ANZAC DAY Season Launch

2009 USAFL Season Ready to Kick Off With ANZAC Day
Season to begin with Australian holiday on April 25th

The USAFL, the governing body for Australian Football in the U.S., announced today the US Footy schedule for the 2009 season.  The 2009 season officially kicks off nationwide on Saturday, April 25, 2009, which is the Australian holiday ANZAC Day.  ANZAC Day is the equivalent of Memorial Day and July 4th rolled into one and is especially important to ex-pat Australians all across the world.

The USAFL ANZAC Day start will kick off with a variety of events throughout the U.S., special club matches and community events and even a 2008 U.S. Nationals television broadcast.  Altitude Sports, regional sports network based in Denver, will air the program on Anzac Day at 6:30pm MST. The prime-time broadcast will be seen by over 2 million viewers across 10 States including, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

“ANZAC Day is to Australian Football what Thanksgiving Day is to American Football”, explained Richard Mann, President of the USAFL.  “It’s an important day to Australia – culturally and sport wise so we thought it an ideal start to our season”.

The 2009 USAFL season will see over 100 competition matches nationwide all leading to the U.S. Nationals in October. The U.S. Nationals is the world’s largest Australian Rules Football tournament and will be held in Mason, Ohio on October 10 – 11, 2009.

The USAFL is made of up 47 teams in three divisions – East, Central and West. There are five divisions within the league, including a women’s rank, which is the fastest growing arm of the sport.

“Our league continues to grow, both in participants and in skill level, so we anticipate this will be the most competitive season on record,” says Mann. “We’ve been thrilled with the development of the women’s game and also our AussieBall co-ed leagues and see more of that in the future”.

- Sue Baldwin