South Africa

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The Convict's African Adventure

Feb 10 2005 By Steven Harrison from the Footy South Arfica website The visit of the Australian 'Convicts' football team to South Africa was a hugely successful two weeks which has left a significant impact on South African Aussie Rules participants. The South African senior players had the opportunity to compete against 'genuine Aussies', and the growing number of junior participants could improve their skills at several coaching clinics hosted by the Convicts at Potchefstroom, Itsoseng and Ramatlabama. But it wasn't only the South Africans who got a lot out of the visit. The Convicts, who had been in the country only two days, were blown away by the reception of the 180 school children from the Potchefstroom area at Ikageng stadium. At the end of a two hour footy clinic, the junior players sang traditional African songs which left several of the Aussie boys teary eyed. As well as enjoying participating in Footy activities, the Convicts, made up of players and officials from many parts of Australia, made the most of many other activities South Africa has to offer. As part of their tour, they visited Kruger National Park, Pilanesburg National Park, Sun City Resort, the township of Soweto, and also experienced first hand Potchefstroom's nightlife! The tour marked the first time a visiting team from Australia has played against South African opposition. The Convicts, who toured Europe in 2004, departed South Africa with their clean record still in tact after proving victorious in all three games of the series. Game 1 saw The Convicts take on Gauteng Province at Mohadin Cricket Stadium, outside Potchefstroom. Many of the newer Gauteng players are current Rugby players, and this experience will stand them in good stead come August's International Cup. The introduction of 193cm / 104kg Rudi "The Axeman" in the Ruck for Gauteng was greatly anticipated. Both sides weren't let down as he laid several massive tackles and threw the best Quarterback style 'Hail Mary' Australian Football has ever seen. Still a lot to learn for these newer players, but the potential of these players was very encouraging. Full Back Duane, in his first game, restricted the Convicts forwards by providing excellent aerial contests. He was appropriately awarded the best player for Gauteng. Scores: The Convicts 6.3 13.8 16.11 21.16 (142) vs Gauteng 1.3 1.4 4.5 10.10 (70) Best: Duane Vermeulen Game 2 at the University of North West, Mafikeng, saw The Convicts having to work much harder in the 35 degree heat to outplay the more experienced North West representative team. Most of North West's players represented South Africa at the International Cup in Melbourne in 2002. As was the case at that tournament, they found themselves lacking height and physical strength against the visitors. Despite many of The Convict players claiming that they had been run off their feet by their opponents, the telling difference was The Convict's forward's ability to out-muscle their opponents and take strong marks in front of goal. Some fantastic passages of play from the North West side resulted in good goals. Scores: The Convicts 6.3 12.4 18.6 22.12 (144) vs North West Provine 1.3 4.3 5.8 7.10 (52) Best: Benjamin Motuba Game 3 was held at Eldorado Park Athletic Stadium, which made the SCG look massive. The Convicts had enjoyed a Soweto tour that morning, and were excited about playing Australian Football in what is part of this famous township. South Africa's selected team, made up of players from Gauteng and North West Provinces, will act as the initial squad for August's International Cup. The build up of the game was added to with the knowledge that it was to be the last game of football played by Brian Clarke, Convicts tour organiser. His team rose to the occasion, with a huge first quarter in which they amassed 80 points. The South Africans finally got going in the second quarter and found the goals on several occasions. Ruckman Brian Mitchell showed some toe, slotting through two goals on the run. The scoreline ended respectably for the South Africans, after a strong second half. Scores: The Convicts 13.2 15.8 19.10 24.11 (155) vs South Africa 4.5 9.6 13.9 15.11 (101) Best: Mtutuzeli Hlomela AFL South Africa would like to thank The Convicts for their enthusiasm particularly in the training of the local junior players during the footy clinics. The feedback from their school teachers was very positive. The Convicts will travel to Europe once more in 2005, and we are looking forward to their return visit to South Africa in 2006.

South Africa the hidden diamond

Nov 29 2004 Mark Stevens of the herald sun JOHN Worsfold has his troubles constructing a decent spine at the Eagles, but spare a thought for the man with the job as head coach of AFL South Africa. Most of the 1000 players at Steve Harrison's disposal are under-nourished and under 170cm. Imagine the intimidation when Harrison's best 22 arrived in Melbourne for the first game of the 2003 International Cup and were confronted by the beefcake Kiwis - Haka and all. "They're standing at Sandringham Oval and New Zealand's doing the Haka at them," Harrison said. "They got thrashed, but gee, it was a beautiful story." The South Africans lost by 162 points. There was a roar when Harrison's boys registered their only score -- a behind from a rushed, wobbly snap. "The people playing the game here at the moment are all black and all soccer players," Harrison said. "But honestly speaking, many are malnourished. Food is very scarce in these places. They're very poor. I've been to a lot of their houses and there's six and eight people living in a two-room house." The South Africans went reasonably close against Canada, but finished stone, cold last. Then again, Harrison, a local boy from Sandringham who couldn't resist the romance of a job as joint coach and chief of South Africa footy, has big dreams. The AFL is excited, too. As bad as the African lads were in their first major tournament, there is a genuine feeling that South Africa is a ridgy-didge frontier. Harrison is now being inundated with interest from rugby players who want to represent their country in Aussie rules. With four or five tall athletic types, he reckons South Africa will be far from embarrassing at next year's International Cup. "What's needed is a bit of size and aggro and I reckon we can get it," Harrison said. Harrison, based in Potchefstroom, said the fact St Kilda was spending three weeks in the university town, training and running clinics, had also provided a significant boost. On Thursday, the Saints left the luxury of Sun City resort and hopped on a bus -- minus air-conditioning -- for an eight-hour trek. They stopped at Rustenburg and Mafikeng, where they were shocked to find one youngster wearing a Richmond guernsey dating back to the early 1990s. Last year, Australian rules was admitted as one of 10 official sports in the North West Academy of Sport. Harrison predicts that by the end of 2005 there will be 11 leagues and 50 clubs operating in the province. The AFL is aiming for membership of the South African Sports Commission by 2009. To qualify, the sport must have programs in five of the country's nine provinces. Achieve that and major funding will flow. Former politician and Melbourne premiership player Brian Dixon has been talking up the potential for growth in the region for some time, coming on board as president of AFL South Africa last year. "The AFL's overriding priority is to further develop the game in Australia, particularly New South Wales and Queensland," Dixon said. "While it is appreciated that strong international growth would be very difficult and expensive, one country where Australian football can succeed in the long-term and off a low cost base is South Africa." Dixon and Harrison see the climate as perfect and there's the obvious advantage that South Africa is dotted with cricket grounds ideal for Aussie rules. All Harrison needs now is some more Sherrins. "There's probably four Sherrins in the country, but there's a whole stack of Burleigh footies," he said. "If anyone wants to sponsor us for some Sherrins, we'd be rapt." An African equivalent of the Haka would be nice, too.

Football's African adventure

Nov 18 2004 By Dan Oakes of The Age The North West Province has embraced Australian football, but could the game yet conquer the rest of the country? As St Kilda conducts its 10-day training camp in South Africa, starting today, it will discover that one small province in the backblocks of that rugby- and cricket-mad country is fast becoming the world's most unlikely AFL hot spot. A submission by AFL South Africa predicts that within a year, there will be 3000 people in 50 teams playing the game in North West Province, on the border with Botswana. If the projection is realised, the province will have the biggest Australian football-playing population outside Australia and Papua New Guinea. "We need to consider the opportunity that presents itself now and not miss the opportunity by sitting on our hands. We want to embrace what the South African people have been able to demonstrate," said David Matthews, the AFL's game development manager. "The support doesn't always have to be financial. The sort of promotion that St Kilda are undertaking at the moment, we'll top that up with coach education, coaching seminars and promotional clinics over the next The head coach and executive officer of AFL South Africa, Steve Harrison, said yesterday that the enthusiasm in the province for the sport was infectious because of the similarity between the sporting cultures of Australia and South Africa. Harrison said that because the two countries were so competitive in cricket and rugby, many South Africans were curious about Australian football. "The rate of growth really is exceptional," Harrison said. "I've been rounding up kids to come down and see the Saints this week. "I visited four schools. I just went in there and saw the sports teachers. I walked in, had five- or 10-minute meetings, explained a bit about Aussie football - some already knew about it, some didn't - and said, 'Would you be interested in bringing some kids down on Saturday to train with these guys,' and all of them have agreed to bring down 40 or 50 kids." The introduction of Australian football to the area was due to a combination of good fortune and persistence. Although Australian soldiers during the Boer War and miners in the late 19th century are documented as liking a bit of kick-to-kick, the sport took off in modern times after a South African boxing troupe competed at the Arafura Games in Darwin in the late-1990s and became fascinated with the game. Over the next few years, the Crows visited the area and held clinics, as did an Australian Army contingent. But it only took off in 2001 when the AFL and the aid agency Australian Volunteers Abroad combined to send a development officer to the area. Since then, Australian football has become an accredited sport at the prestigious North West Academy of Sport at Potchefstroom (where the Saints will train), and a plan has been put into place to introduce the sport into a further four of South Africa's nine provinces. The AFL's commitment to South Africa is still not massive. The league kicks in $20,000 a year to promote the game, with Tattersalls (which has business interests in the country) and the South African Government contributing $180,000 between them. But Harrison and Matthews agreed that the most significant thing was the government support. "The impressions that we've got are that the South African Government sees it, in some respects, as the sport for the new South Africa. There's no class element to it in terms of the history and politics associated with a lot of the sport in South Africa," Matthews said. "We're excited by the rapid growth and we're excited by the fact that, in this case in particular, locals want to get very involved. I guess the main advantage we have is that there are cricket ovals everywhere. With cricket grounds everywhere and governments supporting us, who knows where we could take it?" Matthews said the AFL's priorities were still in promoting the game at home, but the rate of growth could not be ignored. "South Africa is a very, very interesting possibility for the AFL. Longer term, you never know where this might end up," he said. Harrison estimates there are 1000 people in the province playing in 25 to 30 teams, but he harbours grander dreams. In his submission, he said that the AFL could have membership of the South African Sports Commission by 2009, and the accompanying financial and logistical benefits. "There's just so much to do," he said.

Western Cape Now On The Footy Map

May 21 2004 Students from picturesque Stellenbosch University participated in their first ever game of Australian Football last Saturday. Twenty five players participated in an introductory skills session, followed by a well contested match. Australian Football was last played in the Western Cape in 1998 when two Australian professional teams, the Brisbane Lions and the Fremantle Dockers, played at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town, as part of the AFL pre season competition. Saturday's game was Western Cape's first `grass roots' Footy game, played at Stellenbosch University, approximately 50km from Cape Town in Western Cape's winery district. Stellenbosch University is one of South Africa's largest universities, and has produced many Springbok Rugby players. All of last Saturday's participants either play or have played Rugby, and they enjoyed the physical nature of the game. Footy South Africa's Head Development Officer, Mtutuzeli Hlomela was impressed with what he saw. “There is an obvious advantage for those who've played Rugby. The way they attack the ball is very good.” Hlomela said. Kobus Smit, who was `Best On Ground' in his first game of Footy was also the Captain of Western Cape in the 2000 Craven Week Rugby Competition, South Africa's prestigious under age competition. Both the players and the facilitators of last Saturday's event are looking to eventually form the Western Cape Australian Football League, and include the Western Cape in Footy South Africa's Inter-Provincial Championships next year, to compete with Gauteng and reigning champions North West. South African Lawyer Christopher David, who played a major role in attracting players for the event, believes the potential for Footy in this area is strong. “A hostels competition is planned for later this year, and I think we'll see many more players become interested in this game.” He said.

North West Province Dominates First Inter Provincial Championships

May 7 2004 Footy South Africa hosted South Africa's first Australian Football Inter Provincial Championships at ISSA last Saturday 24 April. North West Province were dominant against Gauteng in all three matches (A grade, B Grade and Under 12). Watched by as enthusiastic crowd of 200 spectators including the High Commissioner from Australia, Mr Ian Wilcock, and members of the Footy South Africa Council, the teams gave a wonderful presentation of Australian Football.

Lotto Funding Success

Apr 22 2004 Footy South Africa has been boosted by successfully obtaining South African Lotteries funding for season 2004-2005 for R394,000. The money will be split between the four districts of the North West Province and will provide for equipment and training workshops. The funding will enable a significant growth in the numbers of young people playing Australian Football. At present, 300 hundred people in South Africa play, coach and umpire the great game. The Lotto funding adds to the Tattersalls grant of R150, 000, the AFL Grant of R100, 000 and the North West Academy of Sport R100, 000. There is also significant support from SCORE, Australian Volunteers International, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. Footy South Africa will also prepare a development plan for the AFL to extend in to other provinces. Gauteng already has two teams in Pretoria and Johannesburg and is challenging the North West Province in the first ever Inter Provincial game on Saturday April 24 in Mafikeng. Other provinces Footy South Africa are likely to target are Limpopo, Western Cape and Free State, although all provinces will be considered.

South Africa launch website

Feb 24 2004 South Africa now has it's own website www.footysouthafrica.org. Check it out it is a great website. It will be interesting to see how they do in the 2005 International Cup, if you browse through the website you will see that they are aiming for a top 4 finish. Good luck to them!