Australian rules football in the United States information
Australian rules football in the United States
Country
United States
Governing body
USAFL
National team(s)
Men's Women's
First played
1906
Registered players
2,000 (total) 1,000 (recreational)
Clubs
49[1]
National competitions
USAFL
Audience records
Single match
14,787 (1990) Melbourne v West Coast (Civic Stadium, Portland)
Australian rules football in the United States (most commonly referred to simply as "Footy" but sometimes "Aussie Rules" or AFL) is a team and spectator sport which has grown rapidly since the late 1990s.
Australian rules football has been continuously played in the United States of America (USA) since 1996.[2] The United States Australian Football League (USAFL) is the governing body, with various clubs and leagues around the country. It also benefits from an active fan based organization, the Australian Football Association of North America.
It was originally introduced in 1906 and by 1910 "field ball" or "fieldball", as it was then called in San Francisco Bay area schools, filled a niche later occupied by soccer. By 1911 with the rapid expansion to schools and colleges in three major cities the U.S. overtook New Zealand to become the second largest Australian football playing nation in the world and there were three reciprocal tours with international matches played at junior level between 1909 and 1919. However availability of officials, large fields, squads of sufficient size and difficulty in differentiating it from rugby as well as a lack of support from the game's administrators in Australia stunted its growth and it went into permanent recess at the end of the 1920s. It was rekindled in the 1980s through interest generated mainly from television highlights from Australia. Prior to this, it has been confused with rugby football which is less popular than American football in the U.S. The USAFL's founding president Paul O'Keefe made efforts to differentiate it through promotion of the moniker "footy".[3] The world governing body, the AFL Commission has also made efforts to differentiate it, producing educational videos such as "What is AFL?" aimed at a North American audience.[4]
Today there are numerous leagues around the country. The USAFL National Championships is currently the largest club tournament in the world with 41 teams competing across 6 divisions in 2022. The national men's team - the USA Revolution - debuted in 1999, its best result is bronze the 2005 Australian Football International Cup and has won the 49th Parallel Cup 10 out of 11 times. The national women's team, the USA Freedom - debuted in 2007 and reached bronze in the 2011 Australian Football International Cup. A national youth team has also been established and participation is growing in women's teams, junior teams and in modified and non-contact variations such as Metro Footy and Footy 7s.
AFL clubs began taking interest in converting American athletes, particularly college basketball players into professional Australian rules football players from 2010 through the AFL International Combine. While many moved to Australia to further their careers, only two have made the grade: Jason Holmes and Mason Cox, with the latter's success in the AFL contributing to a boom in American interest since 2016.
^"USAFL Club List 2021".
^"MAAFL History". Mid American Australian Football League. 2005. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
^A Man with a Vision from USAFL 8 March 2007
^What is AFL? Aussie Rules Explained, retrieved September 12, 2022
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