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2014 Axios Euro Cup Review

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The fifth annual Axios Euro Cup drew to a close over the weekend, with over 350 players from 19 nations competing at the London Irish Rugby Club facilities. The Denmark Vikings took out the mens competition defeating the Croatian Knights in a hard fought contest in which the Danish proved their class with a young and rapidly developing collection of players. The final score was 6.4.40- 2.4.16 to the Vikings.

The Irish Banshees managed to hold on to the lead beating first timers the English Vixens by just 5 points with a final score of 5.1.31- 4.2.26 in the Women’s Division.

France took took out Division 2 to take home the Euro Bowl and in Division 3 Norway defeated Spain to claim the Euro plate.

2014 Axios Euro Cup was the biggest Euro Cup in the history with 16 men’s and 5 women’s national teams represented, including the new women’s teams the English Vixens, Denmak Valkyries and Scottish Sirens.

Irish Banshees

2014 Axios Euro Cup Team of the Tournament:

Mens
Anders Thomt – Norway
Michel Van Eijk – Netherlands
Micheal Larsson – Sweden
Micheal Douglas – Scotland
Pierre Etienne Dandaleix – France
Myles Hudson – England
Kevin O’brien – Ireland
Bernhard Plank – Austria
James Clayton – Crusaders
Josip Habljak – Croatia
Mikkel Kjoge – Denmark
Aleix Ferrer – Catalunya
Florian Neuman – Germany
Juan Jose Martin – Spain
David Saunders – Wales
Andrea Lorenzi – Italy

Golden Whistle – Oscar Ayaddi
Team Manager – Martin Schittegg
Coach – Morten Ensbye

Womens
Elizabeth Nielsen – Denmark
Helen Cameron – Scotland
Vanessa Temple – England
Camille Portal – France
Marie Keating – Ireland

Team Manager – Morten Merhoj
Coach – Ian Baxter

Scores of the day (click on the picture to enlarge):

Men’s competition:

AEC Men's Scores

Women’s competition:

AEC Women's Scores

2014 Axios Euro Cup ranking:

Men’s:

1- Denmark
2- Croatia
3- Ireland
4- Germany
5- Wales
6- England
7- Sweden
8- Italy
9- France
10- Austria
11- Scotland
12- Crusaders
13- Norway
14- Spain
15- Netherlands
16- Catalunya

Women’s:

1- Ireland
2- England
3- Scotland
4- Denmark
5- France

AFL Europe would like to thank all the umpires and volunteers for their hard work on the day as the event wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Special thanks to our sponsors Axios, Coopers, Belushi’s, St Christophers Inn, Stack Cup, Generator, Strap-Med for their support and many thanks to London Irish Rugby Club and Hazelwood Centre for their collaboration and allowing the teams to use their amazing venue.

The Euro Cup remains a highlight on the European footy calendar and we look forward to the sixth edition in 2015. Stay tuned for more information or if your community would like to find out about submitting a bid please get in touch.

2014 Axios Euro Cup info hub

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#axioseurocup #euroreps @AFL_Europe

The 2014 Axios Euro Cup is just around the corner!

In the lead up to the event make sure you visit the event page on our website for all the information.

Click here to find out all the information on current standings, player eligibility, venue details and how to register.

Make sure you join the 2014 Axios Euro Cup Facebook event.

 

You can watch the 2014 Axios Euro Cup draw here.

 

Event Details:

Games will kick off at 9am

London Irish Rugby Club

Hazelwood Centre, TW16 6QU

10 minutes walk from Sunbury Upon Thames train station

FREE ENTRY || NO DOGS

Volunteers 

We are still recruiting for volunteers to assist on the day across a range of roles. If you are interested in getting involved please email tia.bool@afleurope.org

Official 2014 Axios Euro Cup Event Merchandise 

To pre- purchase merchandise please do so through the Eventbrite link, this will ensure you get the correct size on the day.  There are two options for pre ordering merchandise, for players this can be done when registering on Eventbrite and for supporters you can do so through the supporters registration. Entry is free, however this registration is for those supporters who would like to pre purchase merchandise and meals.

We will also be selling merchandise on the day, however to avoid disappointment regarding sizes please ensure you pre-order.

 

2014 Axios Euro Cup official hoodie

2014 Axios Euro Cup Official hoodie

AEC Tshirt

2014 Axios Euro Cup Official t-shirt

 

Denmark AFL 9s tournament

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by Aksel Bang

While The International Cup in Melbourne reached its finals the summer heat cranked up in Europe and a new tournament saw the light of day in Denmark.

Aalborg was for a day the footy center of Europe with the new DAFL OPEN-9’s tournament being held at the Aalborg Kangaroos home ground. The Kangaroos hosted the tournament with help from the DAFL and volunteers from the community who believe in Aussie Rules footy abroad.

On the 16th of August 6 teams turned up to participated in the first DAFL OPEN-9’s which is a 9-a-side tournament played within the DAFL and AFL Europe laws. The 6 teams included the Oslo Crows, Odense Lions, Farum Cats, Aalborg Kangaroos and DAFL Outcasts which was a mixed team with players from Copenhagen and Aarhus. But even though Aalborg already had one team in the tournament the club still managed to pull together all the the old players who previously played for the club to participate on the Aalborg Old Boys team.

Despite the windy conditions in Aalborg on the 16th the tournament was a great success and every team showed great skills, wonderful team spirit and made sure every spectator gained great insight as to what footy is all about.  The tournament was played in pool stages and finals rounds, there were 2 groups with 3 teams in each of the groups and one cross-over game.

It was a great day in Aalborg and everyone had a great day and throughly enjoyed the footy. We hope that in the future the tournament will have more nationalities and teams participating.

Official Results:

1st place: Farum Cats

2th place: DAFL Outcasts

3th place: Oslo Crows

4th place: Aalborg Old Boys

5th place: Aalborg Kangaroos

6th place: Odense Lions

Leading goal kicker: Mikkel Norlander, Farum Cats

Best and fairest: William Hedenskog Andersen, DAFL Outcasts

 

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Gavin Ward’s experience as DAFL umpires coordinator

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Picture Derek Clarke

By Gavin Ward, DAFL umpires coordinator

“The more things change, the more they stay the same”

After moving to Denmark with my Danish wife in 2002, I came across Australian Football by accident and to my surprise. Being a retired player back home and out of the game for many years, I saw this as a great opportunity to firstly get involved with the Danish society and secondly to give back to the game the great experiences it gave me growing up.

As umpires are like hens teeth in a minority sport, being asked to umpire came quite quickly. I thought I would give it a go, and I’m glad I did.

My first game was bit hairy at the start with a few tense moments, but I pulled through unscathed. Looking back, you realise how challenging umpiring can be, due to the considerable amount of focus and concentration required.  From a playing perspective, the challenge of umpiring probably goes unrecognised as your focus is on yourself, your team and winning the game, and not much appreciation is given for the umpires’ efforts.

The past couple of years I have been umpiring on a regular basis.

I find that umpiring a good way to still be involved in the game, maintaining fitness and enjoying the social side afterwards. I started really enjoying learning another side to the game. I found you learn and understand the game from one perspective as a player; where umpiring has quite a different focus and a need to understand the rules on a much deeper level.

I’ve since been asked if I would like coordinate the umpires and help in trying to build an umpiring team.

Once I took on the role, I naturally found the need to dig deeper into umpiring, to improve myself as an umpire and help other umpires do the same. Last year’s AFL Europe Level 1 accreditation course was really helpful in moving forward in my role as coordinator. The preparation, coursework, drills and feedback were all beneficial to me both as an umpire and as a coordinator.

One of the highlights I have had in umpiring was umpiring the European Championships in Dublin.

You can really notice the different standard of the game – it gets the heart rate going and motivates you to perform! Umpiring in those games was really enjoyable because all involved wanted to do well. The Championships were quite exiting to umpire – it was nation up against nation every couple of days, which gave a feeling of being as part of something special. Another, more recent highlight, was umpiring the Scandinavia Cup in Malmo, Sweden. It felt like a local derby, as the intensity level was quite high.

As an umpire, these are the types of games that send chills down your spine!

Coordinating a team of umpires comes with its ups and downs. I knew it would be challenging trying to recruit more umpires as well as retain our existing guys and girls. Setting up a social media group helped with recruitment and engaging the team. A lot of questions the guys and girls had leading up to games could be discussed privately amongst the team, and I think everyone appreciated the support. Using the website for promotion and encouraging new umpires (or injured players) to try out goal and boundary umpiring as a taster seems has shown some positive signs.

The most rewarding part of my role as coordinator so far has been seeing new umpires pick up the whistle for the first time and love the part that they play in our great game. Takes me back to my first time in control of a match!

One of the biggest challenges is encouraging new umpires to umpire rather than play.

Umpiring is to an extent seen as something to do after your playing career has finished and the few regular umpires we do have are retired players. Keeping the young guys involved who have ambitions to play is an issue, so something we may try next year is “Play one day, Umpire the next.”

Ideally, we would also like to work with the clubs ahead of the season to identify three or four rounds where new umpires will officiate alongside an experienced umpire. This will boost interest in umpiring and help handle those first-game nerves. Also, some of our female club supporters have been helping with goal umpiring this year. Potentially we have our own Chelsea Roffey in our midst, or better still one will go on to become a regular field umpire.

The last few years in the DAFL have seen more neutral umpires, which is improving the culture around umpiring.

It’s really important to have a supportive environment around our umpiring group, as it has helped retain umpires. In addition, since AFL Europe introduced accredited training and support, the standard of umpiring in the league has improved, as it gives our guys and girls something to strive for. I am also hearing this from Umpires’ Coordinators in other leagues, who all seem to be doing well in developing their umpiring teams.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the 2014 season and am starting to plan for next year already. Reminds me of how it went my playing days, really!

#umpiresweek #betterumpiresmeansbettergames #thethirdteam

AFL Europe Umpires’ Profile

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Pictures: Derek Clarke

By Michael McCormick

JOSH DAVEY

What does Dr Karl Kennedy and a street party in Geelong have in common? They both played a significant role in introducing the game of AFL to WARFL Umpiring Coordinator and AFL Europe Umpire, Josh Davey.

Davey, a former player turned umpire, admitted that his first memory of AFL was seeing Dr Karl Kennedy playing it on Australian soap opera, ‘Neighbours.’

It wasn’t until recently however that he explored his interest further by becoming involved with a local club.

“I saw a video online of what seemed like the whole of Geelong out on the street partying after their Grand Final win,” stated Davey. “I then watched a couple of videos on YouTube, discovered I had a local club and went and had a go.”

Davey’s umpiring career began when he volunteered with his local league during weeks in which he was injured. He then took the opportunity to be involved in the 2013 European Championships in Dublin.

“I offered my services to AFL Europe as a volunteer,” explained Davey. “There I discovered they were holding a Level 1 Umpires course and decided to get involved with that.”

Davey continued to grow as an umpire and went from strength to strength after the European Championships.

Being selected as a field umpire for the AIS-AFL Academy vs European Legion Easter Series game stands out as one of his finest moments.

“Having played for the first Legion I knew the skill level of the players would be extremely high and to be considered good enough to umpire them was a huge honour.”

The dream for many European AFL aficionados is to travel to Australia and play the great game at a professional level. Davey however has slightly different endeavours.

“Whilst some players stay after the International Cup to try and work their way up to the very top as players, I’d love the chance to do the same as a whistle man.”

Davey described Australian Football as an exhilarating game to spectate due to its fluidity and the athleticism of the players.

“It is such a beautiful game to watch, and the very best place to watch it is from the middle of the park.”

For those who want to have the same seat on the ground as him, Davey offered these words of wisdom;

“Be confident in your actions and abilities and don’t be afraid to blow your whistle. Think about mistakes after the game, but on the ground, show presence and the players will respond positively.”

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NILSS LODE

Nilss

Taking marks on other players’ shoulders is what makes Australian Football the greatest game in the world, at least according to AFL Germany Umpiring Coordinator, Nilss Lode.

Melbourne born Lode, who grew up playing Australian Football in his lunch breaks at primary school, began his umpiring career as a result of an AFL Europe initiative to develop local umpires.

“I initially didn’t even consider attending or umpiring,” he said. “One of my team mates enjoyed umpiring more than playing, and that kind of sparked enough interest to see what it is all about.”

During his Level 0 course he was thrown in the deep end, being made to umpire a practice match for the German national team.

“There were so many decisions to be made quickly and I really enjoyed the challenge and decided that I wanted to pursue umpiring further.”

Since that initial experience, Lode has improved his skill and expertise to the point in which he is now sought out for major events across Europe.

A high level of commitment and an eagerness to learn at the highest level has enabled his steady improvement.

“Umpiring at three Euro Cup tournaments enabled me to work alongside more experienced umpires than myself and learn from their advice.”

Lode is currently working towards Level 2 accreditation to further develop his own skills and those of the umpires he coordinates.

He encourages aspiring umpires to go to a local match as a spectator and make the umpiring decisions in their head to compare with what the umpire decides.

“Know the actual official rules, rather than what commentators explain on TV as they are, in my opinion, often wrong.”

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NIELS SCHONNEMANN-ROSBERG

Niels

Combining a passion for travel and a love of the great game makes umpiring Australian Football more than just a hobby for Danish umpire, Niels Schønnemann-Rosberg.

He came across Australian Football after a chance meeting with his cousin at the ripe age of seventeen.

“I bumped into one of my cousins during the summer of ’99 and he invited me down to the local footy club,” he said. “The rest is history.”

His history as a player is extensive however his umpiring career is still in its infancy.

“I started to umpire full time in 2010 as I needed a challenge other than playing football,” he stated.

“I wasnt quite ready to leave, so I thought that umpiring could be a way to stay in the game.”

As most local games in Denmark are umpired by players in their bye rounds, the professionalism of umpiring isn’t a major focus.

Because of this, Schønnemann-Rosberg had to make special efforts to progress his umpiring ambitions.

“Andrew Jones and Shane Hill helped me go through the AFL level 1 program via some travelling and a lot of skype sessions.”

After completing his Level 1 AFL Umpiring course, Schønnemann-Rosberg has been called upon for some of the biggest events in Europe and the world.

“My initial goal was to umpire at the 2011 International Cup, which I did,” he said. “I then got to umpire the Grand final of the 2013 Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux.”

Despite being a rising star of the umpiring fraternity, Schønnemann-Rosberg remains humble about his ambitions.

“At the moment I like to umpire locally and then travel to the European tournaments where I receive feedback from other umpires on my performance.”

Despite having already accomplished a great amount, he doesn’t underestimate the importance of continuous learning and refining.

“Your performance will improve significantly if you learn and apply great positioning and communication to players and officials during a game,” he said.

“They will trust or at least respect your judgement, if you do this.”

#umpiresweek #betterumpiresmeansbettergames #thethirdteam

Copenhagen inaugurate their posts from the Goal Post Grant

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The Copenhagen Australian Football club is the newest member to the Danish League. In 2013, they applied to the AFL Europe Start-Up Club Program and received balls to start training and launch the club. This year their application for a Goal Post Grant was also successful which enabled them to receive funding from AFL Europe to get new goal posts.

In April, their first game in the DAFL against the Farum Cats inaugurated their new posts and pitch. Scott O’Hara tells us about their experience.

“Copenhagen Australian Football played their first official DAFL against reining premiers Farum Cats. In a closely fought contest, they managed to take it up to the champs for the entire game, sadly falling just 5 points short at the final whistle. It was a great first game with new coach Stephen Stewart at the helm.

The match was played at our new ground at Festpladsen in Valby Park and marked the first outing of our brand new goal posts, which we were able to purchase thanks to the help of a Goal Post Grant from AFL Europe. We are very grateful for the posts and the benefits they will give to the club for many years to come. We look forward to kicking many more Goals through them.”

Also, Copenhagen Australian Football Club have recently launched a junior program to make the club grow at the youth level. This is very encouraging for their future.

If you think your club is eligible for the Goal Post Grant, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

The story of the new Odense Lions Danish club

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In 2011, Daniel Petrolo and a few other players tried to start a team in Odense in Denmark. This is when the story of the club starts.

Due to the lack of players interested in joining the club, the project was even more difficult to build from nothing. Some of the players moved. So from 6 at the beginning the numbers were reduced to 3 and the club couldn’t really stay alive even though there was strong motivation from the main stakeholders. “The Odense Lions project was stopped before it really started” said Morten Merhøj.

In early 2013, Morten Merhøj moved to Odense to study. He used to play footy in Farum in Denmark from the age of 13 thanks to junior programs run there. He has been involved heavily in footy including representing Denmark at the last International Cup.

He decided to continue playing Australian Football in Odense so he tried to get in touch with potential players and learnt that the project was in stand-by. Daniel Petrolo and Morten Merhøj decided to trigger the project again with a more concrete approach.

The first step to develop the game and promote it to players was to get a field to train on. To do so, the club needed to be registered and well structured; they have been given a soccer ground with good facilities to train on.

They could then spread the world around. Morten recruited players from his university, resulting in a first training session attended by 11 players. Daniel involved his brother Peter Petrolo in the project who became a key player of the club. Three French players from Toulouse Hawks studying in Odense for the semester also contributed to the restart of the club.

The group formed with Morten, Daniel, his brother Peter and the 3 French players was very strong and built a good foundation for the club. Their high motivation ensured the training sessions to have increased attendance and to show the game to many new players.

As the 2013 DAFL season already started and the Odense Lions club couldn’t play in the competition yet, they made a deal with Randers Dockers, allowing players to join them during the season which gave them the opportunity to start playing and gaining field experience. Then the DAFL gave the Odense Lions the permission to host the Danish 9-a side Championship (taking place during one day) as a step for their development. The Odense Lions lost their 3 games and kicked their first goal in the second game “but every Lion needs to learn how to walk before it can run and kill”.

The goals set by the Odense Lions for the 2013 season have been achieved: having a sustainable group to count on, playing their first games and to be part of the DAFL competition for the next season.

“The next chapter in the story of the rebirth of the Lions is to try and get more committed players” to make the squad grow for their first season. The footballs and jumpers received from the AFL Europe Start-up Club Program and the indoor area they have for the winter will allow the club to train during the winter coming and keep improving the skills and the team development.

Congratulations to the Odense Lions for their encouraging story and all the best for their next season to come.

 

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AFL Europe Championship Finals – Sweden vs Denmark

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Denmark has won the battle of the Scandinavian countries by beating Sweden 48 – 32 to claim 3rd place in the 2013 AFL Europe Championships.

In what was an entertaining battle between two of the most skilful midfields in Europe with Sweden’s talented trio of Johan Lantz, Eric Salin and Emil Aberg getting on top early, aided by some strong work in the ruck from David Wahlberg.  The Swede’s were up at quarter time thanks to goals to David Verngren who has had a great tournament.  Things started tightening up in the 2nd quarter and it was 3.2.20 apiece headed into the half time break.

It was Denmark who started getting the upper hand around the midfield in the 3rd quarter led by their brilliant midfielders in Christopher Campion, Mathias Biron, Aksel Bang, Mikkel Kjoge and William Anderson, who managed to kick 3 goals for himself in the match including a nomination for goal of the tournament from a running shot from outside 50 metres.

Denmark’s defence also started standing up to the challenge and led by Rene Toft Palsgaard and Troels Ottesden, were able to start turning defence into attack.  Sweden were missing the drive of Tony McLoughlin from their half back line with the solid defender not able to play this match.  They were well served however by lively contributions from Joel Sprang, Gaetan Blondeau and  Chris Martensson, but it was not enough to give them their second win of the tournament.

The Swedish team played some formidable football throughout the tournament and were unlucky not to have beaten the Irish in their earlier encounter.  They will be left to ruminate on what may have been before preparing themselves for their next international foray.

For Denmark, the signs are extremely positive that they are closer to winning an international trophy sooner rather than later and if they are able to keep the nucleus of their young, exciting, skilful midfield brigade they will become one of the most formidable teams in Europe.

Final Scores

Denmark: 7.6.48

Sweden: 5.2.32

Goals

Denmark: Andersen 3, Norlander 2, Nielsen, Ottesen

Sweden: Verngren 3, Sorenson, Sahlin

Best Players

Denmark: Palsgaard, Andersen, Bang, Rose

Sweden: Lantz, Verngren, Blondeau, Martensson

“Big Daddy” and the Vikings

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AFL Europe’s new resident writer, Michael McCormick writes his first exclusive for afleruope.org.

The Danish Australian Football League (DAFL) is one of the oldest and most successful leagues in Europe and with team names like the Copenhagen X-Men playing in the local leagues, the national team, the Denmark Vikings, are sure to bring plenty of entertainment to the European Championships this year.

 

Australian football in Denmark originally began in 1989 with a newspaper advertisement placed by a couple of Australian guys who missed kicking the ball around. They asked for expressions of interest and had very few replies. Those who did reply however formed the basis for the initial competition which began in 1991. From there the competition grew and most years saw at least one new team join the competition. After a few structural changes over many years of recruiting, training and playing, the league today stands as one of the strongest in Europe and is arguably the largest in the non English speaking world.

 

One of the men at the forefront of the Vikings’ pursuit to become European Champions in 2013 is their Centre Half Back and DAFL board member, Jens Djernes aka Big Daddy.  Djernes first experienced Australian football as a high school student on exchange in Western Australia. During his exchange from July 2005 till July 2006, the Western Australian teams were quite successful in the AFL competition and in turn the atmosphere in the state was electric. Because of this Djernes discovered a liking for the game and began to play with his school mates. Soon after discovering the game, he came to support the Fremantle Dockers largely due to the influence of his initial host family who liked to support the “underdog”. When Djernes returned to Denmark he founded the Randers Dockers who are now a strong fixture in the Jutland local league.

 

As the game has developed somewhat of a following over the years in Denmark, recruitment for the league is not as difficult as it is for some other European nations. Schools and Universities are heavily targeted as recruiting grounds which is proving to be very successful for the league. The decelerator for the next level of development of the sport however is the lack of commercial television coverage. According to Djernes, American Football and Rugby gain exposure through sometimes peak hour free to air television whereas AFL games are only accessible through the pay TV channel, Euro Sport. This being the case, recruitment efforts are initially slow as the teams have to “start from scratch” when trying to explain the game to prospective players. Thanks to a strong leadership group however, the efforts don’t go unnoticed with the numbers playing the sport steadily increasing year to year.

 

The league’s strength hasn’t ever really transferred to sponsorship from or links to any AFL clubs however. In fact, the league hasn’t got any real connection to Australia despite its efforts. The DAFL had approached the Australian born and raised, Danish Crowned Princess Mary with a request of ambassadorship but to no avail. Strangely enough though the players get plenty of attention from AFL clubs.  Vikings midfielder, Aksel Bang is the perfect example of this. After being recognised as one of the best players in Europe, Bang was offered an international scholarship by AFL side Greater Western Sydney which allowed him to train with the team and play a game with their reserves side. This has set a precedent for AFL clubs to now look to Europe as a wealth of potential talent.

 

Denmark is on the cusp of earning the title of European Champions and with potential future AFL stars building the foundation of a very strong team, the Vikings are looking very likely to achieve their dream and take home the trophy.

 

Join an Australian football club in Denmark today.

Aksels Diary – Giants vs Bombers at Etihad

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I’m back in Sydney after a great couple of days in Melbourne catching up with friends and watching footy at Etihad stadium.

Unfortunately the GWS Giants were not able to end high-flying Essendon’s winning streak and bring the first defeat to them this season even though the Giants played really great 1st and 2nd quarters and were in front at half time.

Essendon had a great 3rd quarter and after that it seemed like everything just worked their way and they ended up winning 120-81.

Monday started at 8am for the boys who didn’t play on the weekend with a training session at the new training ground Tom Wills oval (he was a 19th-century sportsman who is considered one of the pioneers of the sport of Australian rules football). Afterwards we had a short pool session and then we headed back to the club for review of the Essendon match and weight’s training.

Adam Kennedy and I were invited to dinner at Nick Walsh’s (fitness trainer at the club) and we had a really good evening with him and his girlfriend.

Tuesday was a day off so I spent the day looking around in Sydney and catching up with a friend of mine. A good relaxing day so I’m ready for a great day of training tomorrow.