Australian Rules football is a team sport. Eighteen parts plus those on the sidelines working together as one key unit in search of scoring more points than the other team.

But from time to time, it's good to recognize the key cogs of the machines that make up the USAFL clubs. Over forty of said clubs trekked to one of three cities during the course of the summer -- Raleigh, Denver, and Salem -- in the first buoy that is the oceanic league season.

For some clubs, it was the beginning of their interclub season. For others, it was the midway mark. Either way, it's come and gone. On three Saturdays over the course of a six week period, a total of 51 matches were played.

Some were close, some weren't. Some were played in the hot, hot heat of the American summer, and a handful were played in more temperate climes of the morning, or during those hours in Salem when the sun decided to sleep in and get up at like 2pm.

But from those 51 games, our intrepid USAFL Umpires umpiring crew selected the top three players in each game, Brownlow style (3-2-1). The players who received the most votes over the course of the day for each division were awarded Best & Fairest. The player who was the best in the game between the top two teams won the MVP winner.

For the first time, the USAFL is excited to introduce the All-Regional Team. The best 24 players in each of the divisions that were contested this summer were selected.

The list below was chosen from the highest vote-getters as selected by our umpires, as well as neutral observers from the tournaments in the case of ties. Each of the 36 teams (as opposed to clubs) were guaranteed at least one player in the division they played in, and the rest were filled out with the next best vote getters. While the number of representatives from each region vary, the starting lineup contains the top six players from each tournament.

Positions were selected by your humble author and are meant to be more ceremonial than anything else, so if I stuck your or a teammate in a position they don't normally play, I apologize.

Congratulations to those selected, and onward to Nationals!

MEN'S DIVISION 1

BEST & FAIREST: Karl Schoenmakers (New York), Harry Burgess (Austin), Jack Lucas (Golden Gate)

MVP: John Hinchen (Philadelphia), Anthony Butt (Austin), Zac Taylor (Golden Gate)

Forwards: Albert Kobe

Baltimore Dockers David Jennings

Golden Gate Roos William Calvert Jones

San Diego Lions Half Forwards: Tex Edmonds

Seattle Grizzlies Jack Lucas

Golden Gate Roos Jake Ryan

Austin Crows Midfielders: Anthony Ferriera

Golden Gate Roos Bryn Hansen

Baltimore Dockers Greg Glasgow

Philadelphia Hawks Rovers: Harry Burgess

Austin Crows John Hinchen

Philadelphia Hawks Karl Schoenmakers

New York Magpies Half Backs: Domenic Graves

San Diego Lions Anthony Grippa

Denver Bulldogs Anthony Butt

Austin Crows Backs: Declan Stimson

Columbus Cats Mike Montgomery

Austin Crows Tim Willson-Humphries

Denver Bulldogs Interchange: David Dollar

Los Angeles Dragons Eric Politz

Columbus Cats Lucas Dean

Minnesota Freeze Damien Holland

Philadelphia Hawks Zac Taylor

Golden Gate Roos Jason Wilhelm

Arizona Hawks

WOMEN'S DIVISION

BEST & FAIREST: Janie Green (New York), Catherine Georgiadis (Minnesota), Meg Leone (San Francisco)

MVP: Roxanne Alei (Baltimore), Jessica Gray (Denver), Beeke Wienert (San Francisco)

Forwards: Janie Green

New York Magpies Kim Hemenway

New York Magpies Cathy Hoha

Minnesota Freeze Half Forwards: Stephanie Peterson

Seattle Grizzlies Meg Leone

San Francisco Iron Maidens Hailey Rebar

Texas Heat Midfielders: Tori Galvan

Denver Bulldogs Lindsey Turse

Philadelphia Hawks Molly Halberstadt

DC Eagles Rovers: Simone Shepherd

Portland Sockeyes Panda Nguyen

San Francisco Iron Maidens Catherine Georgiadis

Minnesota Freeze Half Backs: Natalie Smith

Nashville Kangaroos Amelia Kahr

Seattle Grizzlies Tess Maisey

Denver Bulldogs Backs: Rosemary Kloh

Sacramento Suns Kristin Lough

DC Eagles Roxanne Alei

Baltimore Dockers Interchange: Brook Elias

Nashville Kangaroos Brianna Ostoff

Minnesota Freeze Beeke Wienert

San Francisco Iron Maidens Anna Thexton

Denver Bulldogs Lucy Parrington

Portland Sockeyes Stephanie McKitrick

Columbus Cats

MEN'S DIVISION 2

BEST & FAIREST: Erik Hansen (North Carolina), John Freeman (Nashville), Tyler Mounce (Orange County)

MVP: Patrick Kean (Boston), Brent Dowling (Denver), John Kim (Portland)