USFooty Newsletter September 2003

AFL Grand Final Tickets

Here is your chance to see the AFL Grand Final LIVE!  The USAFL, in conjunction with the AFL, have secured "two Grand Final" seats for this years finals and want to give someone from the USA the chance to enjoy them.

We are setting it up as a silent auction, open to ANYONE that wants to enjoy the feeling of sitting in the crowd with over 90,000 true football fans in Australia at the MCG in September.  There is a minimum dollar amount of US$250 to cover costs.

Send your bid to officemanager@usfooty.com and sit back and wait......

CLOSING DATE WILL BE THE 14TH OF SEPTEMBER AT MIDNIGHT EDT; PAYMENT IS DUE WITHIN 48 HOURS OF CLOSING!

These tickets are "hot items" in Australia and are as hard to get as Super Bowl tickets are here in the US!

REVOs Win!!!

The Revolution, the U.S national Australian Football team, defeated the Canadian Northwind in the final minutes of a close, hard fought match up.  The Revolution scored the first and last goals of the game, with the Northwind leading everywhere in between. Surprising the Revolution with their intensity, skill and teamwork, the Northwind came out hard at the beginning of the game and never let up.  At the final change, Revolution Coach, Scott Nicholas, implored his charges to make every ball a contest.  With the partisan crowd behind them, the Revolution kicked two goals in the final minutes of the game to snatch a 2 point victory from the Northwind.  For more, click here.

USFootyStore Grand Re-Opening

The USAFL is proud to announce that the USFootyStore is having a Grand Re-Opening!  Please check out the new look of the store including many new items and great prices for your football needs!

AFANA - 2003 Fan Survey

AFANA is conducting a survey right now looking for your views on AFL television coverage here in the US.  Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey.  Without these surveys it makes it harder for all involved to keep the AFL on the air at Fox Sports World.  I would expect at least 50% of the USAFL should fill in this survey to give us and AFANA some footings to work with in next years negotiations.

FSW only signed a one year contract for the AFL this year and we really need to push them harder to keep it on the air and in better time slots.  These surveys get "GRASSROOTS OPINIONS" which FSW and the AFL need to see!

USFootyKids For Everyone Pledge Drive

USFootyKids, the USAFL version of the AFL's Auskick program, is conducting a drive to raise money to take the program into low income areas.  Currently the course is being offered for $60.00 this Fall through local YMCA's in the Baltimore/Washington area after a Spring and Summer of free clinics at schools and Summer camps.

USFootyKids courses run for 90 minutes a week over six weeks that teach children the skills and rules of the game while at the same time implementing all the great elements of team sport such as friendship, competition, health, fitness and community.  The intention of the USAFL is that after completing courses, children and their parents will form teams and leagues to regularly play footy.

In an effort to ensure that no child misses out on the fun of playing footy, especially due to monetary constraints, the USAFL is launching this drive to enable us to take this course to areas that would otherwise not be able to receive it.  We also believe that the PR value of this gesture will also do the USAFL an invaluable service.

Our goal is to raise $1,200 to offer 20 kids from a low income neighborhood in the DC/Baltimore area the opportunity to do the course for free.

Please take the time to make a donation here to ensure, as in the words of President Bush, "No child gets left behind."  At least in footy anyway!

You can donate online here.

Swans have fun with USFooty Kids

The clinic was held at St Viator High School in Arlington Heights (thanks to our assistant coach and assistant junior development officer Paul McMahon), with a great conference room and practice fields in magnificent condition.  With the initial part of the course involving USFooty Kids clinics, the group headed outdoors to kick off the course.   The Swans had called practice to coincide with the clinic to take the place of what would normally be kids.  The Swans did a great job of acting like children, while Denis Ryan (USFooty Kids National Coordinator) went through various procedures involved with running a USFooty Kids clinic.  Many of the concepts and drills directly related to our "adult" training sessions.  It was good to be involved with a few different drills, something that will be definitely taken to our practices.  For more, click here.

2004 Macquarie University Scholarship

The 2004 Macquarie University Australian Football Scholarship is now open for applications.  The Scholarship recipient will attend Macquarie University in Sydney for one semester, receiving free tuition and free accommodation.  The student will be able to play for the Macquarie University Kookaburras in the Sydney Football Association, or another appropriate club, and learn the game from Macquarie's experienced coaching staff, including its Head Coach, David Beauchamp.  The Kookaburras were SFA premiers in 1998, 1999 and 2000.  Macquarie University is a premier destination for U.S. college students, and it has hundreds of U.S. students participating in exchange programs and study-abroad programs every year.  The Macquarie Kookaburras and the SFA have years of experience teaching footy to Australians and non-Australians alike.  The scholarship recipient may also have the opportunity to take part in an internship involving sports management.  For the AFLs Record article on last years recipient, Tim Weir, click here.  For more information on applying for the 2004 Scholarship, click here.

AFANA Wants Your Grand Final Party Announcement

Again this year, AFANA has a Grand Final Party Page at their site and will be publishing the list of parties in their e-mail newsletter on TV coverage of Aussie rules football (which reaches fans all across the US and Canada).

If you are planning a party in 2003 please send the particulars to AFANA.  Their e-mail address is: aussiefb@afana.com and they would be happy to post them at:  http://www.afana.com

The 2003 Grand Final Party page is: http://www.afana.com/gf_parties_2003.shtml

If you need information on TV coverage of this year's Grand Final let them know and they'll fill you in on the latest details.  For the latest issue of their TV update do the following:  send a blank e-mail (no message or body required) to:

tvupdatev8n23h@afana.com      (html version)

tvupdatev8n23@afana.com       (text version)

Subscriptions are provided without charge.

Nashville hosts 7th Annual Australian Festival

For the past 6 years, the Nashville Kangaroos have been bringing a little bit of the Land Down Under to Nashville. This year, the Nashville Kangaroos are back with their 7th Annual festival celebrating Australia. Once again, on a September weekend (Sat & Sun 13th & 14th September), Elmington Park on West End will become Nashville's own piece of Australia as the Kangaroos host to 2003 Australian Festival.  For the rest of the story, click here.

Australian Festival 2003

Get a taste of Australia!

Come join the fun at the first annual Australian Festival hosted by the ANZAC club and the

San Diego Lions Australian Rules Football Club.  The festival is on Sunday, September 14th at 11:00 AM at Doyle Park Recreation Center, 8175 Regents Rd in UTC.  The Lions will be playing the Orange County Bombers.  Your kids will get to meet Gareth the kangaroo!  There will be fun in the sun for all, so bring your friends and families!  Our great Aussie BBQ will feature traditional Australian foods and refreshments for all ages. 

Interested in Playing AFL Live on PlayStation?

Acclaim, makers of AFL Live 03, is currently doing a survey to see what interest there is in the US for playing AFL Live.  Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey by clicking here.

Oktoberfest Cup

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to invite all on this list to participate in this years inaugural Oktoberfest Cup. The last few years the O-Cup has taken a lower profile and has been mainly consisting of purely German sides, however this year we are looking to get back to the initial format of a European or perhaps an International Championship, therefore I invite you to take part in this years tournament.

We already have responses from 6 different teams covering 4 Nations however we would like to invite you to participate. It is irrelevant at this stage whether you would like to have a national representative side or an existing local side as long as you can make the journey and part-take in the weekends championship and festivities!!

The date is the 20th September, obviously in Munich, which also surprisingly enough coincides with the opening of the Octoberfest!!

I would need to know who in fact would be interested in competing, who in fact will be there definitely, and who definitely can't get a team rallied together.

It is always difficult to get accommodations at this time, so your speediest response is required in order to help arrange accommodations for the weekend.

Depending on responses, the format is to have a 10-a side game with as many reserves as you like. Once again the number of games and duration of each game will be determined by the number of teams. We will have a maximum of ten teams so it will be first in first served, so an immediate response is required. Further to this if you can't quite get enough numbers for a full side, there will be a composite side for individuals and smaller groups to play with.

Entry fee is 75 Euros per team with the entry fee being divided up into prize money and distributed to the top three teams for a bit of spending money at the Octoberfest!!!!!.

We are still negotiating on the venue however that should be finalized next week and the teams advised accordingly.

It is imperative that you respond to this email ASAP to reserve your spot and for us to work out fixtures and administrative details.

If you require any further info please either email me or alternatively call me on +49 89 13938059 and if I'm not there leave a message and I will get back to you. 

In previous years we have had representatives from France, Sweden, Ireland, England and Germany of course. This year we hope to have those countries represented as well as Denmark, Spain, America, Canada or any other budding AFL Nation. Once again it need not be a National team, as we may have more than one representative side from the one country, and as we already have 6 places filled, the first ones to reply will make up the remaining four places.

The tournament will take place on Saturday 20th September, starting from 10 am and will be finished early afternoon after a grand final playoff, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the celebrations at the Octoberfest or the Bondi Australian Pub where the award ceremony and Cup presentation will be held on Sunday.

Looking forward to hearing from you all, some maybe just for confirmation (Jimmy Campion!!), and will attempt to assist in any way should you require any further information.

Keep punching

Julien Kann

Munich Kangaroos

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USAFL National Championships                    Kansas City, MO         October 10 12, 2003

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