THE New Zealand Australian Football League (NZAFL) wants to play in the Charles Perkins National Aboriginal Football Championships, AboriginalFootball can reveal.
NZAFL CEO Robert Vanstam told AboriginalFootball that he wants to send a team to play at the carnival and will explore that possibility with the organisers of the next event.
The Kiwis' inclusion could open up financial opportunities for the championships which has struggled to secure regular funds since its primary source of funding, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), was abolished in 2005.
Traditionally, the football championships, which also has a netball component, is held each year in October. Last year's event was cancelled entirely due to funding and organisational problems. It is thought those factors have again caused this year's delay.
However, little is known of when and where the next carnival will be held, and under what format, and even if a New Zealand football team will be granted an invitation. Phone calls and emails from AboriginalFootball to the Victorian Aboriginal Youth Sport and Recreation (VAYSAR) organisation -- which is organising the event -- has yielded very little information, only that it will be held somewhere in Victoria and possibly in February 2008.
A Kiwi team, the New Zealand Falcons, played at last year's Australian Football Country Championships on the Gold Coast. They played one game against the Darryl White-led Aboriginal All-Stars team and were comprehensively flogged.
Now they want to come back for more.
"The players considered it an honour," said Vanstam, of the game, not the result.
"After our defeat, we formed a guard of honour to show our appreciation of the performance by the All-Stars.
"If we were able to attend (the Charles Perkins football championships), we would love to see our visit reciprocated with Aboriginal teams touring New Zealand. The opportunity to learn more about a different culture would be something those lucky enough to participate would remember for the rest of their lives."
NZAFL has 16 amateur senior teams nationwide.
The Kiwis are the current international football champions, having defeated Papua New Guinea at the second AFL-sanctioned International Cup in 2005.
Vanstam said the Charles Perkins football championships' format is ideal.
"The best opportunity to better the standard of Australian Football in New Zealand is by exposing the players to Australian competition," he said.
"The tournament structure over a three- or four-day period provides the opportunity to participate in several games against varied opposition."
Asked if the organisers were to insist on a Maori team, in keeping with the Indigenous component of the event, Vanstam said: "The probability of having enough (Maori) players of reasonable standard would be improbable at this time."
Vanstam said a New Zealand team, regardless of its make up, would add a new dimension to the carnival.
"When we played at the Australian Country Championships last year, I think it captured the imagination of those involved with the tournament," he said.
"Here was a new frontier with the opportunity to play Australian Football against international competitors. People start to think 'How far can this really go?'.
"We did find that some of our cultural differences while at the tournament where not only due to where we came from but also the background of our players. Rugby, soccer, surf life saving, hockey, athletics, Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Pakeha ... that makes for quite an interesting mix.
"All our players are playing for the right reasons. They are so open-minded and so eager to learn that their enthusiasm and innocence is contagious."
DARREN MONCRIEFF
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Monday 29 October 2007
Last Modified on 30/05/2012 17:52