Australian Rules Football, or “Footy”, is a fast moving, physical sport that is often described as a mixture of soccer and American football (or rugby). The game is played between two teams of 18 players on a large oval field. In Australia, professional teams play on cricket ovals, meaning that the playing field can be as large as 500 feet long and 450 feet wide, sometimes larger! The primary aim of the game is to score goals by kicking a ball through a set of goalposts on either end of the field. Each team defends one set of goalposts and attempts to kick goals through the opposing set. An Australian Rules football is shaped similarly to an American football with rounded ends. Players advance the ball by kicking or handballing (hitting with a clenched fist) it to teammates or running with the ball. Players cannot throw the ball, and must touch the ball to the ground once for every 15 meters they run with it. There is no offside rule, and the ball can be advanced in any direction.

Australian Rules Football is one of the oldest sports in the world, its rules having been codified in 1859 in Melbourne. The highest level of play is the professional Australian Football League, which had its’ first season 1897. Today, 17 teams compete in the AFL every year to win the Grand Final, which is the most attended domestic club sporting championship in the world.

In the USA, footy is a small but growing sport. The USAFL was founded in 1996, and has grown to more than 40 clubs today. Every year, clubs from around the country come together to compete against each other for a weekend at Nationals.