Courtesy: westcoasteagles.com.au

Published: 2nd January, 2015

Ever wondered how it would feel to toss the ball to start the grand final? Or to present the cup to the winners?

Well, recently in India, I did both. And what a blast!

Forget the fact that these were under-16s teams and kids with only about six months’ of footy education; they were playing for keeps.

All very dedicated to their game, all pretty inexperienced and not many skills yet. But give it time, these will come.

All of the youngsters are from the slums of Jaipur, and as expected not many have the physical size we are used to. Some were about the size of some of our Auskick kids (and some had around the same level of skills), but despite desperately needed kicking skills, they play hard, tackle and chase ferociously.

It is absolutely inspiring to imagine what these kids could achieve with the kind of facilities and opportunities that are a rite of passage for Aussie kids.

About a month ago, we saw the inaugural competition in Jaipur (Rajasthan). Teams represented were Crows, Kangaroos, Saints, Giants, Hawks, Bombers, Tigers, Suns, Cats and, of course, my beloved Eagles.

Each game was only of 20 minutes duration, with each team playing every other until the top four was determined. The Eagles won both of their games easily, beating the Crows 23 points to nil, and the Suns 26-0.  Believe it or not, during the game against the Crows a large eagle lazily circled for the entire period.

In the semi-final, the Eagles went on to beat the Giants 17-2, and then the Kangaroos in the grand final, 48-6!  HUGE elation. And I am over the moon!

So the Eagles become the state team for Rajasthan.   They look very promising, despite being so new to the game. One thing that hit me like a truck was their No.3. This lad could have been Mainy reincarnated; same nuggetty build, same run, same never-let-a-chance-go-by style and the same where-will-it-go kick.

He pretty much level pegged with player No.2 as best-on-ground in all games.

Helen Mell is an avid West Coast Eagles fan and member, whose other passion in life is India. She takes great pride in taking Australian football to the sub-continent and was pivotal in helping to establish a relationship with the Rajasthan Eagles. 

Odisha became the 7^th state to welcome Footy within their borders and the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) deserves a bulk of the credit for helping ARFAI achieve the same. ARFAI, in partnership with KISS, have agreed to introduce Footy to 1500 children in the state of Odisha over the course of 2015, assisted by the Direct Aid Program (DAP) from the Australian High Commission.

ARFAI officials will be coaching senior players of KISS who will in turn coach batches of children aged between 10-16 years. A state tournament will be held in Odisha to gauge progress and to give the children a taste of competitive Footy action. Outstanding performers from the state tournament will get a chance to represent their state in the ARFAI National Championships 2015 in Kolkata.

The participation at the introductory session exceeded the projected numbers. The number of coaches at the introductory session was 60, 50 more than the 10 planned in the project. Such was the enthusiasm that ARFAI decided to increase the number of coaches to 16, who would go on to coach 1600 children.

ARFAI will hope to forge a sustainable partnership with KISS which will help us develop a structure in Odisha to promote and develop Footy further in the eastern state.

Launch of the ARFAI-MB partnership under ASOP programme

The Australian Rules Football Association of India (ARFAI) entered into a partnership with international sports NGO, Magic Bus India Foundation, to introduce Footy in the states of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. The partnership was a part of a 1 year long project under the Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) grant sanctioned by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC). During the course of the project, 1000 children from each state were introduced to the national sport of Australia.

ARFAI coaches trained 20 Youth Leaders in each state, who in turn trained batches of children aged between 10-16 years in their respective areas. The home stretch of the project saw a State Championship in each state featuring 10 teams of 12 players each. A selection of the best players from each state tournament formed a junior state team which participated in the ARFAI National Championship 2014.

A striking highlight of the project was the unearthing of a massive talent in Mahesh Tirkey. He started off as a Youth Leader from Ranchi and in the space of 2 months, showcased exceptional ability which propelled him to the Indian Tigers contingent that travelled to Australia for the International Cup 2014. He has been a driving force in the development of Footy in Jharkhand and a benchmark for future ARFAI projects. ARFAI is hopeful of a fledging partnership with Magic Bus that will continue over the years and prove to be mutually beneficial for both organizations.

The CEO of Magic Bus, Mr. Pratik Kumar, was pleasantly surprised by the immense enthusiasm and interest expressed by the coaches and students during the course of the project. Such was the response that he insisted on continuation of the partnership to further hone the skills of the present batch and unravel more talents from the 3 states.

Winners of the Senior Division the ‘Charni Road Eagles’ with the trophy

The much awaited event of the year for all footy fanatics in Mumbai, the ‘Mumbai Footy Cup 2015’ was held this year from 1st  to 3rd of May at Shivaji Park and Western Railway Ground in Mumbai. Organized for the third time, it showed how much the popularity of the sport and the enthusiasm of all those involved has gone up over the past few years. A total of sixteen teams which involved eight senior teams, six junior, and two girl teams participated in this year’s carnival. The Mumbai footy community now has players from different parts of Mumbai apart from the areas nearing Shivaji Park where the sport was first played. This led to formation of new teams and the old favorites Mahim Cats and Matunga Tigers faced some formidable opposition in the tournament.

The Mumbai lads have never been lucky enough to play on a proper football field during training and the matches. But this time ‘Australian Rules Football Mumbai’ was successful in procuring the Western Railway Football Ground for the tournament and it made for a very good experience for all the players. The organizing committee for the tournament was quite a big one owing to the fact that many friends and relatives of the players had volunteered. This enhanced the players’ experience tremendously as all the events took place in a smooth progression.

The qualifying matches took place at Shivaji Park which witnessed some intense battles in the scorching heat. The energy with which the kids played was very infectious and it invited a lot of curious by standers to keenly observe the madness of the sport. After a day full of tough matches and serious footy kicking the boys took it to the other venue for the remaining two days of the tournament.

The grand final in the seniors division was played between ‘Grant Road Bombers’ and ‘Charni Road Eagles’ and though both sides showcased their best footy skills the Eagles proved themselves to be stronger and emerged victorious with a lead of just seven points. The junior division saw ‘Mahim Cats’ and ‘Mumbai Central Giants’ battling it for the prestigious cup in the finals. The Giants startled everybody with their amazing skills and team work considering they were making their debut and defeated the more experienced side the Cats and won the Mumbai Footy Cup 2015 in the junior’s division.

With an amazing and exciting day of footy coming to an end it was time to award the trophies to the winning teams and special awards to the best players. To do the honors we had several chief guests present at the event. Firstly, Lincoln Harris who has played a pivotal role in the development of footy in Mumbai and who’s efforts over the years have built an army of footy players from the handful that first started playing. Rhan Harris, coach of the Salvo Hawks team also offered help in the form of umpiring and conducting footy clinics for all the players. Also present at the event were Helen Mell, ambassador for AFL India and life member of the West Coast Eagles who has been the most athletic supporter of footy all over India and Peter Cullen founder of Reclink Australia and Peter Ryan of Xavier’s college in Australia. The best player award Harry Buster medal in the junior category went to Harshad Tank of Matunga Tigers and in the senior category the Lincoln Harris medal for the best player was awarded to Gauraj Surve of Grant Road Bombers. Sumesh Sawant, co-founder of ‘Australian Rules Football Mumbai’ says, “The standards of the tournament and also the game of all the players have really improved a lot over the years. The Mumbai Footy Cup has helped to bring very good talent to notice and we are excited to form the new team for the state of Maharashtra which will participate in the National Cup later in the year. As for the Mumbai Footy Cup, we are planning to take it a step further next year by inviting players from all over the country to participate which will foster a sense of unity and community connectedness”.

Lastly, a word of thanks to our kind supporters India Unbound a travel company of Australia, Must Radio, Reclink Australia, West Coast Eagles and Reality Tours for encouraging the continued growth of footy in Mumbai.

700 children playing Footy at a time – What a sight!

Odisha became the latest state to embrace Footy as they welcomed ARFAI officials to organise an introductory training session at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) campus in Bhubaneshwar. The Australian High Commission in India deserve a special note of thanks for sanctioning the Direct Aid Program (DAP) grant for the joint venture between ARFAI and KISS.

Under this project, ARFAI officials will train senior students at KISS to be Footy coaches, who will in turn help in training at least 1500 children by the end of this calendar year.

ARFAI officials training the new coaches in Odisha

The 3 day session led by ARFAI officials Sudip Chakraborty, Sudhasil Mitra and Vineet Basu, comprised of indoor and outdoor sessions through which the KISS coaches were taught basic skills and rules of the game. The new coaches were also made to sign ARFAI’s Child Protection Policy (CPP) and were briefed about ARFAI’s Monitoring & Evaluation system. The enthusiasm was there for all to see and they picked up on pointers given by the ARFAI officials very swiftly.

The coaches were also acquainted with coaching methods which need to be employed while they conduct the trainings. When the ARFAI coaches reached the field in the final day, they were faced with an experience like no other. More than 700 children had taken to the field, brimming with energy and willing to experience the sport.

With the help of the KISS coaches, who according to Sudip were fast learners and ready-fit for the new sport, the ARFAI officials taught the children basic Footy skills in a friendly, interactive session.

The highlight of the final day was a visit by the founder of KISS, Mr. Achutya Samanta himself. He was delighted to see the positive response and provided the coaches and children words of encouragement and a promise for further such opportunities in the future.

He seemed particularly pleased at the idea of forming the first Odisha state team comprising of KISS students who will participate in the ARFAI National Championship 2015 later this year. The day culminated in a friendly match between the coaches. Although the match was conducted to bring them up to speed with the basic gameplay rules, they showed exceptional grasp of the basic skills even at such an early stage.

The ARFAI is grateful to KISS for providing them the perfect setting for venturing into a new state and are hopeful that this partnership will only grow stronger in the coming days.

KISS & KIIT founder Professor Achyuta Samanta with ARFAI & KISS staff and the new coaches of Odisha

Cam Vale, CEO – Hockey Australia, exchange the Hockey and Footy with Sudip Chakraborty, Sec. Gen. ARFAI, along with Australia’s Trade Minister Mr. Andrew Robb

The Australian Rules Football Association of India (ARFAI) has been actively striving to spread the joys of Footy, both on and off the field. The latest in the line of off-field exposure took place at the Australia Business Week in India, held in January 2015. The conference which was held across multiple cities in India, saw the Secretary General of ARFAI, Sudip Chakraborty, represent the Australian Football community and share the story of the sports’ development in India thus far.

This one-of-a-kind conference was designed to target the industry sectors where Indian demand best aligns with strong Australian capability and capacity. 400 Australian delegates were present at the kick-off session held at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi. Sports was identified as one of these sectors for the first time, which brought ARFAI to the fore. As a speaker at the session on Grassroots Sports in India: the state of play,

Sudip spoke about how readily accepted the National sport of Australia, Footy, has been to the larger Indian community, irrespective of their social standing. In coherence to the core focus of the session on ‘how accessible sport is in India to the bulk of the population, whether it is just for the middle class, or how people with low socio-economic status can embrace and participate in organized sport’, Sudip presented the story of how ARFAI had amassed participation in thousands with a small workforce and limited funding, starting with West Bengal and spreading to 7 states across the country at present. Also speaking on the same was Mr. Jay Shah, Director, The Sports Gurukul, who spoke about what his organization has been doing in the same space.

Minister Andrew Robb hand-passing the AFL India Footy

Requiring only a football to kick off a game, Footy is a significantly cheaper alternative to many prevalent sports. Thus it is no surprise that ARFAI’s work with marginalized communities has been welcomed with open arms, and children from these communities comprise a majority of the 6000 participants under ARFAI initiatives till date. Sudip demonstrated the Footy growth curve in India to an audience comprising of head-honchos of various private and government sporting bodies in India, along with the Australian sporting delegates. Sudip went on to participate in a panel discussion on ‘how to setup grass roots sport programs with limited physical infrastructure and how to involve all sections of society in the same.’ Sudip shared the dais with Mr. Pavan Gandhok from Sportacular, Mr. Mohit Pabbi from DLF Soccer Academy and Mr. Pratik Kumar, CEO of Magic Bus India Foundation.

The other highlight of the conference for ARFAI arrived in the form of the Australian Trade Minister, Mr. Andrew Robb, a big Footy fan himself, rolling up his corporate sleeves to play Footy with underprivileged children representing sports NGO, STAIRS. Also present at the session were Australian Senator Hon. Richard Coelbeck and Mr. Siddhartha Upadhyay, Founder and Secretary General of STAIRS. The session was wrapped up with a unique exchange between the head of India’s National sport in Australia and the head of Australia’s National sport in India. Mr. Cam Vale, CEO, Hockey Australia and Sudip Chakraborty, Secretary General of ARFAI agreed in principle to cross-promote each other’s’ respective National sport in the future, in presence of Minister Robb.

The conference ended on a hopeful note for ARFAI as the Australian Trade Minister responded positively to Sudip’s plea for continued support from Australia for further development of Footy in India. ARFAI’s efforts have been well acknowledged in Australia but getting support from Indian entities has proved to be a struggle thus far. ARFAI is hopeful that such initiatives like the conference will aid their development plans through support from within India as well as our counterparts in Australia.

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