Nauru

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#333399" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="3fa285a1erkjzj.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Aussie Rules Global Invasion</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aussie Rules Global Invasion"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Canada"><U>Canada</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id130.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Denmark"><U>Denmark</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Germany"><U>Germany</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id122.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Great Britain"><U>Great Britain</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ireland"><U>Ireland</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Japan"><U>Japan</U></A>   |   <B>Nauru</B>   |   <A HREF="id126.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="New Zealand"><U>New Zealand</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PNG"><U>PNG</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Samoa"><U>Samoa</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="South Africa"><U>South Africa</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id119.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spain"><U>Spain</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sweden"><U>Sweden</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id128.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="USA"><U>USA</U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=9.375% BGCOLOR="#333399" TEXT="#080000" background="3f9d4fe0erkjzj.png"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFCC33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Nauru</I></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="237" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 101 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="077525f0.png" border=0 width="82" height="95" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nauru"><U><B>Home Page</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id102.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nauru"><U><B>International Results</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nauru"><U><B>Photo Gallery</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="696" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#333399 HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="690"><div> <B>A country obsessed</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 HEIGHT= 601 WIDTH="690"><div> <I><B>In a tiny Pacific nation, Australian Football is the No.1 Sport:</B></I></div> <div> The Republic of Nauru is a small isolated central Pacific island about 41 Kilometres south of the equator. It is divided into 14 districts and has a total population of about 10,000 people.</div> <div> Despite its small size, Nauru has had its fair share of visits from high-profile AFL players and coaches. Including Dernott Brereton, Barry Lyon, Gary Ablett, Michael Turner, Paul Couch, Neville Burns, Bernie Quinlan, Mark Yeates, Jarrod Molloy, Simon Hawkins, John Northey and Chris Johnson.</div> <div> Nauru is the only country outside of Australia where the No.1 sport is Australian Football. A good example of Nauru's obsession with the game is the name of some of the locals. Christian names include Sheedy, Hawthorn, Jacko, Cazaly, Hudson and Jesaulenko.</div> <div> The Nauru Australian Football Association consists of six senior teams and a five team reserve competition. In the Nauru Junior Football Federation, there are under-11 and under-14 competitions.</div> <div> NAFA's headquarters are at Linkbelt Oval. There is no grass on the oval, whch is covered with phosphate dust over crushed dirt. NAFA's slogan is "The hard men of football" and you would have to be made of stern stuff to even consider playing on such a surface.</div> <div> Despite the lunar appearance of the playing field, there are permanent goalposts and a large scoreboard. The centre square and other markings are done with oil.</div> <div> There is virtually no recorded history of Australian Football in Nauru. Common consensus, however, indicates it was introduced in the 1930's by Nauruans who had been to school in Victoria. Among them was Geelong supporter Hammer DeRoburt, who is known as the father of the nation.</div> <div> Nauru participated in the 1995 Arafura Games in Darwin and won the bronze medal. The Frigate Birds (as they were then known) were coached by former Geelong player Mark Yeates.</div> <div> In 1996, there were eight teams in the competition and special guest John Northey watched the Grand Final.</div> <div> In 1997, there was no competition at either junior or senior level, although the Nauru Secondary School sent an under-14 team to compete in the Queensland Junior State Championships. It competed an an invitational side and won all four games.</div> <div> In March 2000, Nauru's national team, now named the Chiefs, travelled to Queensland to compete in the Web Sports Cup, which also involved Samoa and Australia. Nauru was very successful and won both matches.</div> <div> The Chiefs repeated their success a year later, this time taking out the inaugural Pacific Cup, which was also held in Queensland.</div> <div> On a roll, the Chiefs continued on to the Arafura Games in Darwin, where they won the gold medal. No football was played in Nauru during 2001, but the side is confident of performing well at the International Cup.</div> <bR> <div> * Above Information is from the Official Souvenir Program of the 2002 International Cup</div> <bR> <div> Nauru got off to a good start in the 2002 International Cup thrashing Japan in their opening match but a close loss to Great Britain derailed their campaign, losing to Denmark and then putting in a good effort against PNG. They then took on Samoa in the 7th place play off but lost to finish 8th overall.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>