Caitlin Kidd, right, goes in for a tackle during a match against Team USA.
By Greg Meachem - Red Deer Advocate
May 24, 2011
To the uninitiated, the sport may resemble a form of on-field anarchy, but Australian rules football actually contains the elements of several well-known competitive activities.
“What I like about it is that it combines aspects of a lot of different sports,” said Red Deer native Caitlin Kidd, 27, a member of Canada’s Australian rules football national women’s team, the Northern Lights.
Left to right: Lindsay Belzie, Kyle Graham, Aimee Legault, Ronan Shaughnessy, Margo Legault at US Nationals 2010 in the State of Kentucky.
This is a very exciting year for Australian Rules Football, as the International Championship (World cup) takes place this year in Australia. This is the first year that there will be a Women's Division with six teams competing: Canada, USA, Italy, Ireland, Papau New Guinea and a combined Multicultural and Indigenous team. The women’s section of the IC11 will be played between the 15th - 27th of August, 2011 in Sydney and Melbourne.
While most Americans may be more familiar with sports such as football, soccer or basketball, very few have heard of Australian Rules Football.
Australian native Amy Bishop, 31, explained that Australian Rules Football, also known as “footy” or “Aussie rules,” is a very popular sport in Australia, and it is unlike rugby, soccer or any other sport.
The much anticipated debut of Ireland's first Australian Rules Football side took place on a rainy pitch in Kilrea on Saturday.
The Kilrea Kookaburras invited a combination side of Dublin/Derry Gaelic players nicknamed the "Dubderrys" to do battle with.
The match also served as a selection trial for the National side, who will travel to take part in the European Championships in Milan in October, so all girls were out to impress.
By John Vellante
Globe Correspondent | August 8, 2010
The event received very little, if any, attention in this neck of the woods, but the US and Canadian women’s national teams squared off in the Australian Rules Football 49th Parallel Cup last weekend in Toronto.
Several central Ohio residents are members of the Columbus Jillaroos Australian rules football team, including (from left) Sara Matheson, Tina DeMent, Jamie Harvey, Amanda Watters, Kristi Baldwin, Stephanie McKitrick, Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Lawton and Amanda Corthern. The team will play its inaugural season in the U.S.-based Women's Australia Football Association.
A Columbus Jillaroos practice often starts with a formal introduction of players.
The Australian rules football team comes together in a circle and tries to put names with an ever-growing list of faces. The Jillaroos are Columbus' first entry into the U.S.-based Women's Australia Football Association. It is also thought to be the first women's Australian rules football team to form in Columbus.
ABC's News 10 came out to a practice evening and filmed the game which aired later that evening as a promo for the club. We look like we are having so much fun!
