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AFL Canada Archives
Past AFL Canada President Mike McFarlane was recently recognized in his community for his hard work over the last few years building the North Delta Junior Footy League. Mike was named the Top Honour Recipient in the 2008 Community Leader Awards for Surrey/North Delta.
Mike has built a great base for something very special in BC. There are now more than 150 boys and girls playing footy regularly with a group of eager coaches and parents behind them. Canada's U-17 squad, which defeated the U.S. in August last year, was made up almost entirely from the North Delta league. Congratulations Mike for a great job!
Read the article
(PDF, 0.7 MB).
On Saturday, May 3, the Ontario Australian Football League, OAFL, will celebrate its 20th year in Canada with a preseason tournament to be hosted at Humber College's North Campus, near the intersection of Highway 427 and Finch Avenue. The preseason tournament will encompass seven clubs from across Toronto plus teams from Hamilton and Guelph. The day will include 4 practice matches in the lead up to the exhibition match between Canada's National Australian Football Team, Northwind, and the OAFL All-Star team.
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With the post Christmas election for President and Vice President finalized the new AFL Canada Executive got down to business with the first of their monthly meetings on February 2nd, 2008. The new team of dedicated professionals includes:
Darrel Perry - President
Peter Campion - Vice President
Robert Parker - Director
Dan Noone - Treasurer
Dan Walker - Secretary
For more details on their impressive credentials look in the About Us section of this website. This new group of talented and passionate individuals has high expectations for taking Australian football in Canada to the next level. One of the first orders of business is to create a 2008 Business Plan and long term vision for growth. Prior to the implementation of any of the initiatives which the new President was elected on, the Executive are working with the outgoing AFL Executive to ensure that all financial reporting is up to date. In addition, in order to improve communication to all levels of Australian Football in Canada the minutes from the monthly meetings will be made available on the AFL Canada website. Stay tuned for an exciting 2008 season.
November 14, 2007 by Mike McFarlane
The Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Dan Walker as the league's Marketing and Development Officer on a full time basis, effective immediately. Based in Toronto, Dan will be working out of OAFL/AFL Canada's Toronto office in downtown Toronto. As Marketing and Development Officer, Dan will be responsible for the league's day to day football operation along with developing the league's sponsorship, recruitment, membership and junior development programs. A key part of his responsibilities will be to increase the league's image and awareness as well as to promote the game of Australian Rules Football in the Greater Toronto Area.
In addition to his OAFL duties, Dan will work directly with the administration and coaching staff at Northwind, Canada's National Australian Rules Football Team, as it prepares for the International Cup to be held in Melbourne in August 2008. Walker's appointment is fully funded by Ironbark International Limited, an OAFL sponsor. Dan joins the OAFL after a successful year in Victoria's GVFL where he played for Mansfield and was the club's leading goal scorer for 2006, before moving to the OAFL where in 2007 he won the league goal kicking award. Speaking after his appointment was made official, Mr. Walker made the following comment "I am excited about this opportunity and I look forward to working with the OAFL and its member clubs along with the Canadian National Australia Rules Football Team. Getting community involvement and increasing Canadian public exposure to the game through junior development programs will be a priority" he said.
For further information please contact Dan at dwalker@aflcanada.com or 416-363-8147.
Great article in the Vancouver Sun about the Cougars' Scott Fleming and his dreams and potential of one day playing for the Sydney Swans.
Read the article.
July 24, 2007 by Mike McFarlane
The full schedule for the Ironbark International Challenge and BC Footy Cup is now available. All games will be played at fabulous Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver.
Tickets will be available at the gate or through TicketWeb. There are three ticket options: Saturday ticket, Sunday ticket or weekend pass. One day tickets are $10 and the weekend pass is $15.
December 5, 2006 by Mike McFarlane
The AFL Canada Annual General Meeting has been scheduled for Saturday December 9th at 1:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Mountain and 10:00 AM Pacific time.
Please remember all of the teams in Canada should have someone from their club phone in to participate in the conference call. Phone numbers are 1-800-808-0861 or 416-507-1616 and the participant code is 797665.
December 2, 2006 by Mike McFarlane
AFL Canada is looking to fill the following two new positions:
National Junior Team Head Coach
This is new position and will be for a term to run until the 2008 International Cup in Melbourne, Australia. The head coach will be responsible for selecting his own assistant coaches and support staff. He will be responsible for implementing training and selection of the team. He will report to the National Team Head Coach on prospects for the senior national team.
This is a volunteer position and the head coach will be required to pay the same proportion of the costs as the players.
National Junior Development Officer
This is volunteer position and will run until the end of 2008. This is not an AFL Canada board position but will report to the AFL Canada president on a bi-yearly basis. The individual will be responsible for helping to develop a national junior strategy and be available to clubs for information regarding junior development programs. He will be responsible for running junior clinics in his designated area and assisting where possible in other parts of the country. He will be responsible for collecting and writing the junior development report for Canada to be presented to the AFL each year.
If you are interested in applying for either of these positions, please forward your electronic resume to Mike McFarlane at mmcfarlane@aflcanada.com by December 8, 2006.
August 30, 2006 by Mike McFarlane
AFL Canada and The Nippon Australian Football League have formed an alliance to further the interests of Australian Football between the two countries.
The alliance will take the following form:
Promotional
AFL Canada and the Nippon Australian Football League (NAFL) will give each other promotional support on their respective websites. This helps to create more global awareness for both leagues.
Player Exchanges
Should a NAFL player need to travel to Canada for work or study then they could immediately become associated with an AFL Canada team and it would help them to assimilate into Canadian life faster by joining a club and making new friends and vice versa for AFL Canada players travelling to Japan. The NAFL are aware of many Canadians travelling to Japan to teach English, French or other work. So the NAFL can help them with accomodation and other things.
Travelling Teams
As per the USAFL and AFL Canada's invite, the NAFL will come to Vancouver, Canada next year for a three-way tournament against Canada and the USA. In return we would hope that in ensuing years or even as early as this year that an AFL Canada rep team or even just a local club looking for a holiday would visit Japan in the hope of forming a further relationship with the NAFL. The NAFL has access to cheap accommodation so putting the team(s) up would be no problem.
Experience Exchange
As both leagues are trying to promote a lesser known sport there will be many similar hurdles that we've had to overcome. We can share methods, technologies, ways of garnering sponsors, etc. to further enhance the development of the game.
Credibility
By linking more countries up around the world, the sport will gain greater credibility and perhaps even higher profile sponsorships. Both are necessary to help this sport gain greater recognition. As we all know that Australian Rules is the greatest game on earth. We just have to get the rest of the world to realise it.
December 19, 2005 by Mike McFarlane | View Comments (1)
The USAFL has has invited all players and supporters of AFL in Canada to participate in the upcoming game in Los Angeles.
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February 23, 2005 by Stefan Leyhane | View Comments (5)
Mike McFarlane is the AFL Canada President for 2005. Last year's President, Mike Travers, was forced to step down due to obligations of a new job that he started in January.
McFarlane retired from football in 2003 after an illustrious career. The cousin of a three-time Brownlow Medal winner, he began playing footy in 1981 in Port Melbourne, Australia. He is the only non-Australian ever to start for the club, and managed to win two championships in his three years. After many years away from the game, Mike joined the the Vancouver Cougars in 2002. He was a member of Northwind in 2001 and 2002.
View the list and bios of the entire 2005 Executive.
November 15, 2004 by Mike Travers
Please be advised that the 2004 AFL Canada Annual General Meeting will be taking place on Saturday, November 27th at 3 pm at the Tranzac Club in Toronto. The meeting will follow the OAFL meeting at 1 pm.
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October 2, 2004 by Mike Travers
The draw for the AFL Canada raffle was held today after the OAFL Grand Final. Congratulations to the winners and thank-you to everyone who purchased tickets! Winners are as follows:
- Grand Prize: Ticket #2109, D. Dahm of Kingston, ON wins a trip for two to Australia.
- Second Prize: Ticket #5613, Hattie Shanks of Fredericton, NB wins a $1500 gift certificate to Future Shop.
- Third Prize: Ticket #3961, Luke Ypelaar of Caledon, ON wins a Team Canada jersey signed by Russell Crowe.
September 23, 2004 by Stefan Leyhane | View Comments (0)
Channel 9's "Today" show is doing a week-long series of shows on Canadian cities. The Australian morning show has been televising live from a different city in Canada each day.
Yesterday's show was televised live from Dundas Square in Toronto. The show featured a story on Australian football here in Canada. Channel 9's reporter, Nick McCallum, hooked up with the Broadview Hawks for a training session and even played in a game against the Toronto Downtown Dingos. The piece was done really well and it was great exposure, in Australia at least, for our competitions.
Watch the video from Channel 9 (requires Windows Media Player).
August 18, 2004 by Stefan Leyhane
World Footy News is a new website which has several articles a week on international Australian football. Last week, they featured an article on the development of footy in Canada.
Have a read: Stability and Growth in the Land of the Maple Leaf.
July 30, 2004 by Mike Travers
Effective Friday, July 30, 2004, the national governing body for Australian Football in Canada, currently known as the Canadian Australian Football Association, will be officially changing its name to AFL Canada.
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