallel Cup matches contested, With Canada’s only win coming in 2007 in Vancouver.  New Revo coach Tom Ellis will be seeking that ninth title.

On the Women’s side, the Northern Lights of Canada come to Florida to play their first match as defending IC Champions, knocking off the USA Freedom 61-7 en route to the cup.  The Freedom finished in 3rd place, equaling their finish in the first women’s IC competition in 2011.  This will be the fifth Parallel Cup meeting between the senior women’s sides, with the series even at 2-2.

Both women’s development teams, the USA Liberty and Canada Midnight Suns, also participated in IC14.  The Suns defeated the Liberty 35-15 in group play, on their way to a 4th place finish.  In Parallel Cup play, that series is also even at 1-1. The two men’s development teams played to a 20-20 draw in Edmonton in 2013.

Prior to the senior matches on Saturday, the hometown Ft. Lauderdale Fighting Squids will take on the visiting Atlanta Kookaburras in a regional USAFL match.  The Squids are the defending Eastern Regional champions, having won that honor on home turf back in April.