During the half time break a fantastic game of AFL 9’s was played by various male and female media and sporting personalities. In all honesty as an observer I can say the skill level was quite high!

To see this game surrounded by a number of grid games involving children lends credence to AFLNZ’s belief that it is reaching a wide audience.

For more on the half time entertainment and photos of the event please view AFL 9's a hit with sports stars
  ...

This ANZAC weekend proved to be a blockbuster for Australian football in Asia, with international East Asia Australian Football League (EAAFL) matches played in two countries, and many domestic matches played across the continent. The Vietnam Swans hosted the Jakarta Bintangs in Vung Tau, while the Singapore Wombats hosted both the Malaysia Warriors and Cambodian Eagles. There were important domestic ANZAC matches played in Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Philippines.
 
The Swans were defeated by the Bintangs in a close match at the old Lord Mayor’s Oval in Vung Tau. The field is inside a greyhound racing track, but was the very same oval where Australian soldiers played footy during the Vietnam War. The significant event even attracted the presence of three Vietnam Veterans who had graced that very field in the 1960s. Jakarta won the match 10.9 (69) to Vietnam’s 8.11 (59), marking a win for Jakarta’s first EAAFL match in front of over 500 spectators. This leaves Vietnam winless after their third EAAFL match.
 
At the same time in Singapore, the Wombats hosted the Warriors and the Eagles, in a tri-nation cup to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Singapore Wombats. The day also saw the EAAFL debut for the Wombats, who managed to use their home field advantage to remain undefeated, winning by 16 points against Cambodia and eight against Malaysia. The consolatory match between Cambodia and Malaysia ended in a draw, showing just how close these teams are.
 
 

The Thailand Tigers played a domestic match in Kanchanaburi near the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai, while the Eurekas and the Dingoes from the Philippines Australian Football League played for Filipino ANZAC honours. The Osaka Dingoes defeated the Nagoya Redbacks the weekend before by seven goals in Toyota City, Japan.
 
In a first for Indonesia, the Borneo Bears played an entirely Indonesian team against the Jakarta Garudas, who were also composed of entirely local players. The Garudas took the inaugural win in Balikpapan, Borneo, with a slim but well deserved victory over the Bears. With such strength in local numbers, the future is beginning to look promising for a debut at the 2014 International Cup. The event was then followed by an evening with special guests including AFL greats Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico and Garry Buckenara and former Wallabies head coach John Connolly.
 
ANZAC Day is no longer just a big day for sports in Australia and New Zealand, but a big day for sport wherever Australian football has managed to flourish.  

 
Borneo Bears and Jakarta Garudas - Borneo ANZAC Day Cup 2013 ...

The NZ Hawks have completed a clean sweep in their series against the South Pacific Academy, defeating the South Pacific with a big last quarter at Hutt Valley Oval.

With the average age of the Hawks 22 against an Under 18 team this is a result that shouldn't surprise. However with the scores tied up at three quarter time it took a monster quarter with the wind on the open expanses of the Hutt Valley Oval for the Hawks to take control.

For further details, read Hawks make it two from two on the AFLNZ websi ...

The GWS Giants have released the following official interview with European scholarship player Aksel Bang from Denmark, including some talk about his time in the Danish military in Afghanistan and footy in Europe. Aksel will play for the GWS reserves next weekend, before returning to his military service in Afghanistan.

Zach Tuohy and Marty Clarke continue to be solid weekly contributors in Carlton and Collingwood's AFL teams. Pearce Hanley returns from injury this week for Brisbane, Niall McKeever played two weeks ago for them but won't be in the senior side this week. Setanta o'hAilpin is sidelined with injury this week after kicking eight goals in the past two games at GWS while across at the Swans Tommy Walsh has been named on an extened bench and will be hopeful of his first senior match for 2013.

But another Irish youth (albeit Australian raised) will debut for the GWS this week. Eighteen year-old defender Aidan Corr will make his AFL debut against Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Corr, who was born in Northern Ireland before moving to Australia as a toddler, was selected with pick 14 in the 2012 draft and has already re-signed with the GIANTS until the end of 2016.

He is the 40th GIANTS player to make his AFL debut since the team entered the AFL competition at the beginning of 2012.

Corr is one of seven players to come into the team with Canberra-born defender Josh Bruce also named to play his first match for the season. 

GIANTS Head Coach Kevin Sheedy said taking on the undefeated Bombers in front of a big crowd at Etihad Stadium was another challenge for his young side in just their second season in the AFL.

"It's a big task for our young players this week and we'll have a look at who wants to step up and see what they've got," said Sheedy.

"Aidan Corr played some terrific football in the NAB Cup and it's fantastic he gets his chance to debut this week. He is another great story in our game with his family immigrating to Australia from Northern Ireland.

"It's a shame we'll be without Setanta o'hAilpin and Phil Davis from an experience point of view but I'm confident their replacements we've brought in will give a good account of themselves and benefit tremendously from the experience they will get playing senior football at this stage of their careers.

"We are playing longer into matches this season and have kicked over 100 points in each of our last two games. We now have to try to string four quarters together but I have no doubt we are on the right path," he said.

Aidan's brother Cathal Corr plays with Collingwood's VFL team but is not on their AFL list.

The GIANTS play Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Saturday at 1.4 ...

The international broadcast schedule for the AFL Round 7 can be seen below. All times are correct at the time of publishing and WFN takes no responsibility for changes to the schedule.

The failure to launch as scheduled by Sommet Sports has been a lowlight of the AFL's recent efforts to promote the code via free to air TV in NZ. We are hopeful that the launch may come soon - the latest comment on Sommet Sports Facebook page is that "we are still waiting for a third party to come back to us and therefore we do not have any further update regarding our up coming launch. We will update you as soon as we have further information."

An update from the Santiago Saints, based in Santiago de Chile.

The Saints have now been a club since 2008, with a mix of Chilean and expat players. We have had a number of players visiting or living in Chile involved with the mining industry and this has seen players with experience in the lower leagues in Australia pass on their knowledge to other players.

2012 saw a great charity match, with huge support from the Australian Embassy as well as other sponsors.

In 2013 the club is looking to lock in sponsors for a long term period, ensuring stability for the future.

The biggest development in 2013 has been the addition of an Auskick style program, held every Sunday ahead of the regular training session.

The sessions have been well attended by a mix of Chilean and Australian children.

The club has training every Sunday (10am for juniors, 11am for adults) at the ex-Craighouse fields.

More information about the club can be seen at Santiago Saints.

Editor: the Saints would love to have more contact from other people and clubs in South America who are interested in Australian football.  They also haven't ruled out a run at the 2014 International Cup. ...

Article courtesy of Glasgow Sharks’ Stacey Hughes and David Smith.

Victoria Park in the West End of Glasgow hosted the first ever Women's club match in Scotland on the 6th April 2013: Copper Sharks V Diesel Sharks.

The Diesel Sharks took the initiative early on in the match getting a couple of points on the board before Helen Cameron scored the opening goal of the match after a superb solo run, bouncing the ball twice before calmly slotting the ball between the posts. The Copper Sharks had no reply to a strong start from the Diesel Sharks who ended the quarter 20 points up.

The Diesel Sharks continued their domination in a 2nd quarter which saw the Copper Sharks get their first points of the day with a goal from Eileen Myles. The Diesel sharks again outscored their opponents and took a healthy 6-35 lead into half time.

The Copper Sharks started the 3rd quarter stronger as they looked to get back into the game kicking a behind and a goal but the Diesel Sharks were not ready to let the Copper Sharks back into the game and replied with 3 goals and a behind to take a 41 point lead into the final quarter.

The Copper Sharks again took the upper hand early in the 4th quarter kicking 2 points but the Diesel Sharks finished strongly with 2 goals to run out 15-66 winners.

Final score : Copper Sharks 2.3 (15) Diesel Sharks 10.6 (66)

Copper Sharks: Hazel Stevenson (C), Eileen Myles, Sue Noble, Anna Holley, Leeroy Brown.

Diesel Sharks: Stacey Hughes (C), Kirsty Gray, Zoe Rowe, Patricia Hennessey, Helen Cameron, Michel Toohey.

Scorers: Copper Sharks- Goals: Hazel Stevenson, Eileen Myles. Points: Hazel Stevenston, Eileen Myles, Anna Holley.

Diesel Sharks- Goals: Helen Cameron 4, Patricia Hennessey 3, Stacey Hughes, Zoe Rowe, Kirsty Gray. Points: Michel Toohey 3, Helen Cameron 2, Stacey Hughes
 

  ...

Article courtesy of Glasgow Sharks’ Stacey Hughes.

The Haggis cup saw the Copper Sharks seeking revenge over the Diesel Sharks for a heavy defeat in Glasgow a week earlier. Leeroy Brown was traded for Zoe Rowe for this exhibition match in Edinburgh.

The Copper Sharks dominated early proceedings, outscoring the Diesel Sharks 20-2 in the opening quarter, which Saw Sue Noble score her first goal for the Copper Sharks.

 The following quarters were much closer affairs but the Copper Sharks’ strong 1st half performance continued in the 2nd quarter, extending their lead by a further 5 points in a low scoring period dominated by the midfield. The Copper Sharks were 4.4.28 0.5.5 in the lead as the half time siren sounded. 

A rather odd article appeared in the Herald Sun today.  It quotes AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce function in Melbourne.  The headline read "The AFL admits it will not become an international sport".  That's pretty blunt and depressing for supporters of the growth of our great game.  But is that really what he said?

Yes and no.

The AFL has improved its international commitment in leaps and bounds over the past decade.  Some of that is clearly driven by commercial interests and talent outcomes, which in themselves are not bad, but there are also good intentions amongst the many staff involved in this area, and some developments are not so obviously just about revenue or talent raising.

So why the negative declaration by Demetriou?

It's worth removing the jounalist's interpretation and looking at just the relevant quotes.

"We are unashamedly an indigenous code.  We don't purport to be anything else".

I don't think this is particularly a problem, the AFL is keen to promote the game within Australia as our only home grown sport.

"We don't expect to grow internationally, it's not what we are, we're a bit like the NFL".

You see now the angle the CEO was taking, aligning the AFL with the NFL amongst his American guests.

"But it is important when you're in a globalised world when most of our clubs, if not all of our clubs and ourselves, are sponsored by international sponsors ... you need to be thinking about playing games abroad."

The sponsorship imperative.

"Each year our international broadcast rights go up.  They may go up only marginally every year but at a point in time they may go up significantly."

OK, so why would they go up?  Presumably he knows this is only partially due to expat-Australian viewing numbers.  The game must be increasing in popularity or they must hope that it will to suggest the international broadcast rights may go up significantly.  So then clearly Demetriou is talking about increased popularity abroad.

So on the one hand we have the statement "We don't expect to grow internationally" and on the other hand it seems clear, including in the same set of quotes, plus recent comments by AFL Deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan, and through their ongoing of the International Cup, that the AFL intends to:

• grow international TV audiences
• increase attractiveness to international sponsors
• provide a talent pathway for athletes from overseas
• support the amateur leagues around the world, and one day may have
• a club based in New Zealand

Now if that doesn't add up growing internationally then one of us needs to consult a dictionary.  One can only imagine the comment was a throw back to a less visionary time, was poorly phrased, and really meant "We don't expect to become dominant internationally in the foreseeable future".  But nevertheless, Demetriou said what he said (unless misquoted), and for all the above dissecting, it surely is not particularly helpful to the international cause that this site and so many of our readers hold dear. ...

On Wednesday, May the 15th, the AFL will select the top 50 female players in Australia, with AFL chief executive officer Andrew Demetriou calling out the names of the top 10 players.

Friends and family of the nominees will be invited to attend the draft at simultaneous presentations in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, which will be linked up by video conferencing.

The draft and the game are both initiatives of the Melbourne Football Club, main sponsor of Australia’s top women’s league, the VWFL, and the Melbourne sector of the draft will be conducted in the club’s boardroom.

From the draft, the two teams that will represent the Melbourne and Western Bulldogs Football Clubs during the inaugural AFL Women’s Exhibition game will be selected. The women’s teams will face off at the MGC as a curtain raiser to the AFL game played by the two clubs during AFL Women’s Round on Saturday June 29.

The exhibition game will be the first ever AFL sanctioned women’s match between two top flight clubs, though many AFL clubs do currently have ties with local women’s clubs through sponsorship and affiliation.

AFL General Manager National and International Development Andrew Dillon said there will be a big pool of playing talent to choose from.

“Already nominations have been received from current players and talented athletes from other sports. I’m anticipating the match will be of a very high standard,” he said

He also said he hoped the game would foster the involvement of more women in the game, be it though playing, coaching, umpiring, trainers and other volunteers.

The top players from All-Australian teams, High Performance Academies and 2013 state teams will be directly invited to nominate themselves for the draft, whilst clubs can nominate their best players aged 17 years and over via a nomination form on the AFL Community Club website. Players who do not live near a club and athletes from other sports are also welcome to apply.

Nominations close on Friday the 10th of May.
  ...

The following is an AFL NT media release.

AFL Northern Territory is pleased to announced the recruitment of NT Thunder Ruckman and NTFL Rising Star winner, Neil Vea Vea, to the role of Multicultural Ambassador for the Northern Territory.

“In the newly appointed role Neil will be charged with a variety of Multicultural Program activations across the Territory, as well as providing key mentor and leadership support to up and coming multicultural players with in the NT,” said AFLNT Participation Manager Adam Moedt.

Vea Vea, 19, of South Sea Island descent (Vanuatu), feels privileged to be able to play a part in delivering the multicultural programs with in the Northern Territory.

“This opportunity is very exciting for me personally as it opens up a chance for me to develop as a leader in the community and also for me to further spread the game of AFL with the multicultural space.”

In 2011 Vea Vea, showed his athletic ability being chosen to join Canterbury Bulldogs Scholarship Program before returning to the NT and to AFL football with NTFL Club Wanderers where in 2012-13 he won the NT News NTFL Rising Star Award.

“Coming from a traditional rugby culture, AFL has afforded me the opportunity to see how the sport plays a big part of the community and enables children of all backgrounds to come together under the one banner.”

Vea Vea will play a crucial role in recruiting and mentoring young men such as Zane Lopez (Spain) and Lope Goidubu (PNG) who have recently travelled to Melbourne for the 2013 AFL World XVIII selection camp as part of the World XVIII entry into the NAB AFL U16 Championships.

He has also started to continue to work with the African Leadership Academy and in particular Patrick Taban as well as other promising young players that have returned from the World XVIII Program.

“It is a credit to Neil and his strength of character at such a young age to be able to take on this role and we look forward to watching our multicultural programs grow as a result,” advised Moedt. ...

The provisionally-named AFL Scotland hopes to bring together and coordinate everyone's efforts in furthering the sport in Scotland.

Brought about by its two leagues, AFL Scotland is comprised of the Scottish Australian Rules Football League (SARFL) and the Caledonian Australian Football League (CAFL).

The SARFL is the National League format, comprising three 9-a-side teams in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The CAFL is Glasgow's metro 9-a-side league with three teams, Card Sharks, Mako Sharks and Tiger Sharks. The CAFL also has a women's division comprised of the Copper Sharks and Diesel Sharks.

AFL Scotland will be managed by its management committee voted in at every AGM in accordance with its constitution. The Inaugural committee voted in is as follows; President - John McIntyre, Secretary Alex Young, Treasurer - Stephen Connor, Womens Representative - Stacey Hughes.

There is also one representative from each member league, who are not required to be named until present at a meeting. The same applies to a Clansmen players' representative and umpires' representative.

The election of a Clansmen (Scotland National team) coach and its team manager were the first points to attend to, with Stephen Connor made Coach and Dunc Fell as Manager until the end of the international season, whereby an interview process will take place with potential and interested candida ...

AFL Fiji has started a school holiday footy clinic in Albert Park, Suva, with the aim of increasing female participation in the game ahead of next year’s International Cup.

Despite low turnout on the first few days, as word has spread, more and more girls have begun turning up to the training sessions, many of them with experience playing other sports, such as rugby.

The boys also have a holiday clinic and some of them are staying on to help the senior players organise the girls’ training too.

AFL Fiji’s Lupe Wolfgramm told the Fiji Times that the school program to introduce the sport to women started in mid-April, adding that the response was overwhelming. On the back of their success in the Western Division, they are now turning their attention to Suva.

If the recruitment and training continues to go well, Wolfgramm says she would like to try the girls out in a game situation, possibly a women’s exhibition match during the Oceania Cup in December.

Ultimately she hopes to recruit over 25 women and create a national women’s team to participate in the International Cup. 5 women’s teams competed at IC11 and since then many other countries have talked about starting their own women’s competition, and Wolfgramm also feels the event would be a good exposure for the Fiji girls. 

The training at Albert Park is ongoing and runs from 4-6 pm. Anyone aged 16+ is welcome and participants are encouraged to bring friends along. For more information, please visit the AFL Fiji Facebook page.

More information about the AFL Fiji school clinic programme can be found on the Fiji Times article.

...

Season 2012 Japan Top League saw the entry of the R246 Lions into the League achieving a measure of success in winning several of their matches and (for a brand new team) very competitive in others.

So too, season 2013 sees another new club, the Tokyo Bay Suns enter the league. The new club is the brainchild of two former Narita Hawks and current Samurais players, Yosuke Kuno and Junji Tanaka, between them about 15-16 years experience playing Australian football.

Club media spokesman and only Aussie on the playing list, Brett Snowdon, explained “the club is run as an ‘open club’, the idea that even though our game day squad is set, any members from other clubs are welcome to train with us. Players from university teams with less experience can learn from our experienced players so helping to improve the level of all teams in the league.” The club has already run a special training session where members from the Suns, Magpies, Hawks and Powers attended, around 40 players in all.

The R246 Lions showed that Japanese teams can be far more competitive against the expat Aussie heavy teams than a few years ago. University based teams have tended to have a high turnover of players, with first year students never having played the game and the experienced players leaving on graduation from Uni.

Yosuke and Junji have gathered together a quite experienced bunch of players, including, Munehiko Imai, formerly of Eastern Hawks, Masaya Nakamura, from Komazawa Magpies, Kunpei Komura from Senshu Powers and Ryosuke Aoyama from the Osaka Dingoes as the core of the club. All including Brett Snowdon have in excess of 6 to 8 years experience. Even all the younger players, Hiroki Ichinose, Shotaro Tada, Takashi Kamata, Takumi Uji, Hayata Ono, Katsuyoshi Shimizu and Takuma Hirai have a couple of years experience under their belts. Munehiko Imai is the veteran at 34 years old whilst the ‘new kids’ are Hiroki, Shotaro, Takashi and Katsuyoshi all at 22 years old.

Brett Snowdon believes "all of our players bar myself should be under consideration for national duties with the Samurais not too far down the track.” New team captain Masaya Nakamura “will be the breakout player for this year” opinions Brett, “I liken him to a taller Michito Sasaki*.”

The club has managed to secure at least one sponsor so far – Hot Chiro – a chiropractic practice based in Tamagawa, Tokyo and Spocli.

The new club has put together a support staff/management team including Asumi Endo, Shiori Sanada, Chieko Imai, Eriko Shiba and Kazuhiro Suzuki. The Tokyo Bay Suns have not named a coach this year but are using a somewhat of a round table approach to organiizing gameplans as a team.

Like so many clubs in international footy the Tokyo Bays Suns do not have a “home ground” but have managed to find a flat patch of grass about 80 x 30 metres on the bank of the Tamagawa River to use as their training ground.  

Although they haven’t had any scratch matches and “we go into Round 1 this week a bit green, we are confident of giving the established clubs a run for their money thru the season”.

Thanks to Brett Snowdon for this story.

*Michito Sasaki: Two time International Cup Samurai, also did a preseason at Essendon and played in a preseason match against Sydney Swans. ...

If you build it, they will come.

That was the motto used five years ago when the fledgling Montreal footy club was desperate to get visiting teams into town and build a unique 9-a-side event that put the spotlight on rookie Aussie Rules players.

Armed with the lure of a European-style city like no other in North America, for the very first time some applications for the 2013 tournament had to be refused as the tournament’s 4 women’s and 8 men’s slots filled in record time. Teams from New York, Ottawa, Boston, Baltimore and Halifax all committing to take on Montreal’s spread of home teams in the AFL Quebec Preseason Cup. An estimated 150+ players will be on hand for what will be Quebec footy’s finest hour.

While the historical blue-stoned streets of Montreal’s Old Port, background hum of French drifting through the streets and the smell of Poutine in the diners (chips and gravy with cheese curds - it’s ridiculously better that it sounds) play a big role in attracting visitors, it’s the focus on the players and more importantly the rookies that keep them coming back year after year.

The Halifax Dockers (located over 1,200 kilometres east of Montreal) will be using the tournament to make their official debut, bringing with them six Canadians playing Aussie Rules for the first time. Club co-founder Jonah Scott is excited at the prospect of what his band of Aussie Rules rookies will bring, noting that they play a huge role in the Dockers chances and that the Preseason Cup is the perfect environment to let them off the chain.

Saturday’s event will not only see a tournament rookie MVP awarded for both men and women, but several accolades and much attention showered on the first and second year players who inject a huge amount of excitement and unpredictability into the cup.

In 2012 the West Island Eagles took out the men’s division with a team almost entirely comprised of rookies and without a single Australian in the line-up. It was a defining fairytale moment and represented exactly what the cup was initially created to achieve.

It’s this approach of recognizing and nurturing future talent that encourages teams to unveil their debutants in Montreal’s tournament, a sure sign that after a weekend in “La belle province” and a first day of footy that won’t go unnoticed, the products of Montreal’s Preseason Cup will be footy fans for life.

...

Alberta is a province in Western Canada that is in the encouraging position of having two cities hosting Australian Football clubs. The following article is from Jason Arnold and Chantal Spindler of the men’s and women’s teams who report on the interesting formation, proud achievements and exciting developments of the Edmonton Australian Football Club.

It’s been an active off season for the Edmonton Australian Football Club.  The club’s teams, the Edmonton Emus (women’s) and the Edmonton Wombats (men’s) haven’t let the long winter slow them down.  They’ve been conducting weekly training sessions, since mid-October.  Significant recruitment efforts have seen the EAFC double their numbers and record a constant 40+ at training.

The club was established as the ‘Edmonton Emus’ in 2008 by Tristan Waldock, who coached the women’s team for two years.  The Wombats (men’s) officially joined the following year in 2009, initially led by Hamish Martin, then led by Brad Havin upon Hamish’s return to Australia.  The Edmonton Australian Football Club was then formed.

After much hard work in the off season 2012 was a breakthrough year with the Wombats enjoying successes at the Kelowna Cup (Western Canada’s first tournament of the season, hosting teams from Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton) and being super competitive in the Stampede Cup against Calgary later in the season.  Off the back of great performances by their National reps, the Emus had their first win over the Calgary Kookaburras at the inaugural Capital Cup.
 

The 2012 season saw an unprecedented eight players, five women and three men, play for the Canadian Nationals at the 49th Parallel Cup, and the club is aiming to have more representation on the National teams in 2013.

The 2013 season will see two new coaches at the helm. Will Geisler will take on the Wombats Head Coach’s role and Jason Arnold, will be the Head Coach of the Emus, in addition to taking on Head Coach of the Women’s National team, the Northern Lights. Collectively the club has been working hard on the recruiting front with the aim of fielding two men’s and two women’s teams locally.  As a result of the success of the recruitment strategy over the winter, each playing list will soon be spilt into 2 ‘club teams’ and six official ‘club games’ are on the schedule for 2013 - a first for the EAFC.

Another first will be the introduction of an EAFC Junior program under newly appointed Development Officer Joel O’Brien. Joel has extensive experience with ‘AusKick’ (Australian program aimed at introducing the game to juniors) and the club is excited about this major step in its development. Joel will also be piloting a program which will see the EAFC conduct clinics as part of the Phys Ed program at local elementary and junior high schools.

EAFC is proud to be hosting the 49th Parallel Cup in August and see that in itself as a reward for the hard work of the club’s Executive Committee. The Committee is actively planning the event and is excited at the exposure such an event will do for Aussie Rules not only in Edmonton but Alberta wide.

To celebrate both the Men’s and women’s team being united under one club emblem, the EAFC will be unveiling its new ‘strip’ at this year’s Kelowna Cup tournament in June. This is seen to be symbolic of the club moving from being a ‘new kid on the block’ to becoming a competitive force on the Canadian Australian Rules front and at the same time a respected contributor in developing our great game nationally.

An exciting year ahead for EAFC and for Australian Rules in general here in Edmonton.

...