The United States Australian Football League (USAFL) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for

Australian rules football in the United States Australian rules football in the United States (most commonly referred to simply as "Footy" but sometimes "Aussie Rules" or AFL) is a team and spectator sport which has grown rapidly since the late 1990s. It was originally introduced to the Unit ...

. It was conceived in 1996 and organized in 1997. It is based in

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. A suburb of Madison, it is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 35,967 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is the second-most populous city in ...

. As of 2011, there were over 1,000 registered USAFL players. There are 50 member clubs, of which 48 have men's teams (all except North Star Blue Ox and the Centennial Tigers) and 27 have women's teams. Most of the football clubs in the United States have a traditional 18-a-side team for representative purposes and multiple 9-a-side teams running in a local league. Each year the USAFL holds a National club championship, a tournament open to all clubs across the nation, the largest of its type in the world for the sport. In addition to the Nationals, the USAFL holds major regional tournaments including the Central, East and West regional tournaments. The USAFL selects the national men's ( USA Revolution) and women's ( USA Freedom) teams for competitions such as the Australian Football International Cup and the

49th Parallel Cup The 49th Parallel Cup (formerly PanAm Cup) is an annual representative Australian rules football match between the United States and Canada first contested in 1999. Since 2007 the women's teams have also contested the cup. The men's matches are ...

History

The first match between two local US clubs was played in 1996 between

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. In the first year the

Mid American Australian Football League The MAAFL was a division of the United States Australian Football League and an Australian rules football competition based in the United States. The league formed 1996 when clubs from Cincinnati and Louisville played the first ever game of Au ...

was formed. Many of the local players had found out about the game in the 1980s on television via the then-nascent ESPN cable network. Although the local game grew, ESPN no longer broadcast AFL matches, and in response the lobby group, Australian Football Association of North America was formed. In 1997, the first club national championships were held in Cincinnati.

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

hosted the first Australian Grand Final Festival in the same year. The United States Australian Football League (USAFL) was formed in 1997 to govern the code in the country. The involvement of many well-known Australians has helped boost the relations between the USAFL and AFL. In the early days, Paul Roos was a key figure. Robert DiPierdomenico,

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the i ...

and

Michael Voss Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears/Lions and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Voss was a triple premiersh ...

are official USAFL ambassadors.

National teams

USAFL is responsible for the co-ordination of the National Teams, the USA Revolution men's team and the USA Freedom women's team. The team plays in international tournaments and

exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

es against other countries. National team players are selected from the best US-born players from the club teams across the country. With close proximity to Canada, the Revolution & Freedom participate in the annual

against Canada each year except for years of the International Cup in Australia. The Revolution competed in the 2002 Australian Football International Cup, finishing 5th out of 11 countries and in the

2005 Australian Football International Cup The 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held. The event was hosted by both Melbourne and Wangaratta ...

finishing 3rd out of 10 countries. They competed in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup where the Revolution finished 7th out of 16 countries. At the

2011 Australian Football International Cup The 2011 Australian Football International Cup (or IC21) is the fourth edition of the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition run by the Australian Football League. It was contested between 1 ...

, the Revolution finished 4th in an increased field of 18 countries. The Revolution finished 8th at the

2014 Australian Football International Cup The 2014 Australian Football International Cup was the fifth edition of the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition run by the Australian Football League. It was contested between Saturday A ...

, again with 18 countries participating.

Domestic tournaments and competitions

USAFL National Championships The USAFL National Championships is a tournament for Australian rules football in the United States. Since 1997, the National Championships have been a large event featuring teams from the United States and Canada in four men's divisions and two ...

* USAFL East vs West *

USAFL clubs and representative sides

Football Map

USAFL Teams

Associate Members (via AFL Canada)

Previous clubs

Affiliated leagues

Eastern Australian Football League The Eastern Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Eastern United States of America and a division of the United States Australian Football League. History In the early months of 2005, member clubs of th ...

* Southern California Australian Football League

References

External links

* {{Top sport leagues in the United States Australian rules football governing bodies outside Australia Aus Sports organizations established in 1997