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28-514: As of 2011, there were over 1,000 registered USAFL players. There are 48 member clubs, of which 47 have men's teams (all except North Star Blue Ox) and 25 have women's teams. Most of the football clubs in the United States have a traditional 18-a-side team for representative purposes and multiple 9-a-side teams running in a local league. Each year the USAFL holds a National club championship ,

56-505: A result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finals matches that are tied after forty minutes of play are decided by a five-minute extra time period, followed by golden point rules if the match is still tied. Each team is guaranteed three games on the weekend, usually two on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each division's Grand Final is played on Sunday afternoon, with the Men's Division 1 Grand Final being

84-674: A tournament open to all clubs across the nation, the largest of its type in the world for the sport. In addition to the Nationals, the USAFL holds major regional tournaments including the Central, East and West regional tournaments. The USAFL selects the national men's ( USA Revolution ) and women's ( USA Freedom ) teams for competitions such as the Australian Football International Cup and the 49th Parallel Cup . The first match between two local US clubs

112-702: Is a tournament for Australian rules football in the United States . Since 1997, the National Championships have been a large event featuring teams from the United States and Canada in four men's divisions and two women's divisions. The competition is organized and run by the United States Australian Football League . The first championships were held in Cincinnati in 1997, and they were won by

140-400: Is permitted to dress a maximum of 24 players. All Divisions are subject to the "50-50 Rule", which requires at least half of the players on the field at any one time to be "nationals" of the country that their team represents. Players of other origin are considered "non-nationals." Prior to 2009, the players were designated "Australian" and "non-Australian", with at least half of the players on

168-506: The 2002 Australian Football International Cup , finishing 5th out of 11 countries and in the 2005 Australian Football International Cup finishing 3rd out of 10 countries. They competed in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup , where the Revolution finished 7th out of 16 countries. At the 2011 Australian Football International Cup , the Revolution finished 4th in an increased field of 18 countries. The Revolution finished 8th at

196-476: The 2014 Australian Football International Cup , again with 18 countries participating. They would come in 4th at the 2017 Australian Football International Cup which, as of 2024, was the last edition. After completing a tour of Australia in 2009, the Freedom were one of five teams to compete in the first International Cup Women's Division at the 2011 Australian Football International Cup , finishing third. At

224-548: The 2014 Australian Football International Cup , the Freedom finished in third place again while a reserves team, the USA Liberty, came in last of the seven competing teams. Three years later, the Freedom finished fourth at the 2017 Australian Football International Cup while the Liberty went 3-2 in five matches against teams from various leagues in and around Melbourne. After the postponement and subsequent cancellation of

252-627: The AFL Quebec Saints have won two. In 2005, the first USAFL Women's championships were held and were won by the Atlanta Lady Kookaburras. The Lady Kookas took home the first three premierships until 2008, when their 19-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Calgary Kookaburras . The Denver Lady Bulldogs then won six consecutive titles from 2010 to 2015, winning 20 consecutive games in

280-616: The AFL International Cup 2017 or IC17) was the sixth edition of the Australian Football International Cup , a triennial international Australian rules football competition run by the Australian Football League (AFL). It was contested between 5–19 August 2017, with games played in Melbourne . All three previous men's tournament champions (Ireland, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea) participated in

308-755: The Grand Final MVP's. The umpires of the Grand Final in each division are each awarded the Hayden Kennedy medal. The USAFL had previously attempted to keep Nationals in the Midwestern part of the United States in order to keep travel costs down for teams on the East and West coasts, and for all teams to be able to bring as many players as they can. At the league's 2014 annual general meeting, USAFL president Denis Ryan stated that he wanted to have

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336-563: The International Cup in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024, both the Revolution and Freedom took part in the 2024 AFL Transatlantic Cup , one of three regional tournaments scheduled by the AFL to sustain the international Aussie Rules game until the International Cup could be restored. Both American teams would advance to the Grand Final, and both would lose to Ireland. USAFL National Championships The USAFL National Championships

364-618: The club teams across the country. With close proximity to Canada, the Revolution & Freedom participate in the annual 49th Parallel Cup against Canada each year except for years of the Australian Football International Cup . As of the last edition in 2023, the Revolution men have won eleven of the twelve meetings against the Canada Northwind, while the Freedom women have fallen to the Canada Northern Lights in five of seven contests. The Revolution competed in

392-473: The field needing to be "non-Australian." In addition to premiership medals, awards are also given to outstanding players in each division. The Paul Roos Medal, named after the former AFL player and coach and former US Revolution coach, is awarded to each division's Best and Fairest. The Coopers Medal goes to the most consistent player in each division, while the Geoff Cann Medal goes to each of

420-502: The final match of the weekend. The top three men's divisions and women's Division 1 are played as 18-a-side. All teams in Divisions One and men's Division Two must be single entity squads; they may not combine with other teams. Men's Division Three is played as 16-a-side if both teams agree. Division Four is played 14-a-side or 16-a-side, and women's Division two is played 14- or 16-a-side. As of 2017, in all divisions each team

448-592: The host Cincinnati Dockers . The Queen City would host the first three Nationals, with the 1998 edition welcoming 10 teams. The 2017 edition saw the largest turnout in the history of the carnival; 53 teams representing 42 clubs across North America took part, including a record 13 women's teams representing 27 USAFL and AFL Canada clubs. The Denver Bulldogs have been the most successful club at Nationals, winning Men's Division 1 eight times, Women's Division 1 six times, and Men's Division 4 once. The Austin Crows have won

476-793: The process until losing to the Minnesota Freeze . Their string of premierships ended at the hands of the San Francisco Iron Maidens, who have since gone on to claim seven-in-a-row of their own from 2016 to 2023. The USAFL tournament seeding committee sets the divisions and seeding of all teams at least two weeks prior to the tournament. Teams are placed in divisions based on season performance, regional championships performance, previous Nationals’ performance, and team player availability. Teams are then seeded within each division, with teams that are geographically close together usually separated by pool to avoid matchups during

504-408: The season repeating in the group stage. Clubs that aren't able to field full sides are combined with others to ensure that everyone is able to play. The Men's Division 2 was created for the 1999 tournament, and has been used since 2001. Men's Division 3 was introduced in 2002, and Division 4 was added in 2007. A standalone reserves division was used in 2017, 2018, and 2021. A second women's division

532-575: The second most titles, picking up their fifth Men's D1 crown in 2021. The New York Magpies, San Diego Lions and Boston Demons are the only other multiple Men's D1 winners, each having won twice. Canadian clubs were first invited to the USAFL Championships in 2006. The first Canadian champions were the Vancouver Cougars and Calgary Kookaburras in 2008. The Calgary Kangaroos have won four Division 2 premierships while

560-410: The table below, the numbers in parentheses refer to the team's Unofficial World Rankings by World Footy News prior to the competition. Men's Women's For the first time, the men's fixture was played across two divisions. Division One played four matches against other teams within the division and were ranked from one to ten, with finals to follow between the top two placed teams on the ladder,

588-525: The third and fourth placed teams, and so on. The men's Division Two competition and the women's competition saw teams split into two pools of four with each team playing matches against the three opponents in their pool before competing in semi-finals and grand finals based on finishing positions within the pool. The women's grand final was played at Etihad Stadium as a curtain-raiser to the Round 22 clash between Carlton and Hawthorn . The men's grand final

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616-539: The three regions, East, Central, and West, alternate hosting duties. The 2020 Nationals tournament, originally scheduled for Ontario, California the weekend of October 10–11, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario would later host the 2022 Nationals. *In 2016, the Bulldogs finished second in a round robin where no Grand Final was played. 2017 Australian Football International Cup The 2017 Australian Football International Cup (also known as

644-503: The tournament. Previous women's winners (Ireland and Canada) also competed in the tournament. Papua New Guinea achieved its 3rd men's title and Ireland achieved its 2nd women's title. The 2017 AFL International Cup was played in Melbourne from 5 to 19 August, with 18 men's teams and eight women's teams competing. † Team made their tournament debut The European Crusaders was a combined team made up of women from Britain, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Sweden. In

672-602: Was a key figure. Robert DiPierdomenico , Leigh Matthews and Michael Voss are official USAFL ambassadors. USAFL is responsible for the co-ordination of the National Teams, the USA Revolution men's team and the USA Freedom women's team. The team plays in international tournaments and exhibition matches against other countries. National team players are selected from the best US-born players from

700-488: Was created to accommodate combined teams in 2015, though the women's competition reverted to one division in 2021 due to reduced numbers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matches at Nationals are 40 minutes long, which is half the length of a typical full Australian football match. Usually, matches are played as two, twenty-minute halves with no time on. For the 2021 tournament this was changed to four, ten-minute quarters to allow for restrictions surrounding water runners as

728-409: Was formed. In 1997, the first club national championships were held in Cincinnati. Nashville hosted the first Australian Grand Final Festival in the same year. The United States Australian Football League (USAFL) was formed in 1997 to govern the code in the country. The involvement of many well-known Australians has helped boost the relations between the USAFL and AFL. In the early days, Paul Roos

756-587: Was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a curtain-raiser to the Round 22 match between Collingwood and Geelong . The majority of the matches were played at Royal Park in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville . The inclusion of a "Community Round" allowed matches to be played as curtain-raisers to local suburban, amateur and country matches. Additionally, the International Cup introduced

784-504: Was played in 1996 between Cincinnati and Louisville . In the first year the Mid American Australian Football League was formed. Many of the local players had found out about the game in the 1980s on television via the then-nascent ESPN cable network. Although the local game grew, ESPN no longer broadcast AFL matches, and in response the lobby group, Australian Football Association of North America

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