USAFL25 Podcast: Recent Episodes
USAFL
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the United States Australian Football League, USAFL25 is a limited podcast series profiling the people who helped build up the game of Aussie Rules football in the United States for the last quarter of a century. The series is hosted by USAFL Media Manager Brian Barrish and USAFL Founding President Paul "Plugger" O'Keeffe.
In our final episode, we go back and ask the guests from our first five shows about what the next 25 years will hold for different aspects of the sport and the league. We also ask our Nationals panelists about their memories of the National Championships carnival.
It takes two teams to play Aussie Rules football, but you need a third team -- the umpires -- to actually play a match. Exuding a passion for the sport and a "spirit d'corps" attitude, the USAFL Umpires Association has been an important cog in the growth of the game her in the USA. Members of the UA have become AFL accredited and have gone on to umpire matches all around the world, including in Australia. To chat about the history of umpiring here in the US is Steve Arnott, who has umpired several hundred games since joining the league in 1999.
The best Aussie Rules players in the USA have represented their country proudly over the past 25 years on the Revolution men's and Freedom women's teams. Each has participated in the 49th Parallel Cup, the AFL International Cup, and well-contested test matches. We talk about how those teams came about and some of their most memorable moments with the head coaches of both teams: Tom Ellis of the Revolution and the Freedom's Christina Licata.
The USAFL National Championships are the largest Australian Football tournament to be held anywhere in the world... yes, even you, Australia. From one field and a half-dozen teams to almost 50 clubs on six fields and worldwide streaming over the internet, there's been a lot of change in 25 years. We talk about the highs and lows on the field and off with former tournament director Rich Mann, current tournament director Doren James, and the first voice of Nationals, Rod "Grilla" Grljusich.
In 2001, the USAFL had a couple of women playing on men's teams across the country. Within five years, they were an organized division at Nationals. Then came two national teams, a second division, and the first USAFLer to play professionally in Australia. Our guest this week is Kat Hogg, the matriarch of women's footy in the United States, who talks about how the women of the USAFL went from a handful of passionate footballers to a group of passionate athletes who are changing the game on the field and off.
25 years ago, the USAFL was nothing more than an idea, the seeds of which were germinated behind a barn in rural Indiana on the night of September 6, 1997. How did all of that begin, and what were some early challenges for a fledgling sport in an alien land? Our guest is Rich Mann, who began his career with the Cincinnati Dockers before moving to the Denver Bulldogs and serving as league president for most of the USAFL's first decade.