[Archive 2009-10-06] Wikinews interviews Rich Mann and Kevin Smith of the United States Australian Football League about the upcoming National Championship

Historical archive — originally published 2009-10-06. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

With the United States Australian rules football National Championship this weekend, Wikinews interviewed United States Australian Football League (USFooty) president Rich Mann, and Media Relations representative Kevin Smith.

The USAFL Nationals will feature teams from the United States and Canada. A 50/50 rule is being implemented for the tournament. This means that an American team can have no more than nine players who aren't Americans and a Canadian team no more than nine non-Canadians.

Australian rules football is played on a field 170 metres by 160 metres. The two teams consist of 18 players a side. Scores are quoted as goals-behinds (total).

According to USFooty, the tournament will attract over 1000 players. The tournament will have four divisions for men and one for woman.

Kevin Smith: This year's Nationals are being played in Mason, Ohio, just outside of Cincinnati. Previous hosts have included; Las Vegas, Nevada; the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Fort Washington, Maryland (just outside of Washington, DC), just to name a few. All of the sites have a team affiliated with the region who was considered the "host" team. The host team this year is the Cincinnati Dockers

KS: Yes. We have four divisions of men's competition ranging from developmental (division IV) to the top echelon of American play of the sport (division I), as well as one division of women's teams playing. Space is, of course, a concern, given the size of the field needed to field a full 18 side in Division's 1-3.

The developmental division, which tends to include new teams, and B-sides of squads participating in the higher divisions, will likely play 14 or 16 a side, with most being combined squads. Division IV, due to the smaller numbers, will be played on a smaller field, as will the women's division due to lower numbers - The field will be approximately 150 yards long and 110 wide. The women are likely to play 14 per side with the possibility of the occasional game played with 12 per side.

On top of all of that, there will also be free kids clinics held during the two day tournament.

It's important to have a full size field when fielding full squads, and given the fact that the games will take place over the two days this weekend, it's very important, when considering a site, that it be able to accommodate multiple full-size pitches.

And Division IV has eight teams that are largely combined squads - although the Baltimore/Washington Eagles are sending a full B squad that will require no combining with extras from other teams.

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Text adapted from Wikinews interviews Rich Mann and Kevin Smith of the United States Australian Football League about the upcoming National Championship by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.