CZECH AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

football for real men.

• 1: Home
• 2: About CAFL & Aussie Rules +
  • 2.1: Aussie Rules Europe
• 3: News & Articles +
  • 3.1: Germany vs Czech Republic
  • 3.2: EU Cup 2009
  • 3.3: 2008 EU Cup
  • 3.4: 2008 EU Cup - Preview
  • 3.5: Prague Cup 2007
  • 3.6: 2006 CEAFL Championships
  • 3.7: 2006 Season
• 4: Rules & Skills
• 5: Galleries +
  • 5.1: 2006 CEAFL - Zagreb
  • 5.2: 2007 CAEFL - Vienna
  • 5.3: 2008 TriNations - Vienna
  • 5.4: 2008 CAFL Promo - Prague
• 6: Teams +
  • 6.1: Prague Cats
  • 6.2: Prague Dragons
  • 6.3: Prague Kings
  • 6.4: Vinohrady Hawks
• 7: Join us!
• 8: Fixtures & Results
• 10: Contact us

Teams

The Czech Australian Football League last year kicked off its first domestic season, with the Czech Lions squad divided into two teams dubbed the Marauders and the All-Stars.

Article courtesy of Aaron at World Footy News, Thursday February 25th, 2010.

In 2010 CAFL has announced that the Prague local league will expand to four teams, with the creation of the Prague Dragons and Prague Kings. The Marauders have been renamed the Prague Cats, and the side that played as the All-Stars in 2009 will run out in 2010 as the Hawks.

CAFL president Mike Gouteff spoke to World Footy News about the development plans for footy in the Czech Republic.

Gouteff says that since Aussie Rules is still in its infancy here in the Czech Republic, their current focus is ensuring this year's expansion to four teams is successful and that each team will be viable on an ongoing basis.

"We want to be sure they will be around and competing for years to come. We will make an assessment later in the year based on how recruitment and development went as to what we realistically can achieve."

"Whilst we would obviously like to continue to expand the league year on year, the problem is that as everything is run on a volunteer basis and people have other commitments. We really need to increase the number of off-field people with the capability and time to help push growth."

The Czech teams have a strong international contingent, with players from South Africa, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Slovakia, Russia, France, the Netherlands and Belarus as well as the Australian expats and Czech locals.

Filling the roster of the teams will require each to have around 15-20 players, making a good recruitment strategy a neccesity. The new-look 'Prague Cats', formerly the Marauders, are aiming their recruiting drive at Prague Technical University (CVUT) and Charles University, where presentations to be held in the coming weeks before lectures.

Regarding the next step for the CAFL, Gouteff says that while they see junior development as an essential future goal, the focus will remain on making the senior league a success.

"If the sport is to grow and have a long term future here then junior development is essential. However, right now our goal is to try and build a decent base of Czech players from which we can grow."

"Once we have some more experienced and committed Czechs who would be capable of running development programs we can possibly expand into this area, but for now it is something that is probably a few years away."

The Czech Lions national team are currently planning their 2010 program, aiming to play at at four-nations tournament in Milan against Italy, Croatia and Scotland in July, a one off against Germany in August and the EU Cup in October.

Gouteff says that the Lions still have some ground to cover before they could make the trip to the International Cup. "Unfortunately the Czech Republic does not yet have the critical mass of local players to put together a competitive team for the International Cup. We are at very much a developmental stage and the IC would be a much longer term goal for us."

The teams for Season 2009 are:

* played in Round 1

SUPPORTED BY