AFI has extensive experience working with the Polish community in Australia.
Footy 9s is an exciting new sport that is coming to Europe!
Footy 9s is played on rectangular fields, allowing the sport to be played on any soccer or rugby field.
There are 3 great formats to choose from – Men’s Footy, Women’s Footy and Touch Footy.
Get Involved
If you are keen to be involved with the development of the sport in Poland, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us via info@aflinternational.com.
AUSTRALIA & POLAND
The earliest contact by Poland-born people with Australia was in 1696, when 10 citizens of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were included in the crew of Captain Willem Vlamingh’s Dutch expedition which explored the Western Australian coast. The first Polish settler in Australia was a convict who arrived in 1803 and became a successful wheat farmer in Tasmania.
According to 2016 census figures, over 180,000 people of Polish ancestry live in Australia. The Polish community is active in promoting people-to-people contact and commercial and academic ties through a number of community organisations, bilateral business councils and institutes. Several famous Australian landmarks, including Mt Kosciuszko and the Strzelecki Mountain range in Victoria, were named by (or in honour of) Polish explorer, Paul Edmund Strzelecki.
AFL PLAYERS
Dean Cox | Jason Blake | Justin Koschitzke | John Pitura | James Podsiadly | Graham Polak | Jared Polec | Brian Sierakowski | David Sierakowski | Will Sierakowski | David Wojcinski
Chris Tarczon
Polish Bisons
Playing for the first Poland footy team was a great honour and also a fun and memorable experience. It was fantastic on the day of the tournament to play against other fellow Australians who were representing their own heritage such as Malta, Italy and Israel. Not to mention the camaraderie and fun had in training together in the lead up to the big day. I encourage anyone with any kind of Polish heritage or ties to Poland, who loves having a kick of the footy, to join the team and be part of this multicultural footy fiesta!
Poland is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north.
The country extends 876 km from north to south and 689 km from east to west. Poland’s total area is 312,843 square kilometers, making it the 9th largest in Europe.
A nation with a proud cultural heritage, Poland can trace its roots back over 1,000 years. There have been periods of independence as well as periods of domination by other countries.
A new era began when Poland became an EU member in 2004, fifteen years after the end of communist rule.
