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| Aussie Rules in Vanuatu |
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Australian rules football has been played in Vanuatu since 2006, when AFL Queensland volunteers from the Gold Coast, Queensland set up a Rec Footy competition. The program expanded in 2008 to include an Auskick junior development program.
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Via the efforts in Vanuatu to meet AFL criteria, the AFL Vanuatu has become incorporated, and the goal now is to establish two permanent teams initially, so as to develop competitive games.
So how is it progressing?
EIGHTY Vanuatuan children have become Australian football converts, signing up to NAB Auskick programs after participating in clinics introducing them to the game.
NAB Auskick clinics were held at three schools during the first week of June following interest generated from informal sessions for students attending the international school in Port Vila.
AFL Queensland Auskick Manager, Fiona McLarty, said football made its mark in Vanuatu when a Gold Coast couple living there introduced Rec Footy – a mixed, non-contact version of football played in competitions around Australia.
Initially played by expatriates and their children at the international school, exposure of the game attracted broader interest resulting in McLarty’s visit to the island nation to set up NAB Auskick.
“When I rocked up to the schools to do the clinics a lot of them thought that it was rugby because of the balls,” McLarty said.
“But once you explained to them what it was about and that you play on a cricket oval and showed them the goal posts, they picked up the game really well.”
McLarty said skills learned from soccer, one of the main sports in Vanuatu, translated across to AFL.
“The kids over there are so athletic. They were fantastic just with their motor skills and picking up the game, like picking up, handballing and kicking drop punts. They were really good with it,” she said.
“The people over there would be really suited to playing AFL.”
A group of parents will take the reigns as NAB Auskick coaches after McLarty hosted an informal session teaching them how to run a clinic.
Three players from Vanuatu also competed in the Oceania U16 Championships in Tonga in 2010.
This video news story is from TBV (Vanuatu's local TV) news and sports show. Footage is of a 'scratch match' in Port Vila on 20th November 2010
Vanuatu has no senior Australian football competition, but eight teams play social Rec Footy over summer. With NAB Auskick under way, the coming years may see the island paradise take the game to a new level.
Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Contact details for AFL Vanuatu are...
Fiona McLarty (AFL Queensland Auskick Manager)
(08) 3394 2433 or fmclarty@aflq.com.au
and
Justin Johnson
+678 775 5284 or justin@mooringsvanuatu.com
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Posted on Jan 09, 2011 08:49am by admin
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