AFI has extensive experience working with the Welsh community in Australia.
We are now looking forward to bringing Footy 9s to Wales!
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 Wales, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us via info@aflinternational.com.
AUSTRALIA & WALES
It is believed that the eastern coast of Australia reminded Captain James Cook of the coast of South Wales (especially the Vale of Glamorgan coast, which he knew), hence the name he gave to it, “New South Wales”.
According to the 2006 Australian census 25,317 Australian residents were born in Wales, while 113,242 claimed Welsh ancestry.
AFL PLAYERS
John McCarthy
TEAM WALES
Team Wales competes in a number of AFI tournaments, including the Harmony Cup and World 9s.
Kieren ‘Beefy’ Blake
Founder, Welsh Dragons
I’m going to be honest, it was a struggle at times to keep everyone motivated and pushing toward making our goal of fielding a truly National team. In our squad of 25 players, 21 were born in Wales – probably more home-grown players than any other country in that tournament – and that includes Ireland! I’ve achieved a lot in my sporting career, but being a part of that Welsh team that ran on that field against The Netherlands was right up there.
Aussie Rules is a tough sport to get ex-pats playing as a group. You realistically need 25 committed players, the skill set is totally foreign to effectively every other sport and the size of the playing field tends to put a lot of people off playing the game.
This is where Footy 9s becomes a much more attractive proposition. If Aussie Rules really wants to become an international game, there are far too many obstacles standing in its way – the major ones simply being field availability and getting enough players to play.
Rugby 7s is a great blueprint for a small-sided game. It’s truly now a global game and has become one of the most watched sports in the Olympics. Footy 9s has simpler rules, easier scoring and can be played on fields that can be found in nearly every community in the world. The game itself is spectacular and it leaves sports lovers in awe when they happen to come across it either on TV overseas or on a visit to these fine shores!
AFI has simplified the game. It can be played on football, rugby or gridiron fields and there are less moving parts for newcomers to get their heads round. If ever there was a fantastic pathway into playing Australian Rules Football, then Footy 9s is surely the way forward.
At the World 9s it was truly phenomenal to see teams, both male and female, being represented from all 4 corners of the globe. It’s not that often you get to hear that Chile just beat Switzerland at Aussie Rules!!! Just by being at the event you could see each countries’ local communities really coming together and getting behind their teams. I am positive that the players that pulled on their National jerseys on that day will feel immense pride and remember it for the rest of their lives. I certainly did!
Wales (Welsh: Cymru) is a country on the western side of central southern Great Britain, between the Irish Sea to the north and the Bristol Channel to the south. It is part of the United Kingdom, and is bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean, St George’s Channel and Irish Sea to its west.
It is about 274 km from north to south and at least 97 km wide, with a total area of 20,779 km2. It has over 1,200 km of coastline, and includes over 50 offshore islands of which the largest is Anglesey.
Much of Wales is mountainous, particularly in 3 main regions: Snowdonia in the north west, the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, and the Brecon Beacons in the south. Snowdonia contains the highest peaks, topped by Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa) at 1,085 m. The 14 peaks over 3,000 feet are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s.
There are only 5 cities in Wales. Cardiff is the capital and largest city. The next largest cities are Swansea and Newport, also in the south of the country. The other cities are Bangor and St David’s.
