General

The AFL has released the draw for the International Cup to be held in Sydney and Melbourne August 12 – 27.  There will be 18 countries competing in the men’s competition. Round one will be a seeding round used to determine two divisions. Teams have been split into six groups of three with each team to play the other two teams in its group in lightning match format of 2 X 15 minute halves. Based on the results of round one the top twelve teams will be placed in Division 1 and the remaining six will make up Division 2.

All developing clubs who would like to learn strategies to grow their local clubs should attend the USAFL conference call TONIGHT at 9:00pm EST (June 28). We will be discussing a broad range of topics, offering insights into overcoming and working through road blocks, weaknesses & getting to hear from other USAFL teams and directors helpful tips and suggestions.

The Austin Crows recently saw the departure of star backman Blake McLean who has finished his Master's of Science in Kinesiology at the University of Texas in Austin. In exciting news, Blake has secured a position in the Sports Science department at Collingwood Football Club. After meeting with several AFL clubs, Blake was excited about the Sports Science department at Collingwood and their commitment to innovation moving forward.

Dan Lehane is a 17 year old New York native who is in his fourth season with the New York Magpies.  Dan has been selected in the World 18 team that will compete in the under 16 2011 NAB AFL U16 National Championships in Sydney, Australia during the week starting July 11.

As part of his preparation Dan has embarked on a 6 week training program to ensure he is in top match condition for the tournament. He will also be travelling to Australia a few weeks early and playing some local games to get acclimatized.