The CAFL Story
CAFL formed together with CANZA by Steven Rees, an Aussie living in Prague. Ashley Ball took over the running of training and organising everything footy, well supported by everyone at CANZA. A competition was held at the CANZA October drinks night in 2005 to design the Czech Lions jersey, with fantastic results!
As is the norm with Aussie Rules in Europe, most games are played on smaller grounds, usually soccer or rugby fields, with teams fielding 9 players per side.
German and Finnish teams travelled to Prague for the first international Aussie Rules matches under CAFL, the Prague Cup. The experienced German Lions of Dusseldorf came out on top after a great day of Aussie Rules in Prague. For trivia fans, this tournament consisted of all teams named “Lions” and all jumpers created based on a local coat of arms.
The Czech Lions travelled to Vienna in May and Zagreb in July for the Austria and Croatia legs of the Tri-Nations with Croatia, Austria (represented by the Vienna Kangaroos), and Czech teams.
The Zagreb tournament attracted over 100 spectators, a real bonus for Croatia, hosting their first international Aussie Rules tournament
The highlight of the footy year in the Czech Republic was when the Czech Lions hosted the Central European AFL (CEAFL) Championships held in Prague, including the Prague leg of the Tri-Nations with Croatia and Austria. The tournament also featured teams from Finland and France, with the Finnish Lions defeating the Croatian Giants in the final. The Czech Lions were edged out of the final, after 2 wins, a draw, and a loss for the day.
Tournament rules included score bonuses for every local (i.e. non-Aussie) player in each team.
As well as local training and scratch matches on the Slavia Rugby field, a coup for the fledgling team, the Czech Lions found themselves travelling fairly extensively in 2007, with the CEAFL Championships held in Vienna, the Tri-Nations tournament continuing of course, and culminating in a trip north to Hamburg for their first EU Cup appearance, with the Lions finishing a credible 5th from the 12 competing teams.
The July CEAFL Championships, hosted by the Vienna Kangaroos, featured on Austrian TV and can be seen on YouTube here
(Exclusive vision of Czech Lions at 2’10”.)
The Zagreb leg was played in 38 degree temperatures!
Everything in 2008 was about the EU Cup, as it was hosted in Prague for the first time ever.
It also marked the first time that the Czechs were able to split into two teams, with the Prague Tigers introduced and playing several matches during the year against the Lions.
Neighbouring countries were also expanding, with Austria introducing a team from Graz, and a second team created in Zagreb, the Hawks. The three countries suspended the Tri-Nations competition in 2008 to focus on local development.
EU CUP – 12 teams made the journey to Prague and the Slavia Sports Centre came alive with Aussie Rules in October 2008. And, the matches were streamed live via the web!! Important sidenote for European footy, that not one Australian player featured in the top three teams.
Unfortunately for the Czech Lions though, their efforts were focussed heavily on organising the EU Cup and they struggled to make an impact on the field and finished 11th out of 12.
TV exposure – there was a little bit of exposure on Czech television too, with two channels showing snippets of the EU Cup on their sports segments.
Footy in the Czech Republic was on a great trajectory going into 2009 and regular numbers at training were around the 20 mark. The Tigers and Lions teams transformed into two new teams, the Marauders and All-Stars, taking advantage of playing kits used in the 2008 EU Cup. The teams played a series of five matches against each other throughout 2009, at the Slavia Rugby ground.
In August of 2009, an “almost” all-local Czech Lions team travelled to the Nürnberg Australian Festival in Germany, invited by the newly formed German Black Eagles, the national team, to play in an historic “test”.
The game was played out in front of 500 spectators, with the Eagles showing their dominance in the second half to run away with the match.
Once again, the Czech Lions competed in the EU Cup, this time travelling to Samobor, Croatia. Despite excellent progression locally, the Czech Lions were a relatively inexperienced team and didn’t have the success they were hoping for in Samobor, finishing in the bottom half of the table. Still, it was to be considered excellent progress, given the pool of local Czech players making themselves available for selection this year.
For a few years, CAFL had been organising a pub venue to open bright and early on the last Saturday in September for footy die-hards to get a great cooked breakfast and watch the Grand Final broadcast live from Melbourne.
2009 was a momentous occasion with 130 people filling the Gold Star Sports Bar to watch the Cats down the Saints by 12 points. This was way above the expected 80 people that CAAFL and the venue had catered for, with a few Czech Lions turning their skills into waiting tables on the day to keep the crowd happy.
A breakout year for European Aussie Rules, with the first pan-European governing body created, the European Australian Football Association (EAFA), with financial and logistical support from the AFL.
For the Czech Republic, as one of the 15 founding members of the EAFA, it was also a breakout year.
CAFL announced that the Prague local league would expand to four teams, with the creation of the Prague Dragons and the Prague Kings. The Marauders have been renamed the Prague Cats, and the side that played as the All-Stars in 2009 running out as the Vinohrady Hawks.
The Czech Australian Football League (CAFL) arranged a great inaugural Grand Final day on Sunday 19th September at the Sparta Rugby Ground in Vysocany, Prague. In the main game, the Vinohrady Hawks managed to down the Prague Cats in a rough and tumble game which featured some great performances especially from Aussies Mark Pace for the Hawks and Brent Hadley for the Cats. Some footage of the game was shown on Czech TV
The 2010 season was not without its chance to travel, as the Czech Lions travelled abroad to the Four Nations Cup in July in Fontanafredda, northern Italy. The tournament was hosted as part of the Festival of Rugby.
The EU Cup was also held in Italy, in Milan, and the Czech Lions again went to battle with the rest of Europe, a tournament which also featured Europe’s first official women’s international match, played between Ireland and hosts, Italy.
The Czech Australian Football League (CAFL) was officially recorded
as a sporting club in the Czech Republic and renamed to
Česká Asociace Australské Fotbalové Ligy (CAAFL).
After the 2010 EU Cup, the European Australian Football Association (EAFA) voted to rename itself as AFL Europe.
Legendary Aussie Rules coach Kevin Sheedy was in Prague in October to mark the cooperation between his new AFL team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, and their main sponsor Skoda Auto. The GWS Giants would become the 18th team of the AFL competition in Australia in 2012.
As part of his visit, Kevin attended a special CAAFL training session at the Petrovice Rugby Ground on Monday afternoon, together with Dale Holmes, CEO of the Greater Western Sydney Giants, along with Skoda Australia MD Matthew Weisner.
No less than 50 keen footballers were in attendance, with not a t-shirt in sight!