Australian rules football has been played in the Americas since the turn of the 20th Century, beginning with North American countries Canada and the United States in 1905 and 1906 respectively. However it has only been played consistently at an organised regular amateur level since the establishment of the current Canadian competition in 1989 followed by a United States competition in 1996. More recently it has been played in South America in Colombia since 2015 and Chile since 2017. There have also been clubs formed for occasional play in other South American nations including Bermuda, Brazil and Argentina. As there are too few countries playing separated by great distances, there is currently no formal regional governing body and international competition between countries is currently overseen cooperatively by AFL Canada and the USAFL.
The major regional tournaments include the 49th Parallel Cup (1999-), Andes Cup (2016-) and Transatlantic Cup (2024-). The best international results for an American national teams are Canada's women's team who were crowned international champions at the 2014 Australian Football International Cup. The best result by a men's team was by the United States men's team which placed third at the 2005 Australian Football International Cup. [1] [2]
Australian rules football has been played in Buenos Aires, Argentina since 1997, the Asociación Argentina de Futbol Australiano as the de facto governing body.
Ricardo Acuña, having seen footage of the game in the 1990s, decided to start the game in Argentina and is now president of the Argentine Alternative Sports Association. The Argentine Australian Football Association (AAFAU) was founded and competition started in 1997 with a group of 3 teams consisting of about 30 or 40 mainly rugby union players. [3] The league grew to four senior sides in Buenos Aires, with Under 19s sides associated with each senior team, and a growing number of juniors and school squads reported to be in creation. Serious competition began in 1999. [4]
A 'Convicts Tour' of amateur footballer from Australia was planned in 2006 in an effort to see Argentina compete in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup, although this tour was later cancelled.
The first international match between Argentina and Chile was played in May 2008 in Buenos Aires, with the Santiago Saints winning. [ citation needed ]
On the 23 October 2010, Australian amateur sports touring team the Australian Convicts defeated the national team of Argentina 24 to 18 as part of its South American tour.
Australian rules is not currently played in Barbados, however there has been a player in the AFL with strong connections to Barbados - Josh Gibson.
| Player | AFL/AFLW Years* | AFL/AFLW Matches* | AFL/AFLW Goals* | Connections to Barbados, References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Gibson | 2005–2017 | 225 | 5 | Father [5] |
Australian rules football has been played on the island of Bermuda since 2005, when the Bermuda Lions were created. [6]
The island was to host the first Bermuda Australian Football Championships in 2007, featuring teams from Europe and North America in addition to local players. [7] This tournament was later postponed indefinitely. [8]
| Team | Location | Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bermuda Lions | Hamilton | 2005 | Folded around 2007 |
Australian Rules in Brazil began in 2009 with the creation of a side dubbed 'The Carnaval', composed mainly of Australians resident across the country.
The Carnaval were coordinated by Australian Trade Commissioner Greg Wallis, who took up the challenge of creating a Brazilian side for a match against Chile's Santiago Saints after meeting with Saints President Robert Spurr. The first match between the Saints and Carnaval took place in Rio de Janeiro on June 20, 2009. [9] A match in Buenos Aires against the Argentine national team is planned for later in 2009.
On the 13 April 2011, Australian amateur sports team the Australian Convicts played against the Brazilian national team in Rio as part of its South American tour.
Australian rules football is played at an organised level in the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia. The Canadian Men's and Women's national teams have competed at every Australian Football International Cups to date, including all six on the men's tournaments and all three women's tournaments. AFL Ontario is the largest Australian rules football league in North America.
Australian rules is played a few times each year by expatriate Australians and Irishmen in the Cayman Islands. A number of Australians play in the local Gaelic football competition, and generally the Aussie Rules matches are held between the Australians and Irish on Anzac Day and St Patricks Day each year. [10]
Australian rules football was first played in Chile in 2002, and was part of an experiment for SPT Gestion Deportiva (a local Sports Marketing company based in Santiago) to introduce new sports into the country and develop business opportunities around it. Adrian Barraza who during that time was part from SPT Gestion Deportiva, contacted two players with previous experience in Australian rules football through the "Big Footy" Internet forum to have a "Kick in the park". [11] Those two players were: Michael "Diesel" Hrzic (from the OC Bombers) [12] and the Chilean Alejandro Dussaillant. Both players met in the USA when they were studying a PhD at the University Wisconsin-Madison and played in the local Australian rules football team. The first "Kick in the park" was held at the Padre Alberto Hurtado Park in late 2002. The same year Barraza was put in contact through the local Australian Embassy with Simon Shalders, an Australian expat owner of a backpackers Hostel called "La Casa Roja" located in downtown Santiago, to explore new ways to develop the sport in the country. Some new "Kicks in the park" were organised between 2002 and 2004, mainly between a group of locals and La Casa Roja's guests but Chilean players' involvement kept low and the sport went into a hiatus.
The first discussions to organise a club were held in late 2007 at a local cricket game by Rob Spurr, who was an Australian expat working in Chile during that time and also was a founder member of the Jakarta Bintangs Australian rules football club from Indonesia. [ citation needed ] The country's first organised club, the Santiago Saints, were founded in March 2008 by Rob Spurr and a group of Australian expats and locals, which included among others Adrian Barraza (former SPT Gestion Deportiva partner), Pablo Majias (former Port Adelaide reserves player and current player/coach of the Santiago Saints) and Mario Pavez (a Chilean interchange student who spent a couple of years living in Australia and learnt the sport there). [ citation needed ]
The Santiago Saints played their first match against Argentina on July 5, 2008 in a 9 a side format, winning 19.10 (124) to Argentina's 1.5 (11). [13] Continued recruitment of locals saw a Chile vs Anzacs match held in early 2009, the Anzacs consisting of the Saints expatriate players and the Chilean team being all-local.
On June 20, 2009, the Saints travelled to Rio de Janeiro for a match against a side of Australians resident in Brazil dubbed the 'Carnaval', the first ever match to be held on Brazilian soil. The game was again played on a 9 a side format and this time the Santiago Saints team was made by half Chileans and half Australian players. The Chilean team won 14.12.96 to 11.6.72 in a hard-fought game, claiming the inaugural Copa Cabana. [14]
The Saints and Colombia's Bogota Bulldogs have contested an annual Andes Cup since 2016. [15]
| Team | Location | Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago Saints | Santiago | 2017 | Facebook page |
| Player | AFL/AFLW Years* | AFL/AFLW Matches* | AFL/AFLW Goals* | Connections to Chile, References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Kelly | 2018- | 98 | 64 | Mother [16] |
| Jose Romero | 1988-2001 | 211 | 169 | Born (Easter Island) [17] [18] |
Colombia has a governing body AFL Colombia, two leagues, one in Bogotá (Colombian Australian Football League or (CAFL) run by the Bogota Bulldogs) and one in Medellin with 300 registered players male and female. [19] [20]
The first club formed in Bogotá was the Bulldogs in 2015 to challenge the Santiago Saints club (from Chile) and it has grown to include numerous local players and promising junior programs. [21] Colombia played an international in 2016 against Chile. [21] A women's team formed in 2019 and played an internationals against a combined USA and Europe team. [21] The club runs a local competition known as the Colombian Australian Football League (CAFL) with 3 teams however it relies heavily on visiting clubs from the USA for competition and has hosted the Austin Crows and Denver Bulldogs. [21]
Colombia's programs attracted attention from Australia and include a number of corporate supporters including Orica, Australian Embassy in Colombia, and the Victoria State Government. Former AFL player Josh Kennedy has also assisted with development at the grassroots. [19]
The Bulldogs and Chile's Santiago Saints contested an annual Andes Cup since 2016. [22]
In 2024 Colombia sent a team to the Transatlantic Cup in Toronto, Canada. [19]
| Team | Location | Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bogota Bulldogs | Bogotá | 2015 | Facebook page |
A high profile match was played in 1915 by Australian servicemen (Army and Navy) at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. [23] It was believed to be the first time the sport was played in Jamaica.
Players of Jamaican descent in the 2010s and 2020s have begun to make a mark in both the AFL and AFLW.
| Player | AFL/AFLW Years* | AFL/AFLW Matches* | AFL/AFLW Goals* | Connections to Jamaica, References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Callum Brown | 2021- | 15 | 7 | Father [24] [25] |
| Sabrina Frederick | 2017- | 59 | 26 | Mother [26] |
| Touk Miller | 2015- | 165 | 47 | Mother [27] |
Australian rules is not currently played in Peru, however Peruvian Nick Shipley played in the AFL with the Greater Western Sydney Giants and hoped to inspire other South Americans to take up the sport. [28]
| Player | AFL/AFLW Years* | AFL/AFLW Matches* | AFL/AFLW Goals* | Connections to Peru, References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Shipley | 2018–2021 | 6 | 0 | Mother [5] [29] |
The United States is home to one of the larger communities of Australian rules football clubs and leagues outside Australia, with around 2,000 players and 40 clubs nationwide. The governing body is the United States Australian Football League.
Australian rules football is played in more than 60 countries around the world with approximately 1.4 million players worldwide. By 2017 more than 26 nations had contested the Australian Football International Cup, the highest level of worldwide competition. The AFL Commission is the world governing body which manages international competition through its International Development Committee headed by Andrew Dillon. There are 3 regional governing bodies affiliated to the AFL: AFL Asia, AFL South Pacific and AFL Europe.
The Great Britain men's national Australian rules football team is known as the Great Britain Bulldogs. The team is made up of the best British born players selected from clubs of in England, Wales and Scotland, and occasional appearances from British players playing for clubs in Australia. In AFL Europe, separate national teams represent England, Wales and Scotland.
The Irish national Australian rules football team represent Ireland in Australian rules football and is selected from the best Irish born and raised players primarily from the clubs of the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland but also playing abroad.
The New Zealand national Australian rules football team (Māori: tīmi whutupaoro Ahitereiria o Aotearoa; nicknamed the Falcons ; previously the Hawks, is the national men's team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The International Cup team is selected from strict criteria from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the AFL New Zealand. Test and touring squads are selected using similar criteria to other international football codes, additionally allowing players with a New Zealand born parent to play.
Australian rules football has been played in Sweden since 1993, with the game currently played in Helsingborg, Malmö, Lund, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Karlstad, Falun, Norrtälje and Uppsala. A national governing body was formed in 2007 under the name Svenska Australisk Fotbollsförbundet or AFL Sweden.
Women's Australian rules football, is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game. It is played by more than half a million women worldwide and with 119,447 Australian adult and 66,998 youth female participants in 2023 is the second most played code among women and girls in Australia behind soccer.
The Samoan national Australian rules football team, nicknamed the Kangaroos, represents Samoa in the team sport of Australian rules football. The team is selected from the best Samoan born players, who are currently mostly players from the Samoa Australian Rules Football Association.
Australian rules football in England is a team sport and spectator sport with a long history. It is home to the longest running Australian rules fixture outside Australia, the match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities which has been contested annually since 1923. All other current competitions originated in 1989 with the founding of what is now AFL London, the longest running Australian rules football league in Europe. The current governing body, AFL England, was formed in 2012 and expanded the game in 2018 to include the additional regional divisions: AFL Central & Northern England and AFL Southern England.
Note: In order to be recognised as a true national team and not simply expatriates, the list is subject to International Cup eligibility rules.
Australian rules football in Samoa has been played since 1997.
The sport of Australian rules football has been played in Fiji since at least 1963, when an exhibition was held in Suva.
Australian rules football in China has been played since the 1989 and grew in popularity in the 2010s.
Australian rules football in Africa is most organised in South Africa, although there are programs under development in many African nations including Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe and there are plans to introduce the sport into more African countries.
Australian rules football in Oceania is the sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Oceanian continent. The regional governing and development body, AFL South Pacific, is affiliated to the AFL Commission and was formed in 2008.
Australian rules football in Asia dates back to 1910 but was only sporadically played until the 1980s after which it has boomed. Clubs have begun in most Asian countries and a governing body for the region, AFL Asia was formed in 2008 to coordinate the Asian Championship and promote its affiliated leagues. AFL Asia estimates that there are now more than 10,000 Australian Football players across the continent.
Australian rules football is played in Europe at an amateur level in a large number of countries. The oldest and largest leagues are those in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, in each of these nations there are several established clubs, and organised men's, women's and juniors programs. The British AFL has now expanded into Welsh, Scottish and English leagues. The Danish AFL has been responsible for the expansion of Australian Football into Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The governing body for Australian Football in Europe was founded in Frankfurt in January 2010; the body was initially called the European Australian Football Association, but changed its name to AFL Europe at a general assembly meeting in Milan in October of the same year. It currently has 22 member nations. AFL Europe, with backing of the AFL in Australia has overseen a large improvement in the organisation of Australian football in Europe.
Australian rules football in the Middle East describes the minority sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Middle East region.
Variations of Australian rules football are games or activities based on or similar to the game of Australian rules football, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 up to the minimum 38 required for a full Australian rules football.
Huddersfield Rams is an Australian rules football team, based in the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield, England. They were formed in November 2008 by Karl Haigh, who was introduced to the sport when travelling in Australia.
The Bogotá Bulldogs is an Australian rules football club based in Bogotá, Colombia. The team trains and plays at an altitude of 2600m, making for extremely trying conditions for any visiting opposition. The Bulldogs played against the Santiago Saints on September 3, 2016, in the first ever international Australian rules football game in South America where they were victorious 98 to 48, claiming the AFL Andes Cup.
The best American finish was third in 2005
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