The Aussie X - Australian Sporting Programs

Affiliates

Australian Football is a sport unlike any other. Skills from a variety of sports are combined to create a totally unique and individual game of its own. It challenges players with three fundamental skills that are suitable for the absolute beginner all the way through to the expert. Check out our programs:

Fundamental Skills of Footy!

Kicking – players guide the ball from hand to foot, using a deliberate technique that results in the ball spinning backwards so that it is easy to catch and it’s flight path remains accurate after contact. A very important skill because players that catch a kick (called a ‘mark’), are awarded a free kick (and cannot be tackled).

Handpassing (Handball) – much like an underarm Volleyball serve, players have to punch the ball off one hand, transferring the ball to their team mates with accuracy and precision.

Bouncing – every 10m that a player runs with the ball, they must tap or bounce the ball on the ground. Not very easy when using the oddly shaped Australian Footy!

What is Footy?

Australian (rules) Football, or simply known as Footy, Aussie Rules or AFL, is a team sport played between two teams of 18 players with a ball in the shape of a prolate spheroid. It is played on large oval shaped grass fields with four goal posts at each end.

The primary aim of the game is to score goals by kicking the ball between the middle two posts of the opposing goal. The winner is the team who has the higher total score at the end of the game. Players may use any part of their body to advance the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running.

There are restrictions on how the ball can be handled: players running with the ball must intermittently bounce or touch it on the ground, throwing the ball is not allowed and players must dispose of the ball once tackled.
Unlike many sports, there is no offside rule and players can roam the field freely. Possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick is paid. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick, are awarded a free kick. Australian Football is a contact sport in which players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents.

Safety is taken very seriously in Footy. Dangerous physical contact (such as pushing an opponent in the back, punching, fighting, deliberate foul play) is not tolerated. Interference when marking and deliberately slowing the play with free kicks is also not tolerate.

The game's main attributes as a spectator sport are frequent physical contests, aerial marking (speckies), fast movement of both players and the ball and high scoring.

Today Australian rules football is the most popular spectator sport in Australia. It is played in all Australian states and two territories. While it is a professional sport only in Australia, it is played at amateur level in several countries and in several variations.

The most prestigious and only national competition in Australia is the Australian Football League (AFL), which culminates in the annual AFL Grand Final, the highest attended club championship event in the world in 2007.

Footy in Canada!

Australian Rules Football (footy) has been played competitively in Ontario
since the Canadian Australian Football Association (CAFA) was formed in
1989. A few ex-pats got together on weekends for a 'kick of the footy' and
gradually grew in participant numbers throughout the 1990's, with a great
growth period in the early 2000s. The sport has gradually grown within
Ontario, and around the world, where today it is played in over 20 countries
worldwide. The Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL) was
created in 2001, when the popularity of the sport grew to the point where
Ontario was able to cater for 8 teams. This quickly grew to 10 by 2003.

Canada is one of the 16 countries that competes every 3 years at the International Cup of Australian Football, held in Melbourne. In 2008, Canada finished 6th in the tournament. With the growth of our great sport, we at The Aussie X, hope that Canada’s International ranking will only improve in the coming years.

WATCH FOOTY IN ACTION

HOME | ABOUT US | GENERAL INFO | CONTACT US