Kickstart to sport from Down Under

By Romila Saha
The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, November 16, 2006

Australian Football is going to be a household name in the city if Brian Dixon of the Australian Football League has his way. At La Martiniere School for Boys for a demonstration of the game, he was delighted with the response from the students. "At least 10 kids show good potential," he said.

For those unfamiliar with the term, Australian Football originated in the aboriginal game of "mangrook", apparently using possum skin stuffed with coal for a ball. In 1840, Tom Wills, an Australian cricketer, came back from Rugby, a public school in England, and decided that Australia needed its own game. So he combined the principles of mangrook, soccer and football and came up with the concept of Australian Football. The first match was played in 1858.

Somewhat similar to rugby (the ball is similar to a rugby ball, only smaller), Australian Football is played with two teams of 11 players each in games divided into four quarters of 20 minutes. The idea is to gain possession of the ball, then run, kick and handball it towards the goals. But players cannot run with the ball for more than a distance of 15 metres. Tackling an opponent is allowed, so long as it is done below the shoulders and above the knees.

Initially a game to keep cricketers fit during the non-cricketing season, Australian Football now commands popularity in its own right. Dixon was crucial to the setting up of the branch of the league in South Africa in 2001. He said: "Starting with 30 primary schoolkids, we now have 3,000 players in 15 leagues."

On a balmy afternoon, Dixon's enthusiasm belied his 70-odd years as he explained the game to the students of La Martiniere. After an audio-visual demonstration, he headed to the playground where dividing the students into two teams — those with and without shirts — a practice session of rudimentary Australian Football followed. After a hot and dusty session, Dixon remarked: "They are new to the game but they love it. It is the same everywhere; you make it available to them, they'll play it." Why India? "The US and UK play it. After China, India is the largest country in the east. There is no reason why it should not," he replied.

A former minister of youth, sport and recreation in the Victorian Government, Australia, Dixon has also played Australian Football at the highest level, being selected the Best Player in 1965. He is now the chairman of the Australian league in South Africa. As a part of the league and Football Victoria's initiative to spread the game to the rest of the world, the body has an Indian chapter of Australian Football in the pipeline. A visit to other schools in Calcutta, including St James School and Calcutta International School, is on the cards in the next few days. Dixon has also approached Calcutta University, which had "responded enthusiastically".

Dixon, who toured China and Argentina before coming here, added: "We are looking at four teams from Calcutta, each comprising three categories of under-13, under-16 and over. So we are looking at 12 teams, which we hope to make a part of the International Tournament planned for September 2008."

The league will supply the gear, including footballs and goal posts to players here. There are also plans of sending two people from India on a scholarship to Australia where they will be trained in the game, so that they can teach it back in India. In the city till November 18, Dixon is headed to Manila, where he will participate in the Congress of the Asiania Sports For All Association.

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