Injecting a little ooh la la into footballJuly 6, 2009
THE shrill sound of cicadas fills the park as families stand around barbecues, watching young men play Australian rules football.
It could be a scene in any Australian country town, aside from the cries of "Allez les Bombers". This is sunny southern France, just outside Bordeaux, where the second annual French Cup of Australian Football is being held to celebrate the opening of the country's first dedicated Aussie rules ground.
Six teams from across France turned up for the cup, supported by a weekend of footy demonstrations, bouncing and kicking competitions, concerts, stalls, boomerang throwing — and the obligatory barbecue.
Cup organiser and captain of the French Aussie rules team, Fred Zohar, said French people used to write off the game as a "violent sport with no rules".
"Yes, it is a physical game, but it combines all the placement and catching skills of basketball, the tactics and physicality of rugby, the running and kicking of football and many other sports."
Fred Zohar played for West Australian team Boxwood Hill Bombers in 2006 and returned to France inspired to form the Bordeaux Bombers with his two brothers. After several years playing on rugby fields with plastic side posts that would fall over, Fred Zohar won support from the regional government in the form of a dedicated oval.
"We rounded the corners (of an old rugby field), took out the crossbar and fitted removable side posts."
Philip Porublev, EU Cup organiser and development manager for Aussie Rules Europe, said the sport had evolved from Australian-filled pioneer teams in Denmark, England and Ireland to teams such as France that included no Australians. "It's local people who have seen it on TV, might have been to Australia and seen a game, and they've come back thinking it's a great game and want to bring it back to their country," Mr Porublev said.
At this year's EU Cup in October, hosted by Croatia, Mr Porublev is expecting up to 16 nations, including teams from Russia, Norway — even Iceland.
"It's no longer beer-guzzling expats in a park. It's serious people … (united by) this sport."
source : www.theage.com.au
