The Stuttgart Emus played host to the first game of the new tournament style format of the AFLG at their home ground in Esslingen. Esslingen is a short drive from Stuttgart and quite picturesque with an altstadt and the ground surrounded by a hilly backdrop. Two established teams in Stuttgart and Munich were playing as well as two teams new to the AFLG - Dresden and Ludwigsburg.

It was encouraging to see Dresden making the long trip. They had enjoyed their time in the Czech Republic and were now looking forward to playing in the AFLG. This is not unlike the Strasbourg Kangaroos that once played in the AFLG but now prefer to play in the French league even though travel is much more of a problem.

The weather was perfect for a day of football and the oval had a good grass cover. The ground is a proper oval, about 130m long, so for these 9-a-side games this is excellent but unfortunately the ground is no longer the full length it used to be for 16-a-side games. New volleyball courts are the culprit but at least workers preparing the new sites provided an interested gallery.

The new format was a success with both old and new teams being competitive with each other and the new teams being competitive with the old teams in the beggining. The short duration of the games kept interest high and blowouts to a minimum. Beggining with this format and switching to the traditional format does seem to be the way to go.

The only negative I heard was in regard to the loss of home games. I shouldn't say "only" because we all know how difficult it is to get a patch of grass in Europe and the number of home games is a justification factor. It does seem that the AFLG is continuing to make advances. ...

AFL Round 3 kicks off with Collingwood hosting St Kilda at the MCG in Melbourne Friday night.

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au.

The broadcast schedule for this round can be seen below.

Thanks to Lisa Roper who stepped up to coach the NZ Kahu team late last year for her thoughts on the series and what might be to come for the future of NZ women's players and teams.

Aleisha Taylor showing her drop punt form under pressure.

Hope Schuster, ball in hand and away on a run.

 

...

The 2015 AFL National Diversity Championships have been completed in Cairns with western Australia being crowned Kickstart champions whilst Queensland made history to win their first cup at any of these championships taking out the All Nations Cup. The following pair of stories are the grand-final summaries for both competitions.

National Diversity Championships – All Nations Grand Final

The crowd at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns was treated to a tremendous match with the Victoria/Tasmania team – last year’s winners – taking on the well performed Queensland team that had never reached a grand-final at these championships.

Victoria/Tasmania made the early running with the breeze in the first half, but again the showers arrived to negate the wind effect. At times soccer became the sport of choice as both teams hacked the ball from end to end in the conditions.

A goal to Queensland just on half time levelled the scores and set up an exciting final stanza.

After the break, Queensland came out hard but the Victoria/Tasmania team knew they had to negate any wind advantage and played a tough, defensive brand of football. It took until seven minutes into the half for either side to score, a behind to Queensland, but that was the trigger and the Queensland team rattled on a succession of goals to make history and win their first ever National Diversity Championships All Nations Cup.

Proud and emotional scenes were visible all over the field as players, coaches and officials embraced and the Queensland Kickstart team ran out to join their All Nations team mates.

Final Scores: Queensland  7  3  45 d Victoria/Tasmania  3  8  26

National Diversity Championships – Kickstart Grand Final

The two best performed teams of the carnival met in the grand-final in front of enthusiastic crowd of families, team representatives and onlookers, playing for the greatest honour. History would be made either way – Five championships from five years for Western Australia or Victoria/Tasmania to win their first.

The game started with Victoria/Tasmania using the breeze which had been as regular an attendee this carnival as the crowds. But it was Western Australia that kicked the first two goals of the match into the teeth of the strong breeze. Superior ball skills and structure once again set up the Western Australia attacks, but it was their fanatical defence which held Victoria back time and time again. Western Australia took a useful, but catchable, lead to the half time break.

The second half saw the Western Australia boys raise the bar. Time and time they attacked, building as unassailable lead as the Cairns southerly drove them home. Late goals as a result of a tiring Victoria/Tasmania team, and some end-of-carnival razzle dazzle from Western Australia, was the score blow out to 44 points by the final siren.

It was a proud coach, Shaye Hayden, who stood on the dias to revel in a fifth Kickstart title for the Western Australia behemoth.

With contributions from all players, and a four goal haul from livewire Jarrod Cameron, Western Australia were deserving winners of the 2015 Kickstart Cup.

Earlier in the morning it was another page written into the history books as the Queensland side won their first ever title at the national Diversity Championships, defeating the Victoria/Tasmania team by 19 points.

Final Scores: Western Australia  9  3  57 d Victoria/Tasmania  2  1  13

At the end of the two grand finals, winners of awards and the Flying Boomerang and World Nations teams were announced.

Most Valuable Players – All Teams

All Nations:

Queensland – Dean Katsiris, Victoria/Tasmania– Buku Khamis, South Australia– Martin Frederick,

Northern Territory– Yiannis Alexopoulos, New South Wales/ACT– Moustafa Sattout, Western Australia– Mach Deng

Kickstart:

Western Australia– Joe Hinder, Victoria/Tasmania– Tarryn Trindle, Northern Territory– Liam Fitz, South Australia– Mahali Lochowaik, New South Wales/ACT– Chris Holten, Queensland– Ari Miles

The highest goalkicking awards went to:

 Tom Ansell (Queensland - All Nations – 15)

Michael Mummery, Patrick Puautijimi (Northern Territory – Kickstart – Tied with 8 goals each)

The major championships best player awards went to:

Ryan Bennell (Western Australia – Kickstart)

Martin Frederick (South Australia – All Nations)

  ...

During the semi-finals stage of the National Diversity Cup held here in Cairns over the past week, thee Queensland Kickstart team allowed me to sit with them in the coaching bench to watch and hear what goes on “behind the scenes”. It was a rewarding experience, and it went something like this…

“One…Two…Three…”. The players are sitting stretching their hammies, quads, calves and counting the hold. You can see in their eyes this drill is the start. It is serious now. They are about to run out for what might be their last match together. A loss and their championships are finished. A win and they live to fight on to the preliminaries.

They stand and the warm up continues. Clean hands. Close handpasses. Shouting, screaming, encouraging…getting pumped.

Eddie Sansbury calls them into line groups – forward, mids, defenders. He tells the forwards to push up field. They are not tall, so get up and get the ball. Make it happen.

He moves to the defenders. A reminder to get arms across chests. Know where their man is at all times. Make sure they hit targets. That’s their job. Keep possession, then get the ball out of there.

Coach, Rhan Hooper gets the lads together. Quiet voice. Calm. He asks them to recite the words on the back of the whiteboard. “Pride”, “Hard at the Ball”, “Committed”. The mantra for their time together at these championships.

Rhan reminds them it’s possibly their last game together and throws out a question – “Do you want thatω” A resounding “NO!”

Now it’s time. The players leave the change rooms and gather in the race. They stay close…run out as a team. There is a palpable feeling of excitement as the players run through a guard of honour made by their All Nations team mates and onto Cazalys Stadium.

The coaches move to the bench. Rhan remains the epitomy of calmness. He knows it’s up to them now. The boys know it is raining and instinctively play to the conditions. Some set plays work…others fall down in the wet so they improvise.  Some great lead up work sees the team kick a valuable goal into the wind.

The bench becomes vocal. “Keep working”, they yell - a reminder that a passage of play is done, but the game isn’t.  Eddie sees things. So does Rhan. Sometimes they discuss, other times the assistant coach/runner just knows to get the message out quickly. His coach has faith in him.

The New South Wales/ACT team has taken the lead. No need to panic. Just stick with the pre-game plan. Defenders get tight.  The siren goes. Half the match is done.

At the half-time huddle, the players again head to their line groups. Rhan and Eddie move between each with messages, but the players are encouraged to self talk. Self assess. They talk each other up.

The messages follow from coaches. One half to go.

“Play to your strengths.”

”Find a man.”

“Kick through the corridor with the wind, if not, use your 45’s and head to boundary.”

“Push up. Follow ball.”

Again, the message. “Is this our last half of footyω”

The second half starts. Everything is recognised. “Good work. Good work” becomes the catch cry. Along with “Keep working. Keep working.”

The coaches keep looking at whiteboard. Moves are made. Eddie heads out again with messages. Moves.

The boys attack, but New South Wales pushes wide to boundary. But great reward for effort sees the Queensland boys get a goal. The boys needed that and the coaches can see it. Belief trickles back. The wind is strong, but the conditions are wet. It negates the wind, so the message continues. “Keep working. Keep working.”

New South Wales/ACT return fire. Two and a half minutes to go now and Queeensland are 14 points down. “Keep working. Keep working.”

But other than the mantra, the bench is quiet now. Nothing can be done from here. It is up to the players to run it out from here. Their own pride is their last chance, so they maintain their pressure to the end. The coaches know that and can see it. The old saying coming to life – “You ran it out to the end.”

Siren. Job done. Rhan, Eddie and coaches move to a huddle – final messages, thoughts. Time now to ponder.

Rhan brings the group in tight in the middle. Game is over but the team isn’t. Gives the message to keep heads up high. Be proud. Reminds team they were down in numbers. No interchange due to injuries, but all players kept fighting. Yep, be VERY proud.

He reminds the players that the pride extends to the entire trip. All of their time together. Keep chasing their goals. “Head down, bum up.”

He reminds the boys that the scoreboard doesn’t matter. It was a great game to watch and they all did the team proud. That is the note to finish on…PRIDE!

Eddie and Rhan tell the boys their job isn’t done. From here they have to rally behind their state All nations team which is very much a chance to win the title.

The coaches let the boys leave and head to the refreshing showers. They move but stop. The team leaders rally the players around and give heartfelt thanks to the coaches for their efforts since the first day the squad came together months ago. It is touching - and deserved.

The whole team moves to the grandstand. Some photos along the way and pats on the back, then down the race to the rooms.

This look at the mechanics of a match coaching session could not have happened without the kind and appreciated cooperation of Rhan Hooper and his coaching team: Eddie Sansbury, Dwayne Weetra and Travis Gulliver.  Similarly, the permission of Narelle Long, Kashif Bouns and Keith Shangere from the AFL Diversity departments in Melbourne and Brisbane got me on the field.

It was a unique look at how an elite junior squad is prepared and managed during a match – the art of coaching. 

For the record, New South Wales/ACT won 5  2  32 to Queensland 3  0  18.

But the Queensland All nations team did go on and make history, winning the All Nations Cup - the first title Queensland has ever won at these championships, so the boys in both teams can share that Queenslandd pride. ...

American Footy Star program players Carl Winston III and Torrey Harkness have moved on from VFL club Port Melbourne where they missed the final list cut and have headed to the southern NSW team Temora Kangaroos in the Farrer League. They have also been joined by a third memeber of the program Eddie Ballard who had a preseason run with VFL club Springvale before also heading to the Riverina region township.

 Adding to the International theme at the club is Dominic Joyce who played for the Irish Warriors at IC14. Joyce has moved from nearby club Collingullie where he played the 2014 season.

“We’ve got some North Americans, an Irishmen, we’ve looked outside the box to try and make our league stronger and a better place to be,” Temora President Darryl Harpley told The Daily Advertiser. “(Winston and Harkness) are out here to have a crack at our great game of AFL and if they want to come and learn more at Temora for a season or more than that’s fantastic for them.”

All four Internationals played in Temora's seinor team in their round 1 loss at home to East Wagga Koorringal by 23 points. Tomorrow all four have been selected again to play in their Round 2 clash with Marrar Bombers. ...

Sure, most people who follow AFL know that Carlton Blues are the St Kilda Saints third opponent in the Saints’ annual Anzac Day Fixture at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

But for the first time ever a junior Victorian team will be travelling to Wellington to play against the newly formed AFLNZ Academy Team. The Academy Team have themselves recently returned from a trip to Sydney where they played against a combined Independent Schools’ Allstars team and then the Swans Academy side who were coached by Swans legend Mick O’Loughlin.

The Academy side will be all the better for this experience but they will certainly be coming up against some slick players in the newly formed Peninsula Saints U16 team made up of players from the Frankston and Mornington Football Leagues, a traditional recruiting zone for St Kilda in days of yore.

The Peninsula Saints were selected by their Clubs and all compete in the Frankston or Mornington Peninsula Leagues.

Interestingly these two Leagues have combined both their U 16 and U17 Leagues for this season. This should result in two competitions per age group and lessen the blowouts that can sometimes occur at this age. In fact, the U17 competition is brand new and is designed as a stepping stone to senior football and is hoped to be used as a ladder for more players to stay actively involved with the game for a longer period.

Back to the trip to NZ! No Dandenong Stingray U16 squad members were eligible for the trip which means that the quality of the team touring is not as high as it could be but it will nonetheless not lack for football talent.  The two footballers I know well are Mt Martha’s Tim Susovich who is a fearless, contested footballer, strong overhead and loves getting forward to kick a goal and Langwarrin’s Will Davis who is a towering tap ruckman who reads the play well and will place himself around the ground to his team’s best advantage. As examples of the talent selected, this team will play some very fine football.

AFL South East, who along with the two Leagues (MPJFL and F&DJFL) and St Kilda, with sponsorship for apparel courtesy of Watersun Homes, are keen to see that this venture is not a one off and are hopeful it will become an annual event. AFL South East are also keen to explore new opportunities for NZ teams to return the visit on a regular basis.

The games against the NZ Academy will be played at AFL Wellington’s home ground, Hutt Park. Hopefully the wind will not be blowing too fiercely as it can become very exposed there in either a strong northerly or southerly.

Itinerary for the Peninsula Saints

Thursday April 23
Official Welcome Function - 6pm

Friday April 24
NZ National Combine Testing - 10am
Match 1 v NZ U16 (Hutt Park) - 4pm
NZ High Performance Awards - 7pm

Saturday April 25
Anzac Service - TBC
St Kilda v Carlton - 1pm
Halftime activities (Kiwi-kick) - 2.30pm
NZ Hawks v AFL Academy - 4.15pm
Halftime activities (AFL 9s) - 5pm
After-match Function / Meal - 6.30pm

Sunday April 26
St Kilda FC Super-clinic - 9am
Match 2 v NZ U16 (Hutt Park) - 1pm
After-match Presentations - 3.30pm
Team Dinner - 6.30pm

Monday April 27
Depart

Peninsula Saints

Players
Jack Field, Crib Point FC, MPJFL 171cms
Luke Sparks, Pearcedale-Baxter FC, MPJFL, 180cms
Angus Wright, Seaford JFC, FDJFL, 180cms
Shea Mitchell, Red Hill JFC, MPJFL, 171cms
Joel Hepner, Rosebud JFC, MPJFL, 179cms
Jayden Thomas, Rye JFC, MPJFL, 170cms
Jordan Hoffman, Somerville JFC, MPJFL, 178cms
Jake McGuiness, Pearcedale Baxter JFC, MPJFL, 172cms
Nick Foster, Tyabb JFC, MPJFL, 170cms
Tim Susovich Mt Martha JFC, MPJFL, 165cms
Max Gorman-Batt, Dromana FC, MPJFL, 173cms
Zac Adie, Balnarring FC, MPJFL, 168cms
Lachlan Fewster, Mt Eliza JFC, FDJFL, 180cms
Beau Galley, Mt Eliza JFC, FDJFL, 180cms
Lachlan Willey, Edithvale-Aspendale JFC, FDJFL, 176cms
Jack Bailey Bonbeach YCW JFC, FDJFL, 183cms
Jed Goss, Sorrento JFC, MPJFL, 173cms
Aaron Jackson, Frankston Dolphins JFC, FDJFL, 180cms
Storm Bobridge, Sorrento JFC, MPJFL, 180cms
Peter Megee, Hastings JFC, MPJFL, 182cms
Lachlan Hinde, Frankston Rovers JFC, FDJFL, 180cms
Lachlan Avery, Frankston Rovers JFC, FDJFL, 178cms
Caleb Douglas, Frankston YCW, FDJFL, 185cms
Jarrod England, Carrum Downs JFC, FDJFL, 175cms
Will Davis, Langwarrin JFC, FDJFL, 192cms
Tom Hogan, Bonbeach YCW JFC, FDJFL, 191cms

Officials
Coach:- Andrew Souter
Team Manager/Trainer:- Debbie England
Runner:-Warren Wright
Tour Manager:- Jeremy Bourke

U 16 NZ Academy

Officials
Coach: Shannon Wall
Assistant Coach: Rowie Tatana
Assistant Coach: Jeff Silby
Manager: Aaron Tamariki
Runner: Jack Green
Physio: Chelsee Peita

Players
Isaac Piper, Auckland
Jacob Tucker, North Harbour, Auckland
Nathan Halloran-Mclean, waitakere, Auckland
Sebastian Serrano, Auckland
Jarred Lewis, Counties, Auckland
Joseph Wadman, Northland
Max Stuart, Northland
Mitchell Stringer, Wellington
William Kempt, Wellington
Ish Perkins, Wellington
Cullen Marsters, Auckland
Joel Brown, Auckland
Connor McGeough, Wellington
Jack Morris, Waitakere, Auckland
Misilifi Faimalo, Wellington
Lewis Barrow-Young, North Harbour, Auckland
Jordan Skinner, Northland
Blake Williamson, Northland
Zac Vaughan, Wellington
Joseph Alesich- Tamariki, Auckland
Shaun Hanning, Wellington
Michael Iwashita, Northland
Sam Green, Wellington
Naitoa Ah Kuoi, Wellington
  ...

Best known in footy circles as the place where Essendon legend Tim Watson grew up, Dimboola is a small country town in the Wimmera region of Victoria about 330kms west of Melbourne. It is a traditional wheat/sheep farming area.

The town population is around 1600.  Their footy team play in green and gold and are known as the Roos. And now it will be home for this footy season for Terence Brasch. 

At home in Oregon state, USA Brasch like many Americans discovered Aussie rules late at night on TV.  Then he got together with some mates for a kick at OSU, before finding a more regular footy fix with the Porland Steelheads.   Brash is the latest lucky participant in the USAFL's footy exchange program where the league send a promising young American to Australia to further their footballing education.  His application was successful and soon would be on his way to Dimboola.

The Roos have wasted no time to get the eager import into his kit (No. 26) and on the field.  He received his green and gold jumper on Thursday night and has been named in the Reserves on Saturday.  They will be playing away, further west at Nhill, a town that is pretty much half way between Melbourne and Adelaide. 

Terence might  find some time for a post match chat over a beer during the season with fellow Wimmera league club Minyip-Murtoa's coach in Jaye MacCumber.  Their North American connection is that Jaye played footy in Canada and coached the Canadian team at the 2011 International Cup.

For more on Terence's season (and get the full back story so far)  you can follow his well written blog at http://www.footyabroad.com and follow him on Twitter @WhereIsTerence

  ...

The USAFL-AFL Combine is back. But this year the location has moved from Los Angeles to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. This is the same venue that the AFL held their 10-day high performance training camp for the U18 Academy earlier this year. The Combine will be held in just over a week from April 26-29. This year's updated video promoting the Combine to US athletes can be seen below and has been updated with clips of Combine graduates Jason Holmes at St Kilda and Mason Cox at Collingwood from NAB Challenge matches earlier this year.

                                                                                                             ...

AFL Round 4 kicks off with Richmond hosting Melbourne at the MCG in Melbourne, Friday night. Five matches will be played across ANZAC Day on Saturday including the St Kilda vs Carlton match in Wellington NZ.

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au.

The broadcast schedule for this round can be seen below.

The third AFL Women’s Draft was held at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne last night. The event was streamed live on the internet (although we had one report of the stream dropping out in Canada for around 10 minutes). Western Bulldogs and Melbourne took turns to add to their retained players from the 2014 match.

Western Bulldogs’ Number One selection Emma King from the Coastal Titansin Western Australia and Melbourne’s Number Two selection Danielle Goding were the top picks. Each team selected 16 players plus one emergency.

Canadians Aimee Legault and Kendra Heil were present and received a special welcome from the AFL's General Manager Mark Evans in his opening address. A support crew for the Canadians were present from AFL Canada. Unfortunately neither of the girls were selected but the fact that they were considered for this two team competition is a great effort and no doubt an inspiration to women and girls playing and taking up the game around the world. It should be noted that some of those selected last night have been playing the game for only a relatively short time.

The selections were as follows:

1.WB Emma King Coastal Titans WA

2.Melb Danielle Goding Morphettville Park SA

3.WB Meg Hutchins Eastern Devils Vic

4.Melb Kiara Bowers Coastal Titans WA

5.WB Kellie Gibson Swan Districts WA

6.Melb Ellie Blackburn Melbourne Uni Vic

7.WB Emma Zielke Coorparoo QLD

8.Melb Elise O’Dea Darebin Falcons Vic

9.WB Katie Loynes Diamond Creek Vic

10.Melb Emma Swanson Peel Thunderbirds WA

11.WB Renee Forth Coastal Titans WA

12.Melb Hayley Miller Coastal Titans WA

13.WB Kaitlin Ashmore Melbourne Uni Vic

14.Melb Ebony Rose Antonio Coastal Titans WA

15.WB Lauren Arnell Darebin Falcons Vic

16.Melb Dana Hooker Coastal Titans WA

17.WB Jessica Wuetschner East Fremantle WA

18.Melb Leah Mascall Coastal Titans WA

19.WB Heather Anderson Belconnen Magpies ACT

20.Melb Kira Phillips Peel Thunderbirds WA

21.WB Emily Bates Yeronga QLD

22.Melb Brooke Whyte Melbourne Uni Vic

23.WB Leah Kaslar QLD Coolangatta BluebirdsQLD

24.Melb Lauren Morecroft Diamond Creek Vic

25.WB Hannah Scott Eastern Devils Vic

26.Melb Cecilia McIntosh Melbourne Uni Vic

27.WB Madeleine Keryk Melbourne Uni Vic

28.Melb Bree White Vic St Albans Vic

29.WB Phoebe McWilliams St Kilda Sharks Vic

30.Melb Brianna Green East Fremantle WA

31.WB Jordan Zanchetta Yeronga QLD

32.Melb Courtney Cramey Morphettville Park SA

33.WB Pepa Randall St Kilda Sharks Vic

34.Melb Jodi Hicks Riverina Lions ACT

The Western Bulldogs and Melbourne Football Clubs will compete in AFL Women’s Exhibition Matches on Sunday May 24 at the MCG and Sunday August 16 at Etihad Stadium. ...

Report courtesy of Matt Jaggar, AFLCNE

After six years of trying, the Huddersfield Rams Australian Rules Football Club finally triumphed in the Haggis Cup last weekend.

Edinburgh played host to this year’s pre-season AFL Scotland tournament, which saw the Rams narrowly beat Glasgow Giants in the first game, before walking over them in the final of this year’s Haggis Cup.

The Rams, who are sponsored by Grosvenor Casino, named a match day squad that was a dynamic mix of fresh blood, youth and experience, with newbies getting their first taste of Aussie Rules alongside players who had competed in all five of the previous attempts north of the border.

Huddersfield’s pathway to the final was by no means a straight shot as they ran in a couple of close games with wins of less than one goal in two out of three games before the final.

Luke Booth, the Rams' most decorated player, claimed the tournament's Best on Ground votes, whilst club founder, Karl Haigh kicked the most goals and Robbie Wilson marked his Rams return with a performance which earned him the club’s player of the tournament.

This Saturday brings the first round AFL Central and Northern England League, which sees the Rams face off against Manchester Mosquitoes in a rematch of last season’s Grand Final. Huddersfield will be eager to seek revenge after narrowly missing out on the flag in 2014 in a close final.

The club is always seeking new players of any ability and holds weekly training sessions at Huddersfield YMCA, Laund Hill, Salendine Nook from 6:45pm, every Tuesd ...

The United States Australian Football League officially got the 2015 season under way this past weekend with the Eastern regional tournament being held at the Central Broward Park Cricket Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  2015 will see a full slate of regional (Eastern, Central and Western) tournaments held across the league; these events, and a new USAFL poll-ranking system, will help determine divisional seeding at the National Championships in Austin, Texas later this year.

While three teams (#1 New York Magpies, North Carolina Tigers and the #20 Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids) competed as full units, numerous players from other squads made the journey down to sunny Florida for an April footy-cation.  With two 2014 national champion sides in attendance, the stage was set for a wonderful day of Aussie Rules, with sunscreen and hydration the order of the day. 

Match results of the day surprised many observers of the USAFL. 

North Carolina 4.1 (25)
#1 New York 10.8 (68)

#20 Fort Lauderdale 7.6 (48)
North Carolina 3.7 (21)

#20 Fort Lauderdale 6.7 (43)
#1 New York 2.6 (18)

The Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids were able to use their hometown advantage to overcome the reigning division one champion New York Magpies in the tournament’s final. Buoyed by a strong turnout of local players, the Squids forced New York to eat pie with a 25 point victory.

Despite missing numerous players from the team that took home the 2014 gold in Dublin, Ohio, the Magpies still retained several key performers. The question remains whether or not they can retain their grip on the USAFL’s number one ranking without former coach Glenn Ormsby at the helm.

In the face of two of defeats in Florida, the North Carolina Tigers appear to be a side on the way back up. With a mixture of veterans and newcomers, the Tigers snatched a division four championship in 2014. A strong, albeit unsuccessful, showing in Florida, indicates they will be a side to watch this season.

In other USAFL results,

#13 Nashville Kangaroos 13.14 (92)
Atlanta Kookaburras 2.7 (19)

Tulsa Buffaloes 8.10 (58)
#10 Dallas Magpies 15.19 (109)

Meanwhile, the April USAFL Top 20 Ranking Poll looked like this:

1. New York Magpies
2. Orange County Bombers
3. Austin Crows
4. Denver Bulldogs
5. Minnesota Freeze
6. Golden Gate Roos
7. Los Angeles Dragons
8. Columbus Jackaroos
9. Houston Lonestars
10. Dallas Magpies
t-11. Chicago Swans
t-11. Baltimore-Washington Eagles
13. Nashville Kangaroos
t-14. Boston Demons
t-14. Sacramento Suns
16. Philadelphia Hawks
17. Des Moines Roosters
18. Ohio Valley River Rats
19. Portland Steelheads
20. Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids ...