The Event
Australia happens to be one of the most important countries in terms of sports and sporting activities worldwide. On many fronts, it is one of the countries to reckon with when it comes to sports tournaments on the International stage. One popular evidence of this is seen in the tennis space where the country hosts the always highly-anticipated Australian Open.
The Story of Australian Football. From Schoolyards to Stadiums.
Although many sports thrive well in Australia, Australia undoubtedly and unarguably leads the world in football. The sport is said to have traced its origin to school sports in Melbourne, Victoria. Since then, it has grown to become a leading sport in Australia having the highest number of fans and spectators. These facts prove the level of eminence that football takes in Australia.
The sport’s governing body, the Australian Football League (AFL), is the richest of all sporting organisations in Australia. Furthermore, the Grand Final of the AFL is known to be the club Championship with the highest attendance globally. The football match team typically consists of 18 members, with four players being referred to as Interchange.
Background of the Game
The Australian Football League is the organisation in charge of playing football regularly and deals in the men’s category. The AFL can trace its roots far back to the late 19th century when the Victorian Football Association (VFA) was founded. Due to some issues, the Victorian Football League (VFL) is a breakout organisation from the VFA.
Much later, the VFL aimed to become a national league and not merely a local Victorian tournament. This led to the expansion to other states and changed name to the Australian Football League (AFL) as it is known as today. Currently, the AFL has 18 teams spread across five states in Australia, apart from Tasmania.
In a sport with such rich history and importance, there would have been many superstars and remarkable players that have passed through the league over the years. Over time, these players have advanced the game, breaking bounds on the way to doing so. These players have come from various ancestries or ethnicities. One of such ancestries or ethnicities is Italian. AFL players of Italian origin have been key in the development and evolution of the sport as well, and they have achieved a lot of remarkable feats.
It is in recognition of the work that these people have put in that the AFL/VFL Italian Team of the Century was conceived. Managed, organised, and overseen by the Toccolan Club, a group of Australians of Italian origin.
The Italian team consists of 18 players and four members of the Interchange. In arriving at the final pick, there was initially a long list of 148 potential award winners. Then a shortlist of 50 persons was made, after which the final 22 was picked. A coach and club president also cut.
We hold the event to commemorate the award and to raise charity. Partners for our work include global sports apparel maker Puma and the AFL itself.
