Variations of Australian rules football
Encyclopedia
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 (in the case of kick-to-kick
Kick-to-kick
Kick-to-kick is a pastime and well-known tradition of Australian rules football fans, and a recognised Australian term for kick and catch type games...
) up to the minimum 38 required for a full Australian rules football.
Some are essentially identical to Australian rules football, with only minor rule changes, while others are more distant and arguably not simple variations but distinct games. Others still have adapted to the unavailability of full-sized cricket fields. Other variations include children's games, contests or activities intended to help the player practice or reinforce skills, which may or may not have a competitive aspect.
Most of the variations are played in informal settings, without the presence of umpires and sometimes without strict adherence to official game rules.
Participatory Varieties
Auskick
Auskick is a national program in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to develop and promote participation in Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
amongst children, and has proven to be popular with both boys and girls.
The program, devised in 1998 and begun in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
— the traditional home of the sport — under the name Vickick. It was supported by the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, the national professional competition for the sport, who began to roll it out nationally.
It has also seen variations overseas including Viking Kick (Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
).
Women's Footy
Women's Australian rules footballWomen's Australian rules football
Women's Australian rules football is a fast growing sport played at senior level in Australia, United States, England, New Zealand, Canada and Japan. At junior level, it is also played in Papua New Guinea, Argentina and South Africa...
(also known as Women's Aussie Rules, Women's footy, Women's AFL or in areas where it is popular, simply football) is a fast growing sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
.
Although it is a contact sport
Contact sport
Many sports involve a degree of player-to-player or player-to-object contact. The term "contact sport" is used in both team sports and combat sports, medical terminology and television game shows, such as the Gladiators and Wipeout, to certain degrees...
, women's Australian rules is sometimes played with modified rules. It is less brutal on the body than women's American football
Women's American football
Women have begun playing full-contact American football. Most leagues play by the same rules as their male counterparts, with one exception: women's leagues use a slightly smaller football. Women primarily play on a semi-professional or amateur level in the United States...
, women's rugby league
Women's rugby league
Women's Rugby League is the female-only version of the game rugby league football. There are currently clubs for female only participation running in Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand which are overseen by the various individual organizations of those separate countries and internationally...
or women's rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and offers more physicality than women's soccer
Women's football (soccer)
Women's association football has been played for many decades, but was associated with charity games and physical exercise in the past before the breakthrough of organized women's association football came in the 1970s. Before the 1970s, football was basically seen as a men's game...
, as well as requiring both hand and foot co-ordination. It is a fast-paced team sport
Team sport
A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...
and is played by women of all shapes and sizes.
It is played at senior level in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. At junior level, it is also played in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. At schoolgirls level, it is also played in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
and Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
.
Masters Australian Football
Masters Australian Football (also known as Superules) is a sportSport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
based on the game of Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
for players aged 35 years and over. The sport first commenced officially on 21 September 1981, after being founded by John Hammer
John Hammer
John William Hammer is the founder of several sporting competitions for older players.He founded Superules, an Australian rules football competition for those over 35 years of age at a meeting at the Zero Inn, Nhill, Victoria in 1980...
in 1980 in Nhill, Victoria
Nhill, Victoria
Nhill is a town in the Wimmera, in western Victoria, Australia. Nhill is located on the Western Highway, half-way between Adelaide and Melbourne. At the 2006 census Nhill had a population of 1915.-History:...
.
Modifications to the rules reduce the physical impact of the game for older players. It is played by over 119 teams throughout Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and around the world.
The variation to the game is also dubbed "Superfools" by some followers and players.
9-a-side
9-a-side Footy is played informally by Aussie Rules clubs but not yet an official sport in its own right.9-a-side games are sometimes played on half size fields that are typically rectangular with 9 players on the field at any one time, typically consisting of 3 forwards, 3 backs and 3 centre players. Often two games are played at the same time on a single Australian Rules or cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
pitch. Other times, 9-a-side makes use of the full space of the field when a full complement of players is not available. This variety is a more open, running variety of Australian rules.
A minimum of 18 players are required in total, but many teams field unlimited interchange benches.
Rules are the same as Australian rules football. Limited and non-contact versions of 9-a-side Footy are also played by both men and women's leagues.
Examples of official tournaments held under these rules include the EU Cup
EU Cup
thumb|Logo of the 2007 EU CupThe EU Cup is an international Australian rules football tournament played between European national teams. Played under 9-a-side Footy rules, the tournament was first held at Chiswick Rugby Club in London, England in 2005 as an extension of the Central European...
and Bali Nines.
Samoa Rules
Samoa Rules is a game derived from Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
that has also been played in Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. The game is played on rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
fields and each team consists of 15 players per side.
Unlike Australian rules football, player movement is restricted to zones (similarly to Rec Footy
Rec Footy
Recreational Football is a non-contact version of the Australian rules football game sanctioned by the Australian Football League...
). There is a line across the centre that backs and forwards can not cross. Onballers are allowed to go anywhere.
The Vailima Six-Shooters' Championship began in Samoa in 1998 under these rules, becoming known as Samoa Rules. A number of Samoa Rules players went on to represent Samoa in the Samoan national Australian rules football team
Samoan national Australian rules football team
The Samoan national Australian rules football team and represents Samoa in the team sport of Australian rules football. The team is selected from the best Samoan born players, who are currently mostly players from the Samoa Australian Rules Football Association.Samoa debuted internationally at the...
, known as the Bulldogs.
Metro Footy
Metro Footy (or Metro Rules Footy) - a modified version of Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
rules played on gridiron football
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
, rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
or soccer fields, predominantly in the United States of America. The reasons for the development of Metro Footy was partly due to there being few grounds large enough for traditional Australian Rules matches, but also to allow competitive footy to be played with small playing numbers, allowing for better recruitment possibilities.
Teams typically consist of 9-a-side on a 110 x 50 meter field. The teams that play feed into larger 18-a-side Australian Rules representative teams that participate in leagues such as the MAAFL or tournaments such as the USAFL National Championships
USAFL National Championships
The USAFL National Championships 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 a women's division...
and also provide the opportunity to introduce new American players to the game of Aussie Rules.
Several clubs from the United States Australian Football League
United States Australian Football League
The United States Australian Football League is the governing body for Australian rules football in the United States. It was conceived in 1996 and organized in 1997....
participate in Metro Footy.
Recreational Varieties
Rec Footy
Recreational Football (also known as Rec Footy or Recreational Footy) is a non-contact version of the Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
game sanctioned by the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
. It is a more accessible version of Australian rules football that people can pick up and play with some degree of skill and ability and it is directly aligned to the traditional game of Australian rules football.
It is a mixed competition, accessible to players of both sexes, all shapes and sizes and requires minimal equipment to play, but is suitable only for those above Auskick age.
Kick-to-Kick
Kick-to-kick is a pastime, a well-known tradition of Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
fans, and a recognised Australian term for kick and catch type games. A common format is for one person in a group to kick to a second group; whoever marks the ball kicks it back to the first group. In its "markers up" form, it is the usual casual version of Australian rules (similar to the relationship between backyard/beach cricket and the established forms of cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
).
Although not a sport in itself, the term is used to describe a social exercise played in parks, fields, streets and back yards, and requires at least two people.
Touch Aussie Rules
Touch Aussie Rules is a non-contact version of Australian rules footballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
that is currently played in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK and organised by Aussie Rules UK
Aussie Rules UK
Aussie Rules UK was a United Kingdom organisation set up in April 2005 to introduce children in the UK to Australian rules football via an adaptation of the sport for use in schools...
.
All skills are used in Touch Aussie Rules, including kicking, marking, handballing and bouncing.
Hybrid Codes
International Rules Football
International rules football is a hybridHybrid sports
A hybrid sport is one which combines two or more sports in order to create a new sport, or to allow meaningful competition between players of those sports....
code of football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
, which was developed to facilitate international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
representative matches between Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
players and Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
players and is played between Aussie Rules and Gaelic clubs worldwide.
Austus
Austus is a sport which was started in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldiers wanted to play football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
against the Australians. Because American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
is rarely played in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
is rarely played in the USA the players wrote up composite rules consisting of throwing, which isn't allowed in Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
and kicking which is rarely used in gridiron
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
. The name comes from the first four letters of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(AUST) and the initials of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(US).
The game has rarely, if ever, been played since.
Universal Football
Universal football was a proposed hybrid sportHybrid sports
A hybrid sport is one which combines two or more sports in order to create a new sport, or to allow meaningful competition between players of those sports....
of Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
and rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, trialled at the Sydney Showground
Sydney Showground (Moore Park)
The former Sydney Showground at Moore Park was the site of the Sydney Royal Easter Show in New South Wales, Australia from 1882 until 1997, when the Show was moved to the new Sydney Showground at Homebush Bay, which was built for the Sydney 2000 Olympics...
in 1933. The game has not been played since that time.
Following negotiations between the New South Wales Rugby League
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
and Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
a report, including a proposed set of rules, was prepared by the secretary of the NSWRL, Harold R. Miller. A trial game was held in secret, but the plans were never instituted.
The game was designed to be played by teams of 14 on oval
Oval
An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...
fields. The off-side rules of rugby league applied within 35 metres of the rugby league-style "H"-shaped goalposts. Hand passes could only be made backwards, though knocking-on and regathering were permitted. Players could be tackled anywhere between the knee and the shoulders. The Australian rules style of mark
Mark (Australian football)
A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground....
was kept. Tries
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
were worth two points and conversions kicked over the crossbar were worth one point.