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USAFL Women's Championships Update
The first USAFL women's championships will contested on Oct 1-2 at the USAFL 2005 Championships. Four teams have stepped forward to vie for the inaugural women's championship:
- Atlanta Lady Kookaburras
- Arizona/Philadelphia Lady Hawks
- Milwaukee Lady Bombers
- Florida/Baltimore-Washington/Seattle/Minnesota Fusion
There are still plenty of spots for additional women to round out rosters! Contact Kathryn Hogg if you are interested in playing.
The tournament will be organized according to USAFL championship conventions. The competition will start off with a round robin. Each team will play two matches (2 halves of 20 minutes each) on Saturday with the final round robin on Sunday morning. The results from the round robin matches will be used to seed the teams for the Championship match and the third place game.
| Time | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| 8am | Atlanta vs Florida | |
| 9am | Arizona vs Atlanta | Arizona vs Milwaukee |
| 10am | Florida vs Milwaukee | |
| 11am | 3rd Place | |
| 12pm | Grand Final | |
| 2pm | Florida vs Arizona | |
| 3pm | Atlanta vs Milwaukee |
All games will be played on the women's field. The women's division will be playing 9 a side with the wrap up rule instead of full on tackling.
Atlanta looks like the early team to beat. They formed after the 2004 National Championships in Atlanta. Their players have a strong background in Gaelic Football and/or rugby and took to Aussie rules like they've been playing their whole life.
Milwaukee is led by founding members Maggie Ciganek and Meredith Harper who started training with the Bombers in 2004. Ciganek competed in both the men's Division III squad at the women's match at the 2004 USAFL National Championships. Many of their current roster played in the 2005 Milwaukee Metro Footy League.
Arizona is the second oldest women's club in the USAFL. They have been fairly dormant since competing against the vaunted Orange County Bombshells at the 2004 World Metro Footy Champions in Phoenix Arizona. Coach David Pack says that his squad is only returning one player from the original Lady Hawks lineup. Members of the Philadelphia Lady Hawks will be combining with Arizona. At least one has competed in both nationals exhibition matches. Their game experience will certainly help make Arizona tougher than usual.
Fusion has a tough road as they are combining women from 4 different squads. They are led by Annie Jones who founded the women's footy team at the Florida Redbacks club. Coach Dustin Jones hopes to glean his experiences as a member of the US Revolution to help the women come together as a team.