That Was the Season That Was 2024

Twenty Twenty-Four.  What a Year.

A lot of things happened this year in the world of sports.  A lot of things happened in the world.  It gives one pause.

It was here, 366 blank pages ago, that we wondered what would be drawn therein.  Sure, there was the regular season, regionals, nationals and the TransAtlantic Cup, at least in our little corner of existence.  But while it’s nice to line out the drawings of each new day in pen, one must keep a pencil handy.

USAFL Season 2024 began with a handful of clubs slowly stirring from winter and ended with a couple of hundred players with medals around their necks, with many more caching away stories to tell their family.

In between were pilgrimages to Ohio and Utah to spread the Aussie Rules gospel.  Then there were those who had earned selection to go to Toronto and take on some of the best in the game outside Australia and nearly came home with championships to boot.

What a year.

The final page of the year is being scribbled out, and before we take off the wrapper on another empty batch of parchment that represents the new year, we flip through the volume just past before adding it to the shelf.

This was the season that was.

THIS GAME RULES.

In a first for the league, 2024 marked the beginning of a concentrated marketing campaign to help bring awareness and stoke recruiting.

The Aussie RULES campaign was used at both the league and club level to bring forth the personalities of each of the clubs, as well as the players, coaches, volunteers, and umpires that make up their numbers.

Across the league, it supplemented all of the competitive events, from Regionals to Nationals, to the TransAtlantic Cup, and all points in between.

For the clubs, the focus was on joining together every team with the city they played in, and then spotlighting team member accomplishments both on and off the field.  Those who play Aussie Rules are doing much more than taking marks and kicking goals, they come from all different backgrounds and serve the community in a variety of professions.

Many of the clubs spent 2024 creating content for their own channels, and as part of the Aussie RULES initiative, a club challenge was laid down to entice each team to get involved.  The Baton Rouge Tigers emerged as winners, winning a VIP tent at Nationals, an Aussie RULES branded tent, a case of Cooper’s Beer, and a supply of footballs.  The Rome Redbacks and Nashville Kangaroos were amongst the runners up and received prizes as well.

A DEVIL OF A PARTNER

After years of hoping and wishing and waiting, the Apple Isle finally got its pro Aussie Rules team.  

The Tasmanian Devils were announced as the AFL and AFLW’s nineteenth club in May, and will begin play in 2028.  The news was met with resounding support from the football world, as the new Devils team would go on to receive more than 200,000 foundation members from all over the globe, including here in America.

There had been a link between Tasmania, the sport of Aussie Rules, and the USAFL, for almost half a decade prior to this announcement.  The addition of the North Texas Devils in 2020, followed by the establishment of the partnership between the league and the Tasmanian Department of State Growth, was testament to that.

That relationship became more robust just days after the Tasmanian Devils’ enfranchisement, as the state and the league agreed to a three year extension of their partnership, which will now run through 2026.  

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockcliff, who would later come to the USAFL Nationals in Austin as one of many honored guests, touted the landmark union as not just as one to enrich the sport, but to, in his words, “create valuable opportunities for Tasmanian businesses to connect with the US market.”

It was one of many new and existing partnerships that highlighted the 2024 campaign, with Adelaide-based CyberSource IQ coming on board, and veteran sponsors such as Odin Mortgage getting around the USAFL to spur sustained growth.

PRIME TIME IN PHILLY

While the vast majority of players in the USAFL are regular participants game in and game out during the course of the season, it isn’t uncommon for an Australian to hop into a game while over here while travelling or on holiday.

Queensland native Tom Baluch, aka “Prime Train,” isn’t a pro football player.  He is, however, well known as a fitness vlogger who chronicles his exploits playing in different locales across Australia.  His following transcends countries, and thus gives him a unique opportunity to promote the sport beyond the borders of this homeland.

In May, Prime came over to the states to watch his sister, a collegiate rower, take part in the conference championships in Philadelphia.  And by happenstance, there was a footy match happening just up the road that same day.  Pulling on the New York Magpies’ jumper against the hometown Hawks, Baluch would kick four goals as part of a winning effort for the ‘Pies in the wet.

While it was an opportunity to get a run in and to create content for his nearly 200K users across multiple platforms, Prime’s main focus was to help promote the efforts of those playing and working to grow the sport here in the USA.  His vlog and the accompanying videos conveyed this impeccably; that this was a group of players who loved the sport, who played the game at a respectable standard, and that the sport was very much on the rise in the USA.  The response from the vlog was overwhelming, as it helped bring in new fans on both sides of the Pacific. 

It was a joy to have Tom over here; he was more than eager to pick the brains of all involved, and you can see how much he relished hearing everyone’s stories. Hopefully we’ll see him back playing Aussie Rules stateside soon enough.

Photo: Emma Moss

BUCKEYES AND BEEHIVES

As the season got going in earnest, the Regional Championship Series seemingly snuck up on all of us like a librarian.

For some clubs, Regionals is the starting black of the long dash that is the USAFL season.  For others, it’s the mid-race kick.  It’s a tool to improve, or perhaps a stage to announce one’s arrival or continued dominance over the competition.

In most years, supremacy over the other teams is the big story.  But in this year where the AFL TransAtlantic Cup loomed on the horizon, it was one final occasion to impress Revolution coach Kyle Strenski and Freedom coach Andrew Donlen to print their ticket to Toronto.

For the first time, both carnivals were streamed live, and the worldwide audience got to see both tournaments play out against this plethora of narratives.

The second ever SuperRegionals brought the league back to Dublin, Ohio for the first time in a decade. In 2014, both the Austin Crows men and Minnesota Freeze women were contenders but ultimately also-rans within their Division 1 fields.  On June 15th, 2024, they were convincing regionals winners, sweeping aside all comers to lift the trophy.

For the Crows, it was some measure of revenge against Denver, who had nipped them after the siren in Kansas a season ago.  Austin would ultimately roll all the way to their first undefeated season since before the pandemic.  The DC Eagles, 2023’s D2 men’s champions at the SuperRegionals alongside Nashville, would come home winners again, this time with players from North Carolina in tow.  Two up-and-coming teams, Chicago and Virginia, paired up to take the chocolates in Division 3.

Ultimately, the goal for Mark Fischer’s Freeze women would be a third straight Nationals Grand Final and their first ever championship.  Part of that road back was cutting a swath across all comers in the march to October. With nine women eventually to be named to the National team, Minnesota would get as many reps in as they can, and a core of Yeti would take part in both Regionals.

After going 2-0 to lift their fourth regional cup in Ohio, they’d head to Utah for the Westerns. Golden Gate, Seattle, and Sacramento/Denver were all worthy opponents, but no match for a team on a mission.  Lindsey Bec (nee Eliasen) and Kaiya Sygulla would extend their individual medal-winning streaks to three tournaments, and their team would become the first to win two regionals in the same year.

It was a fantastic weekend for the host Wasatch WarGulls; not only did two of their players claim a championship as part of the victorious Freeze side, but their men’s team, combined with Portland, made their USAFL tournament debut.  Golden Gate would end up repeating as champs, their sixth overall, but got all they could handle from the Sacramento Suns who were proving their meddle as a Nationals D1 side.

Photo: Dan Wix

TOE TO TOE WITH THE WORLD

Somewhere deep down, every athlete dreams of representing their country.  Though doing that in Aussie Rules is a rare commodity, a group of dedicated men and women got a chance to do just that this August.

Though a temporary replacement for the International Cup which has gotten delayed and postponed for various reasons, the return of an intercontinental football tournament via the AFL TransAtlantic Cup was no small carrot.

It had been eleven months since the reformation of the USAFL International Program, where the Revolution men’s team and Freedom women’s team were brought together under one metaphorical roof, and where a new course for the future would be charted.

What transpired over ten days in Toronto was unequivocally the best football ever played by Team USA Aussie Rules in more than a quarter of a century, and appearances in major tournament Grand Finals for the first time.

It was a gauntlet virtually unseen anywhere in the sport.  Clubs in Australia play five games in as many Saturdays during their season.  Twelve competing teams were asked to do the same in just ten days, and they were all joined by a large contingent of umpires that included those from the USAFLUA.

Both American teams finished group play against Great Britain, France, and Ireland at 2-1.  The men notched their first win over Ireland in 19 years, and the women rebounded from an opening round loss to reel off two decisive wins.  That set up semi-final dates against the host Canadians.

The Revos continued their dominance over the Northwind, picking up their 18th win in 19 games.  The Warriors, shaking off the bumps and bruises of their two point loss in the earlier match, left no doubt in the Grand Final.  But there was no shame at all for Kyle Strenski’s charges; Mark McClure led all with ten goals, Jacob Gross won mark of the tournament honors, and six men, led by captain Dan Livy, were named to the All-Tournament side.

Some experts were predicting a fourth-straight women’s Grand Final between the Irish and Canadians. The Freedom had their AirPods in.  Erasing a twelve-year drought against the Northern Lights, Amanda Boe’s punch point broke a 13-13 tie with 15 seconds to go in the semifinal.  

Two days later, Team USA found themselves 90 seconds away from hoisting the cup against mighty Ireland.  But it wasn’t to be, as the Banshees tied the game and then won it in the extra time.  But there was nothing but pride in the run, as five Freedom players were all tournament selections, and any gap between the top teams in global women’s footy had virtually disappeared.

A NEW DAWN, A NEW DAY, A NEW DAN

Pivoting and propelling into the future, the International Program took copious notes from their time at the Cup into what went well and what could be improved upon.

After putting in the hard yards as the architect of the program, USAFL Founding President Paul O’Keeffe made way for successor Dan Sarbacker.  In “Sars,” both the IP will be getting someone who has been involved with the Revolution at almost every level.  He was a player and captain of International Cup squads, and later served as assistant coach.

The Wisconsin native, alongside operations manager Cari Greving and Head of Football Development Jason Becker, are already on the ball trying to prepare for the next International cycle.  There will be two players’ camps in early spring, and the conversations and brainstorming are in full throttle mode surrounding what the program is going to look like around the challenges of being part of an amateur sport.

Whatever is on the horizon for the Freedom, Revolution, and the support around them, there is definitely a sunrise built on the momentum of the last year.

CROWING AND FREEZING IN THE HOT TEXAS SUN

After arriving back home, those who represented their countries rejoined their teammates in representing their cities down in Austin for the 27th USAFL Nationals Championships.

It was the fifth time that the Texan capital played host to the world’s largest Aussie Rules tournament.  And once again, Visit Austin and the Austin Sports Commission rolled out the red carpet for the teams, fans, umpires, and special guests.  History was made when Andrew Dillon became the first sitting AFL CEO to attend Nationals.  

Other guests from the football world included AFL Umpire Matt Nichols, St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt, and tournament regular Mason Cox.  Counsel General Gabrielle Hall not only was part of the delegation from the Australian Consulate in Houston, but also took to the ground as well as part of the Calgary/Houston/Baton Rouge team in Women’s D2.

After the administrative formalities and welcome festivities on Friday - which included the re-election of April Munn to a second term as president - it was time to play football.  And 43 teams across seven divisions took on the heat, and each other, across the two days.

It was a memorable weekend for the home side.  The Austin Crows men completed their first perfect season since 2019 en route to a sixth straight National D1 crown and a record breaking ninth overall.  Teaming up with the Portland Sockeyes, the Austin women took out their third straight women’s D2 title by going 4-0 in round robin play.  That Calgary/Houston/Baton Rouge combination finished second, marking a successful debut for the Tigers on the women’s side, as a quartet of athletes marked the Louisiana club’s first at Nationals in their twenty year history.

There would be new champions at the top of the women’s game, however.  Showing off the fruits of nearly non-stop effort that spanned several seasons, the Minnesota Freeze finally ended the Golden Gate Iron Maidens’ seven-year stranglehold on the women’s D1 division.  Indeed, though members of the Freeze’s formative team had been a part of Milawukee’s 2009 premiership, this was the Yetis’ first outright victory.  Only time will tell if they will form another dynasty, but after three straight Grand Final appearances, the future brings shades-inducing brightness.

Houston were another team that ascended to heady heights in October.  After nearly a decade in the middle of the men’s Division 2 pack, they qualified for the Grand Final and then came back from a deep second half deficit to pip the Seattle Grizzlies.  While the Grizz will no doubt use another heartbreaking loss to harden their resolve for 2025, the Lonestars seem eager to challenge at the top come next season.

Elsewhere, the Calgary Kangaroos picked up their first men’s National Championship since 2016, topping the Chicago Swans.  Golden Gate and Denver’s reserves teams teamed up to bring home the bikkies in Division 4.  And a full on 14-a-side Division 5 made its debut and concluded with the New York Magpies Reserves and Wasatch WarGulls getting by North Carolina.

BOMB(ER)S INCOMING

As we prepare to enter our 28th season, we do so with a brand new club, and perhaps a couple more in the offing.

Based in coastal North Carolina, the Wilmington Bombers came on board as the league’s 48th member, and climaxed a successful transition from a metro team of the North Carolina Tigers to full club.  It’s a pathway that the Bayou Brawlers out of New Orleans look to take as they rapidly grow their program.  Same too the Finger Lakes Blue Herons in upstate New York.  And so too for programs across Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

And whether they be freshly christened or wear the wear of time, they’ll all be looking towards Tucson, Arizona, and the 2025 USAFL Nationals to be held on October 17-19.

And so here we are.  And this is usually where I write a little something personal about the season that just ended.

Everyone’s 2024 looked different, both on the field and off of it.  For me, it was my 11th season as media manager, and there were another few hundred hours or so bringing you the action both behind a computer screen and behind a microphone.  

I crossed a bit of a milestone of my own in Ohio, as I commentated my 300th game.  By season’s end, the total had reached 340.  Not bad for the kid from Northeast Philly who used to do play-by-play of Tecmo Super Bowl in his room with dreams of eventually getting to do it for real.

2024 was a challenging one.  Managing Aussie RULES was something new, and while there is plenty of room for improvement, I think the effort was worth it, and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the year ahead.  

And then there was Toronto.  And my biggest take away from that week-and-a-half surrounded by old friends and new is that, though we are all playing a game, and we all want to win, in the end the people who make up our sport are all in it to make the game better.  Be they from Boston or Belfast, Minnesota or Medellín, California or Calgary, player, umpire, coach, volunteer. We all have our own ideas as to how we achieve that.

This community has given me a lot.  It’s a family.  I know you probably feel the same way too if you’ve been a part of it even for a day.  I pray you, dear reader, remember that as we go forward in season 2025.

May the new year be joyous and healthy to you and yours, and may you kick more goals than behinds in the book of time.

Photo: Mitchell Mc-Donald Roberts