Samoa

<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="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="3fa285a1exvipq.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>   |   <A HREF="id125.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nauru"><U>Nauru</U></A>   |   <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>   |   <B>Samoa</B>   |   <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="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="3f9d4fe0exvipq.png"> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Samoa</I></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="326" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 163 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="491989d0.png" border=0 width="152" height="157" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Samoa"><U><B>Home Page</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Samoa"><U><B>International Results</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id113.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Samoa"><U><B>Photo Gallery</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="702" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#0000BF HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="696"><div> <B>Samoans ready to rule</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF HEIGHT= 586 WIDTH="696"><div> <I><B>A modified game known as Samoa Rules has rapidly made its mark</B></I></div> <div> In 1998 a meeting was held in the Samoan capital of Apia with the aim of establishing Australian Football in the islands.</div> <div> The meeting saw the formation of the Samoan Australian Rules Football Association led by Scott Reid, the group staged an exhibition match during the major Samoan cultural festival held each September. Accompanied by live commentary (in Samoan) supplied by Misa Sofara, the match, the played between Lefifi Junior High School and Robert louis Stevenson School, was umpired by two ANZ bank employees.</div> <div> By November 1998, the code had spread sufficiently for an innagural season to be played under the banner of the Vailima Six-Shooters' Championship. The first team formed was the Fasito'o-uta Tigers, followed by the Vaiala Cats, Maagiagi Lupe, Line Up Magpies, Apia Barracudas and the SARFA Swans.</div> <div> Football is known in Samoa as Samoan Rules as the rules have been modified to suit local conditions. Amended rules were necessary as the grounds available are somewhat smaller than those in Australia. For a start, the Samoa Rules teams comprise of 15 players rather than 18 - five forwards, five backs and five on ballers. A centre line is marked on the pitch and the forwards can only operate in their attacking half, the backs in their defensive half. The five on ballers can go anywhere on the field. Five other players sit on the interchange bench. To encourage the kicking game, players are player are permitted to bounce the ball only once while running.</div> <div> In February 1999, eight schools contested a lighting carnival. The winner, Samoa College, was presented with the Australian High Commission Trophy. Just three months later Samoa's national team,  the Bulldogs, played the first international matches at the Arafura Games in Darwin. Their uniforms were supplied by the Western Bulldogs, who also sent over Steve Kretiuk and Brad Johnson to conduct training clinics earlier in the year. Samoa won the Bronze medal and was unlucky not to play off for the gold medal agaist Papua New Guinea.</div> <div> In August 1999, an eight team secondary school competition kicked off, the Pepsi Schools Samoa Australian Rules Championship. The 1999 senior competition started with six teams: Fasito'o-uta Tigers, Fasito'o-uta Lions, Tanugamanono Demons, Town Area Hawks, Maagiagi Lupe and the Vaimoso Giants.</div> <div> While on a surfing holiday, ex-Hawthorn champion Dermott Brereton was kind enough to conduct a training session for the Tanugamanono Demons in November 1999.</div> <div> More International matches were played in 2000. An under-16 team represented Samoa at the Jim Stynes Trophy in Canberra in June and in November the Australian Defence Force team visited, playing two matches against the Fasito'o-uta Tigers and the premier's 22.</div> <div> In 2000, two Samoans played for Queenbeyan in the ACTAFL in Canberra. The following year saw nine Samoans turn out for Doveton in the Southern Football League in Melbourne</div> <bR> <div> * Above Information is from the Official Souvenir Program of the 2002 International Cup</div> <bR> <div> Samoa Competed at the 2002 International Cup. In their group matches the defeated South Africa and Canada, but lost to the USA, Ireland and New Zealand. Samoa then defeated Nauru for 7th place.</div> <div> In 2004 Samoa hosted their first international match when Tonga made the trip. Samoa went on to win the match.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>