MEDIA RELEASE
Friday 13th July, 2007
DJ Mzo from Gagasi 99.5FM, leading Australian music acts Evermore and Bliss ‘n Eso, and MTV cameras shooting a unique documentary will headline the launch of ‘Aussie Rules’ football and the Footy Wild™ program in Umlazi.
Please click the attachment for more details
Posted in Australian Volunteers, Clinics, Development, Events, KwaZulu Natal, Programs
By Stephen Rielly http://www.realfooty.com.au
04 July 2007
NOTWITHSTANDING the relative success of the Irish experiment and the remarkable individual stories of Dublin’s Jim Stynes, Kerry’s Tadhg Kennelly and, of late, County Down’s Martin Clarke, South Africa has become the AFL’s preferred international recruiting field of the future.
This much was confirmed last week when a partnership with a South African company controlled by Geelong president Frank Costa was announced in the Johannesburg town of Alexandra.
The partnership, between AFL South Africa and Costa Logistics, will underpin the immediate roll-out of an AusKick-like development program, FootyWild, across four provinces. The AFL hopes it will produce 30,000 participants between the ages of eight and 18 by the end of 2009. If that figure is reached, South Africa will have a player base similar to that of Tasmania.
The AFL’s game development manager, David Matthews, said yesterday that being able to introduce Australian football to a foreign country without compromises or modifications — combined with South Africa’s enthusiasm to bring about social change through sport — made the export a development priority for the league. “It’s now clearly our priority international market. We’re going to South Africa unashamedly. With an Australian football, an oval ball, in our hands and grounds, because of cricket, that are comparable to our own,” Matthews said.
Which is why, next summer, Carlton, Collingwood and Fremantle are expected to conduct pre-season camps in South Africa and two of those sides will play a pre-season cup match there. “We’re finalising plans for that game now,” Matthews said.
The AFL has committed $400,000 a year for three years to AFL South Africa, with four AFL clubs (Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle and West Coast) expected to pay $40,000 each for exclusive development rights in a province. With partnership funds from the likes of Costa’s firm, Tattersalls and the South African Government, the overall development budget is close to $1 million a year.
The funds will employ as many as 10 development officers this year, who will be expected to take FootyWild to at least 80 schools and start to establish talent identification programs at under-13, under-16 and open-age level and an elite AFL South Africa Academy for potential draftees.
The AFL has sought to make South Africa more attractive as a potential source of AFL players by introducing an international scholarship scheme that creates a place for a South African draftee on club lists and allows them to be signed as early as 15. Irish players, by contrast, cannot be signed until they are 18.
“What Collingwood has been able to achieve with Martin Clarke, they could achieve again and more in South Africa because the players can be signed earlier,” Matthews said.
Posted in AFLSA Staff, Development, Events, Gauteng, North West, Programs, Special Thanks, Western Cape
By Phindile Khambule
12 June 2007
After an exhaustive talent search to find Australian Football’s newest Development Officers, the expanded team at AFL South Africa are about to take the “Big 5” skills of footy to Primary schools throughout the country.
“For a game that is virtually unknown in most parts of South Africa, we received an amazing level of interest in the 10 Community Development Officer (CDO) positions we recently advertised in four Provinces,” said Operations Manager Joel Kelly.
Australian Volunteer Travis Jackson, who is working for AFL South Africa and the Oaktree Foundation in Kwa Zulu Natal, was instrumental in finding a way to identify the best young people for the massive task ahead.
“We decided to take a slightly unconventional approach to the recruitment process, as we knew very little about the applicants and the majority of them knew next to nothing about our game”, said Jackson.
Instead of the standard short-listing for interview, the team at AFL South Africa simply invited the strongest candidates to each Provincial hub, for a practical introduction to our game and inter-active problem solving activities.
“It was almost like a draft camp of a different kind – we showed them the game, we got to see first hand who understood what we were talking about, who could think on their feet and who demonstrated the sort of leadership, initiative and potential we are looking for to introduce a relatively new sport in a new market”, said Jackson.
Admittedly, some of the applicants thought they were applying for soccer jobs, but once they saw the Australian game and had a go, they all became instant converts.
This is a theme close to the heart of AFL South Africa’s Head Coach and Ambassador Mtutuzeli Hlomela, who applied for a “football scholarship” in 10 years ago, thinking it was a soccer academy, only to discover he had actually accepted an Australian Football invitation to trial with Sturt FC in the SANFL!
“I could certainly appreciate what some of the applicants were feeling”, said Mtutu, “as I was in exactly the same boat a decade ago, but look at me now – I am part of the greatest game in the world and know that these young men will feel the same as me before too long.
The ten successful candidates are all young South African males in their twenties, some with experience as volunteers with South African agencies such as SCORE (Sports Coaches Outreach), some with University backgrounds, others with no knowledge of footy whatsoever, but all of them driven by a common love of sport and passion for community development.
Take 20 year old Mazizi Sifanelo from Nyanga township in Capetown, as a shining example of the possibilities. Mazizi first started playing footy about 9 months ago, when Allison Simons (Australian Volunteers International – AVI) came to Capetown to work for AFL South Africa. Since that time he has toured Australia to play the Indigenous U16 National side (Feb 2007) and volunteered to help Allison with the introduction of the game in his own township. Now he has a full-time job working in footy and can see the potential for the foreign game in his country.
“After two weeks of training with my new work-mates I can see we have a great team of enthusiastic young people ready to take the game to the next level – this really could be the new sport for the new South Africa,” said Mazizi.
The sight of a ten young South African men teaching the skills of Aussie Rules to over 500 local boys and girls from three township schools this week, has signaled a key turning point in the development of the game abroad. “Africans teaching Africans is what capacity building and empowerment is all about,” said Kelly.
As a result of the intensive training program and trial sessions with schools in the North West Province, the CDO’s have helped shape and develop the FootyWild program, South Africa’s answer to AFL Auskick. The program is developing its own South African flavour with its own unique style. The new approach has already given birth to some strange but effective footy terms that South Africa’s youth can relate to, “Swing your arm like an elephant’s trunk,” said young Mazizi with quiet confidence, as he showed his new counterparts how to teach the handball skill.
In the second half of 2007, AFL South Africa will introduce the FootyWild program to 4000 school children from 80 Primary schools in four Provinces. Volunteers will be empowered to assume management of 20% of the FootyWild programs in 2008, as part of a dedicated growth strategy moving forward. Who knows where it could lead to from there?
One thing is for certain though – FootyWild is the new game that roars and it’s about to make plenty of noise in southern Africa. Can’t wait to hear that!
Posted in AFLSA Staff, Clinics, Development, Programs
There is a new game that is about to roar in South Africa. “FootyWild” is an introductory sports program unlike any other, that will launch in Potchefstroom this April providing the opportunity for young South African boys and girls aged 8 – 13 years to play the unique game of “footy”, which in Australia is often called AFL, Australian Rules Football or Aussie Rules.
FootyWild is derived from the Australian introductory program called AFL Auskick. The African program will introduce young players to everything that is wild and exciting about the funny game from Australia.
Specially designed skills drills, games and modified rules matches will teach kids how to take high marks, kick goals from impossible angles, bounce the funny shaped ball on the run, use creative handball and tackle opponents from any direction.
AFL South Africa Ambassador and Head Coach Mtutuzeli Hlomela is very excited about the new program.
“Unlike soccer you can use your hands as well as your feet and because the game is played in 360 degree fashion, it provides a challenge that is very different to rugby. At youth and senior level players can tackle from behind and move the ball in any direction by hand or foot. It’s fast and exciting and some say the most spectacular sport in the world”, said Mtutu.
The National launch of FootyWild will be conducted in Potchefstroom on Saturday April 14 at Sedgars Park the home of AFL South Africa. The launch from will act as curtain-raiser to the Australian Under 17 National teams very first game against South Africa on Saturday April 14 which will start at 3pm.
The Australian team is represented by the finest young talent in the country many of which will go to play at elite AFL clubs next year.
“Following the launch, FootyWild will be run as pilot program in Potchefstroom during the second term of school, providing the local Development staff with a chance to test the product, before releasing it across four provinces in the second half of the year”, said new Operations Manager Joel Kelly, who has just arrive in South Africa on secondment from the AFL. Gauteng, Kwa Zulu Natal and the Western Cape will also have the opportunity to try the new sport for the new South Africa said Mr Kelly.
FootyWild is fast as a leopard, mighty as a lion and totally wild. To find out more please contact your Provincial Development Manager in your Province (refer to contacts page) or AFL South Africa at Sedgars Park on +27 18 293 3158.
Posted in Programs
by Jake and worldfootynews.com
18 July 2006
AFL South Africa’s program to send visiting Australian tourists into the townships to teach Australian Football was a great chance to personally experience the country in a way rarely available but with at times surprising similarities to home.
Squinting tightly to see in the fading light of dusk, I reached for the heavens hoping to grab the ball hurtling silently toward me. Seconds beforehand, I had heard one of the dozen boys standing on the dusty field punt the Sherrin with his bare foot; it could only be moments before it was within my reach. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed an object silhouetted against the deep blue of the horizon. I reared back in a last-second attempt to correct my stance, but – smack! – I felt the cold leather connect with my cheek. Momentarily dazed, I fumbled after the ball as it rolled off into the inky darkness of that late-Spring evening, listening to the sounds of the boys’ laughter.
I could have been anywhere in Australia. Kick-to-kick is a nightly ritual, when neighbourhood kids take turns at emulating their football idols until the night becomes so dark that play must be abandoned. I finally located the football resting against a large rock at the edge of the dusty field. Feeling thankful that I had avoiding tripping over the rock in the dark and further humiliating myself, I decided it was time to postpone play until another day. My Gary Ablett imitation could wait.
Walking back to my car, I drew in the sounds of the night. Children laughed as they continued kicking the ball in the pitch-black night. Reggae music spilled from a nearby tavern as local men walked home from work. And far in the distance, a solitary car rumbled toward the lights of a border post, reminding me that I was no longer in Australia. This familiar scene from my youth had been transplanted 10,000 kilometres across the Indian Ocean to a shantytown in South Africa’s North West Province.
A month earlier, I had written to AFL South Africa (AFLSA) out of curiosity about their ‘Aussies on the Road’ program. After completing university, a friend and I decided to embark upon an around-the-world working holiday, and we had decided that South Africa was to be our first destination. Heading our list of things to do whilst in Africa was a township visit so that we could witness first-hand the living conditions of the majority of South Africans. However, this posed us with a slight dilemma – we wanted to avoid taking a patronising organised coach tour of the townships, but at the same time we were reluctant to make the trip alone for safety reasons. I thought about our South African itinerary for several days, before remembering an article I had read on the AFLSA website about ‘Aussies on the Road’. It seemed like the perfect way to visit the townships, in that it allowed participants to interact with the locals and do something positive, whilst all the time being accompanied by AFLSA staff.
It took only three emails to arrange. I sent AFLSA’s Head Development Officer, July Machethe, a list of the days that my friend Andrew and I were available, and he responded with a proposed itinerary and costing information. On a hot November morning four weeks later, we arrived at AFLSA headquarters in Potchefstroom to embark on our adventure. ‘Potch’ is a big university town nestled on the high veldt near Johannesburg, and is home to several specialist high-altitude sports training academies. Upon arrival, we met with July and Jack Arnold – a Melbournian assisting AFLSA with football development for 12 months and funded by AVI (Australian Volunteers International) and AusAid’s Australian Youth Ambassador grants program. First up was a meeting with the office staff at AFLSA, where we were brought up-to-speed on the state of Australian football in South Africa: the geographical regions that are being targeted, the achievements made to date and future goals for the spread of the sport in Africa. We met with AFLSA Head Coach Mtutuzeli Hlomela, who played juniors for Sturt in South Australia, as well as Executive Officer Jean Verster, who is a renowned coach in athletics circles. July informed us of our itinerary for the coming two days – we were to host four clinics in the areas surrounding Mafikeng and Rustenburg, which are two large cities in North West Province, in addition to experiencing elements of South African society rarely seen by tourists or even the local white population. We couldn’t wait for it to begin.
During the Apartheid years Ventersdorp was best known within South Africa as the home of the “right-wing” political leader of the AWB (Afrikaanse Weesrstands Beweging) Eugene Tereblanche. We arrived at the local primary school, where the kids had only weeks beforehand been introduced to Australian football, to conduct a series of handballing, marking and kicking drills. The first thing that struck Andrew and I was the extraordinary enthusiasm of the Ventersdorp kids who, although they had not held a footy many times previously, showed considerable skill. We drilled the kids for the best part of an hour in the baking sun, before finishing with a game – two teams of approximately 50 boys each, with the girls umpiring. It was a huge success, and the kids asked lots of questions about how to improve their skills and about Australia. Hopefully they will show continued improvement as July and Jack continue visiting Ventersdorp.
In the early afternoon we drove to Isoteng, a large township on the edge of Mafikeng – one of the province’s largest towns. Mafikeng has played an important role in South African history, being the location of a pivotal Anglo-Boer War siege and the capital of an apartheid-era black homeland. The heat when we arrived was oppressive, and the township of Isoteng was unlike any place I had previously visited. As one of the poorest townships in the province, Isoteng lacks services typical of Australian towns and cities. Houses there are not connected to water mains, sewers or the telephone network, they typically lack insulation and many have no visible electricity connection. Public amenities are non-existent, save for a single, grassed soccer pitch maintained by the Provincial Government. This pitch is home to the local Australian football team – the Isoteng Kangaroos.
Australian football is making very positive inroads into the Isoteng community. The indigenous game gives men in the community an opportunity to travel if they show sufficient skill, and possibly a chance to escape the abject poverty of township life. Several Kangaroos players were called up to play in the South African Buffaloes national teams that competed in the Australian Football International Cups in Melbourne during 2002 and 2005. Almost all of the Isoteng players are unemployed and struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis, so they would never be able to afford to travel abroad if not for the opportunities provided by AFLSA. In that way, Australian football has enriched the lives of many in the Isoteng community, making township life more bearable, and providing the possibility of an Australian football career as a goal that local players can aspire to.
Upon arrival, the four of us organised a match for the Kangaroos, as the Provincial Championships were approaching in December. We divided into two teams on the township’s soccer pitch, and I decided full-forward would be the best position to both showcase my Gary Ablett impersonation and avoid dehydration in the 40 degree heat. Naively, I thought that several seasons of junior football and a few amateur games since would give me an edge over the Isoteng boys, who are largely new to the sport. I was wrong. Isoteng’s best player, Benji Motuba, played in rural South Australia on a scholarship and even did some sessions with Port Adelaide Power, and he is more skilled than many top-level country footballers I have watching in Australia. What he lacked in height he made up for in speed, darting through packs and collecting dozens of possessions. My friend Andrew played top-level amateur football in Melbourne, and he was regularly left stunned by the speed and agility of the Isoteng players. The Kangaroos ran rings around us, using phenomenal bursts of speed to avoid tackles and establish leads. Their kicking was mostly direct, and perhaps the only glaring deficiency is that they lack the physical stature to hold or shrug tackles. Most Australian footballers in North West Province are from the Tswana ethnic group, which centres on northern South Africa and Botswana. They are more slightly-built than the Zulu and ‘Xhosa from southern South Africa, and lack the height to fill key positions on the Australian football field. After 30 minutes of running in the extreme heat and a goal or two off my boot, I was knackered and needed a rest. My team lost the match, but everyone had an enjoyable time. We finished our time in Isoteng with another question and answer session, and I promised some of the players that I would get along to see them compete in the next International Cup.
Our last stop for the day was a community by the name of Ramatlabama, 5kms from the border with Botswana. Ramatlabama was by far the poorest township we visited, with a dirt field covered in litter and cow dung, no sealed roads or services, and a host of extremely enthusiastic kids. We arrived late, and despite the onset of dusk, kids were dotted across the dusty field anticipating our arrival. We conducted similar clinics to those in Ventersdorp, kicking-on until the night was literally pitch black and I copped a Sherrin in the noggin. We then retired to the home of a local family to stay the night. Being invited into the home of a rural black family was definitely the highlight of our trip. To be accepted into their house, to eat with them and to be able to participate in their lifestyle was something that few Australians could claim that they have done, and provided Andrew and I with great insight into South African society. We ate a meal of shredded beets, onions, rice, sweet pumpkin and boiled chicken, which was filling, if a little different from what we were used to back home! After dinner, Jack and July took us to a local shanty tavern for a couple of beers to end the day. It is quite likely that we were the first white people ever to venture into the establishment, as most South African whites avoid entering townships. We received some quizzical looks from the local patrons at first, but as soon as Andrew and I started on the pool table, the entire tavern was abuzz watching us play. It was quite an unusual experience ordering drinks through a small hole in the wall, listening to the reggae tunes on the jukebox and talking to locals who barely understood as much English as we understood Tswana.
On our second day ‘On the Road’, we woke to bathe as the township locals do – with a bucket of warm water and a face-washer. We were so dusty that it did little to clean us, and July informed us that many township residents only bathe once a week or so in that fashion. Our host family cooked up a breakfast of eggs, farmer’s sausages and bread, and we then clambered back into our hire car to head for Rustenburg, a two hour drive east of Mafikeng. Rustenburg is a mine city, producing 90% of the world’s platinum, and so it has quite a large population. South Africa has a 35% unemployment rate – mostly among blacks – and mine cities attract many of those seeking work. Many who immigrate to cities such as Rustenburg find they lack the skills to gain employment, and thus they become homeless and turn to crime. Jack had told us earlier that morning that he had a surprise planned for later in the day, and as we entered Rustenburg he dropped Andrew, July and I at a local produce market so we could catch a ride in a ‘black taxi’ to the next school clinic. The market teemed with about 10,000 black residents of Rustenburg, and Andrew and I were the only white people to be seen. We were a little apprehensive about making the journey, as ‘black taxis’ have a reputation of being dangerous in South Africa. Typically, they are Volkswagen panel vans that legally seat 12 passengers, though many are seen on the roads carrying 20 or more people. Add to this that most go un-serviced, and you quickly see why South Africa has such a massive annual road toll. Lucky to be accompanied by July, Andrew and I crossed the market to find a taxi bound for a large township on the outskirts of Rustenburg. Slightly out of our comfort zones, we crammed into a Volkswagen for the thirty-minute drive to conduct our final clinic. The venue for our clinic was one of the more-privileged primary schools in the township, in that they had won a soccer tournament the year before that awarded as first-prize the construction of a grassed area at the school – unheard of at most schools. We conducted many of the same drills that we had in Ventersdorp and Ramatlabama, although the skill levels of the kids in Rustenburg was appreciably higher. Jack had been conducting a junior league after school hours in the township for several months prior to our arrival, and it was apparent that most of the boys understood the fundamentals of the game. Quite amazing to me was the little input required from our quartet whilst a match was played. We were able to stand back and watch the boys play a hard game in bare feet, which was well adjudicated by the schoolgirl umpires.
Leaving Rustenburg, our delegation headed for Johannesburg, which was to be the end of our journey. We drove through the high veldt bush, sighting baboons and ostriches from the hire car windows, and detoured through Hartbeespoortdam – a vast dammed lake that has developed into a favourite weekend destination for Johannesburg residents. The route passed luxury apartments and modern business parks, reminding Andrew and I that in South Africa the underprivileged third-world lies very-much alongside the prosperous first-world. Johannesburg is the face of post-apartheid South Africa. It was also the location of the first Australian football matches in South Africa, at the turn of the 20th Century. Australians fighting in the Anglo-Boer War from 1899-1902 started football competitions, which were carried on by miners working the productive gold deposits surrounding Johannesburg. Australian football stalled in subsequent decades, as the social structure of the nation underwent radical change. AFLSA are resurrecting Australian football in Johannesburg. From their base in North West Province, efforts are being made to grow the game in Gauteng – the province in which Johannesburg and Pretoria are located.
A century after the first Australian football was played there; Johannesburg is at the forefront South Africa’s economic boom brought about by the collapse of the apartheid system. President Thabo Mbeki claims that South Africa is leading an ‘African Renaissance’ – a golden age – where each person has a chance to start afresh with a clean slate. The word ‘opportunity’ is splashed across the nation – on billboards, in television and radio advertising and across Government documents. I believe that word best sums-up the state of Australian football in the Rainbow Nation. A century ago the sport squandered a chance to establish roots in South Africa. Today, it has been given another opportunity to flourish. If AFLSA development programs continue their phenomenal success, and are well supported by Australian-based bodies, I believe the future of Australian football on the Dark Continent will be very bright.
I would like to thank everybody at AFL South Africa for allowing Andrew and I to participate in the ‘Aussies on the Road’ program, especially July Machethe and Jack Arnold. Our two day program was the highlight of our stay in South Africa, and I would certainly recommend it as an unforgettable experience to anyone planning a trip to the Rainbow Nation. You can contact AFL South Africa through http://www.aflsouthafrica.org
Posted in Australian Volunteers, Programs
By Phindile Khambule
08 November 2005
The AFLSA Road Show was undertaken between October 23rd 2005 and November 2nd 2005 by July Machethe – Head Development Officer and Jack Arnold – Development Officer. Numerous communities where visited and received a lot of training in different footballs skills from administration, umpiring, coaching, training sessions, matches etc.
In total 11 communities were visited, about 700 kids were reached and about 50 community volunteers were involved in the training sessions and trained to take up football on their own.
It proved to be a worthwhile exercise doing the Road Show as communities responded well to the services that AFL South Africa is bringing to the communities. Community volunteers were also involved in helping to train the kids and given coaching tips. Continuous follow-ups need to be done by the development, coaching and umpiring staff from AFL South Africa.
A full report on the Road Show is available from AFL South Africa’s office on request.
AFLSA Road Show Master Schedule
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