This weekend, players from 18 countries will descend on Melbourne to compete in the sixth AFL International Cup, the continued growth of which is an impressive accomplishment and testament to the hard work of the many volunteers working in those countries to draw locals to Australia’s national game.



But for all the fanfare surrounding the tournament, which runs from Saturday for two weeks, it exposes the weakness in the international development of Australian rules football. There has been endless talk and endeavours over the years of the AFL promoting its game overseas – from the underwhelming experiment in South Africa to the current foray into China – but there lacks today a will, let alone a strategic plan or comprehensive budget, to push the game abroad.

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Each player competing in the International Cup is drawn from local leagues in their respective countries – leagues that are managed by volunteers, mostly Australian expats with a fervent love of the game. The International Cup may give the impression that the AFL is hard at work in cultivating grassroots leagues in such countries. The reality, however, is anything but.

The existence of established Australian rules football leagues in at least 18 countries is an incredible achievement, particularly their ability to establish grassroots connections with local communities. But many of these leagues operate on a shoestring and volunteers put in the hours to keep these leagues running, and local football clubs afloat, with little support from the AFL.

My team, the Baltimore Washington Eagles, is a member of the United States Australian Football League (USAFL), one of the largest Australian rules football leagues outside of Australia, with 38 teams across the nation competing year-round. The game is not only present where most Australian expats reside – such as California or New York – but has even reached middle America with teams in North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, and Tennessee. It has also made strides in the north, with at least 10 teams in the Canadian province of Ontario alone.

The numbers are impressive, but the development in North America has been organic and is a result of the countless hours given by volunteers – from ex-players who have relocated to the continent, to local Americans and Canadians who have developed a love for the game – rather than any grand AFL scheme or strategy.

The game has been able to spread in North America with little financial support from the AFL or even basic equipment. Many clubs can be found training with worn-out footballs, and without team sportswear. But still, Americans have been enticed to our sport.

The USAFL has a strict rule that requires each club to field teams that are at least half American. This ensures clubs develop the game in their respective cities, hold regular clinics to introduce local communities to it and recruit American players. The best of these American players are selected every three years to compete in the International Cup. While the AFL is showcasing the International Cup as a success of its achievements, the recruitment of these international players has come largely without their involvement.



The lack of will in the AFL stems from a deeply insular approach to its own code. For all the talk of it being the best game in the world, the AFL is trapped within its own competition. Instead of seeing itself as the authority for an entire sport, such as Fifa, World Rugby, and the International Cricket Council, the AFL views itself only through the prism of its own 18-team competition.

The AFL provides the USAFL with a yearly sum that barely gets the wheels turning – this year the cheque amounted to US$71,000. That’s barely enough to have a single staffed position working full-time on the management and development of the competition in the United States. The USAFL and its football clubs are, thus, entirely administered by volunteers, and remain independent of the AFL.

As a result, the USAFL is continuously unstable and struggles at all levels – financially, logistically, and administratively. A better, well-financed structure would see each of the three main international leagues – AFL Canada, AFL Europe, and the USAFL – incorporated into the AFL body, headed by paid CEOs and with development officers allocated to each, supported by appropriate funding to administer a competition, scout talent and expand the game.

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The insular culture of the AFL also extends to the football media, which is solely preoccupied with the daily dramas of the AFL, and pay scant attention to international growth. Not a single football media show or network, of which there are plenty, offers a modicum of interest in the game’s international leagues.

Granted there are notable exceptions, such as Kevin Sheedy, who has talked for years on the need to develop the game internationally. AFL clubs have also been eager to support clubs across the globe, and step in where the AFL has not. When I reached out to West Coast with a plea to help – our players were at one stage training with three ageing footballs and no training gear, and the club was living on a budget of $500 – they hurriedly shipped over boxes of football jerseys and footballs. The Adelaide Crows have also generously answered our pleas, and other USAFL clubs have established similar relationships with their AFL counterparts.

But it should not be up to AFL clubs to take charge of the international development of footy – that they do demonstrates a clear lack of strategy and leadership at AFL level on growing the game overseas.

By failing to incorporate international leagues within its body, the AFL is missing a golden opportunity to spread the game. The leg work has already been done in many of the 18 countries competing in the International Cup, with the foundations set for further growth through grassroots leagues. The next step – from fledgling leagues to sustainable competitions and talent development, and thus a guaranteed presence internationally – requires serious AFL engagement and leadership.

The AFL needs to step out of its box and recast its own image as the leading body for a football code, and not simply the administrator of a single competition in Australia. Only then will our game truly go global.