The Bengal Tigers is the team representing the state of West Bengal in the ARFAI national championships. The team comprises some of the most experienced players in the country with a few of them having been part of the Indian Tigers outfit in both IC08 and IC11. The sport was originally kick-started in West Bengal and 2008 saw the first Indian contingent for IC08 boasting of players solely from West Bengal.

When Footy kicked off in Kolkata back in 2008, players from various sporting background thronged to learn a new sport, with some players travelling for 3-4 hours every day to attend training at Kolkata. Some of the players travel from villages near the Bangladesh border in Bongaon to attend joint training sessions in Kolkata today.

The bulk of the players playing in Bengal come from Bongaon while there are good numbers also from Khardah, Hooghly, Kolkata and Howrah. The Bengal Tigers participated in the National Championships in 2013 for the first time and went home with the trophy after some majestic performances throughout the tournament. The players from Bengal hold regular practice sessions under the able guidance of experienced campaigners like Rakesh Ghosh from Bongaon and Arif Ali from Khardah along with Sudip and Sudhasil from Kolkata.

Bengal, arguably the most sports fanatic state of India is blessed with extremely committed Footy players, who kept the flame burning post Indian Tigers’ appearance in AFL International Cup 2008. The organizers back then had lost interest in the sport upon returning from Australia, when Sudip wrote to the AFL expressing willingness to continue the development process along with Darren Ross, a fellow team-mate. It was then the Bengal lads Rakesh Ghosh, Arif Ali, Jasim Akhtar, Ayush Gupta and Mervyn Nathaniel who joined hands with Sudip and Darren and other guys like Sudhasil and few other who couldn’t make it to Australia, to build the foundation of the sport in West Bengal between 2009-2011.

Unfortunately the monetary support has been nil for the sport in Bengal, with individual efforts leading the way forward. However few local businessmen, politicians and parents, along with the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan school in Salt Lake provided the basic support. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia chapter was a ready sponsor for the Indian Tigers when they travel to Australia, given Tigers Sudip and Ayush are former students of their school in Kolkata.

The number of players jumping on the Footy bandwagon in Bengal is a terrific positive to take forward as most of the players come from vulnerable backgrounds and don’t have at their expense ample resources. The players have shown true potential and grit without financial support and there is no doubt that the team from Bengal will continue to be a force in the coming years – basic sponsorship could do wonders!!

The Indian Tigers were formed back in 2008 as the team representing India in the AFL International Cup 2008. Since then there has been no let up and the newest squad of Indian Tigers is all set to contest the International Cup in 2014. The first Indian Tigers team had only half the team residing in India as the game itself had officially been launched the same year and building a team from scratch was no mean feat. However, the present association is hoping the team representing India in IC2014 will have more locals and set a glorious example to follow for subsequent teams.

The absence of regular Footy players in the country meant the contingent from India mostly comprised of players playing other outdoor team sports like soccer, rugby and kabaddi at some level. Although there are still no full-time Footy players today, the players available for selection now practice Footy almost throughout the weak in testing weather and pitch conditions all year round.

The first Indian Tigers team was captained by Mario Shelton, a former rugby player having represented the nation previously at the U-17 level. Under him, the Tigers made their IC debut in 2008. Although the tournament run ended without a single victory, neutrals heralded the team as one of the best debutants to have burst through the IC scene. As the next edition of IC loomed, another player who had been involved since 2008, Sudip Chakraborty, took up the reigns and under his stewardship the Tigers recorded their first international victory against Timor Leste. Sudip has carried on Footy development as the first to work full-time for development of Aussie Rules in India since and is all set to lead the team again in the 2014 edition of the IC.

The present Tigers team boasts of players from more than two states for the first time with players from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala and Jharkhand standing a chance and these guys will be joined by their brothers residing in Australia for the International Cup this coming August. The Indian Tigers may not be blessed with the most comfortable setup in terms of resources but they more than make up for it in spirit. They will take the field with an expectant base looking on and hoping for another big stride towards proving their worth and help push the development bill for the exciting new sport in the country.

If you love India / Indians, The Chicken Tikka / Curry, the Richmond Tigers, Bollywood or even Sachin Tendulkar, here is your chance to lend a helping hand to support the Indian Tigers gather enough funds to successfully complete their tour to Australia for the AFL International Cup 2014, to be held in Melbourne this August. Please get in touch withsudhasil.mitra@aflindia.in for the same.

The AFL International Cup is like the World Cup of Footy, hosted, and graciously not contested, by Australia. It was started in 2002 with 11 countries participating in the tournament and is organised every 3 years and is all set to raise curtains on its 5^th edition in August 2014. This time the number of participating nations is set to rise above 18, which was the count in IC11.

The International Cup is aimed at developing the sport outside Australia, an initiative which means the Australians themselves don’t participate due to the marked difference in ability they have over other nations by virtue of having a high-class professional league for decades. The tournament is organized on an invitational basis and the response has been steadily growing with every edition.

In the inaugural tournament featuring 11 teams, Ireland ran out victors defeating Papua New Guinea in the finals. The 2005 edition, Papua New Guinea again lost in the final to New Zealand but they avenged their defeat in 2008 beating New Zealand to the title. In the most recent edition in 2011, Ireland doubled their IC tally with another victory over Papua New Guinea. Starting in 2011, a women’s competition is also being organized, of which the Irish ladies were the champions in the inaugural edition.

India participated in the AFL International Cup 2008 for the very first time as ‘Indian Tigers’ putting up a brave fight as debutants as the tournament proceeded and tasted first international victory in the 2011 edition against Timor Leste (East Timor).

The International Cup has got immensely positive response from the participating nations and more countries are sitting up and taking notice of the sport and the excitement surrounding it. The AFL top honchos will be hoping the sport can soon hit the heights of other globally accepted sports.

Trial Essay A: “With Debate” Essay

Written by a student that has confronted important complications and have understand what she want to learn.

The clock was amazingly impede since i sat, thighs and legs properly crossed, squirming at my workspace. “Just lift up your fingers,” my head pleaded, “ask.” But despite my urgent want to visit the restroom, I remained sitting, begging time to progress swifter.view website The thing is, I was that method of child to enjoy French-fried Potatoes dried out merely because I couldn’t face the McDonalds cashier for a few Heinz packets. I found myself also the variation to sit down crying looking at class as a substitute for wondering your office in the event it could check into my delayed experience. Basically, I picked to challenge from a dilemma should the answer concerned talking out next to it. (more…)

It is no wonder that many call Australian Rules Football(popularly known as footy) as ‘cricket’s worst creation’, for it was but cricket that brought together Lincoln Harris and Sumesh Sawant who started playing it in Shivaji Park. It first started with simple ‘kick to kick’ as it is called in Australia which involves two or more players kicking the Aussie Rules Football back and forth. The novelty of the ball and perhaps the fact that a westerner was involved led the cricket crazy kids to show interest and soon there were enough players to hold a small match. The cricket bats and rubber balls lay forgotten as the kids came out to kick footy on the ground twice or thrice a week.

The sport became popular among the kids in the area and spread amongst others through word of mouth increasing the participation day by day. Soon there were enough players to form two teams- Mahim Cats and the Matunga Tigers. The two teams played off their first ever Mumbai Derby in July 2012 in which the Matunga Tigers emerged victorious. The heavy downpour and mud puddles all over the ground couldn’t dampen the kids spirits. Later in the year around 30 Mumbaikars travelled to Calicut, Kerala as two teams mentioned above to participate in the first inaugural Australian Rules Football tournament AFL India OGM Cup. The kids returned home feeling motivated and excited to practice hard while even more boys joined the group.

All the players continued to train and play through 2013, even organizing the second Mumbai Cup in the month of May before going to Goa for the second national tournament. The Maharashtra Giants junior team was talented and disciplined enough to bag the winner’s cup, while the senior team finished second last in the tournament.

The Mumbai boys have always been fortunate enough to have trained with some of the professional footy players who have visited the city. Rhan Harris, who is a professional footy coach for the team Salvo Hawks in Australia has always taken keen interest in the development of skills of the players. His coaching tips have proven to be very helpful for the guys when they could not train under experienced players or any coaches. Don Whitford, who is an ex-footy player from the Brisbane Lions has also conducted several clinics for the Mumbai boys, correcting and helping improve their kicking skills. Before leaving for the Goa tournament the boys enjoyed a training session under the watchful eyes of Gavin Crossisca another ex-footy player who played for Collingwood F.C.

 With so much happening in the sport the kids are very excited and have taken to practicing regularly to improve themselves and bring yet another glorious victory for the team. The field sees more and more new faces every time when the kids gather for their training sessions. Some of the senior and more experienced players like Sumesh Sawant and Mayur Parmar are very happy to see the progress and help coach the new kids and conduct regular training sessions. The boys are looking forward to continued growth of footy in Mumbai and across Maharashtra.

A modified version of Footy was played between Bombers and Tigers at the Arabian Sea beaches of Trivandrum, Kerala. This was a demonstration game of Footy, bare-feet version on the beach during ASC-ASOP multi-sport beach festival in India for the first time.

Training sessions for players at Calicut (Kozhikode), Kerala during the 1st national tournament for Australian Rules Football in India.