Footy in Seattle
(last updated March 2002)

Initially, the Seattle Football Club was formed on Grand Final Day 1998 (September) after a discussion between a few Australian’s that lived in Seattle and wanted to bring the excitement of Australian Rules Football to the Pacific Northwest. Over the following three months the club recruited heavily resulting in over 40 people on our member list. On December 13, 1998, after a short introduction for the uninitiated, the first game with 7 players per side was played on a shortened field.

After the Christmas break a social gathering was held where an official committee was elected and the Seattle Jets was decided upon as our team name. A second game was played in late February with 8 new players deciding to pull on the boots.

In mid March we changed our name to the "Geelong Football Club of Seattle" upon gaining sponsorship from the associated professional club located in Australia. A few weeks later 13 players made the trip down to Santa Cruz for the Anzac tournament to play our first games against other clubs. After winning our first two games and surprising a lot of people with our skill level, we were beaten by a slim margin in the championship game by last years National runner-ups; all in all a great performance for our first outing.

After a short rest period we began training for the National Championships to be held in October in Cincinnatti, Ohio. With 22 players and 2 coaching staff making the 2000 mile journey, we fared well against class competition. We missed out on a finals berth by one game after losing to the eventual winners, Boston, ending the tournament with 3 wins and 1 loss, good enough for third in the country.

Once again during the off-season we recruited hard especially for American players. In late April of 2000 we once again ventured down to Santa Cruz for their Anzac tournament where we put on a strong showing with 30 players making the trip. Winning our first two games against nationally ranked Denver and Los Angeles, we faced Santa Cruz in the final, as was the case in 1999. Unfortunately the result was the same as Santa Cruz ran out winners.

In July 2000, we participated in the Bank of America Downunder tour in Seattle, showing approximately 250 school aged children about Australian football in short 10 minute sessions.

In October of 2000 we once again participated in the National Championships in Los Angeles with a squad of 28 players and support staff making the trip. After a very strong showing in the round-robin games with a record of 2-1 we came up against Boston. Although we were leading at half time, Boston managed to take victory in the quarter final game by 2 goals.

The start of 2001 saw the start of a regular season with the newly formed Vancouver, BC club, the Vancouver Cougars. Five games in all were played which gave Seattle some much needed regular season match practice. The National Championships for 2001 were held in the nations capital, Washington DC during October. Once again we put in a great effort and ended up losing once again to the Boston Demons in the semi final game.

The start of 2002 saw the appointment of a new coach, Andrew Donlen (playing coach) and the scheduling of 3 home games and 3 away games against the Vancouver Cougars for the 2002 season.

Additionally in 2002 we plan to attend the National Championships in Kansas City.

If you're new to the sport of Aussie Rules or you're an Aussie in Seattle and you want to find out more about playing this great sport, please take a look at our New Players section.

Footy in the US
The USAFL began in 1998 and has grown to 34 teams across the United States. Originally played by expat Australians and only a handful of Americans, the sport is finding many avid American disciples.  The USAFL mandates that 50% of the players on the field of each team are American during the National Championships.
The official website is www.usfooty.com

Footy in Australia
Australian Rules Football (also "Aussie Rules" or " footy") is a physical contact sport. It is a form of football with roots traceable from early forms of Rugby and Gaelic football, but it is uniquely Australian. Its rules were codified in 1858, and probably predate all other modern forms of football, such as American, Canadian, Rugby Union and League, Association (Soccer) and Gaelic football. Today it is a multi-million dollar business, with a National Competition and numerous smaller leagues. Interest in the game is generally at an all time high within and outside Australia, yet despite this, some parts of Australia are still lukewarm in support of their team in the AFL, and the game has yet to take a firm hold overseas.
The official website is www.afl.com.au