Australian football in Nauru
In Nauru, Australian football is the national sport , as no other sport is more popular or practiced there. There is also a Nauru League, which is organized by the Nauru Australian Football Association (NAFA) . NAFA is based at the Linkbelt Oval , which is currently the only football stadium in Nauru . NAFA consists of the President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and a representative from each team. The executive is how the State executive, elected for three years. Valdon Dowiyogo was president until 1999 .
The government mainly supports weightlifting in the sports department , as this is the discipline that has achieved most international successes. In addition, Australian football and golf are still slightly supported. Australian football is of great importance to the population in Nauru. There are many youngsters to do, otherwise there are not many alternatives in their free time, and it allows thousands of people to participate, whether players or spectators. The population is also interested in the professional league in Australia ; one lot is broadcast from Australia every week. However, this interest is not reciprocal: it is not possible to watch games from Nauru on the radio because the NAFA has no funds available for broadcasts and also because there is too little interest in Nauru Australian football outside of Nauru.
history
Australian football was first played by Nauruan students from the Victoria school in the 1930s . Among these was Hammer DeRoburt , who later led Nauru to independence. The Victoria and Geelong Schools in Melbourne were popular schools for secondary education for Nauruan students who could not complete more than primary education in Nauru before World War II .
After DeRoburt returned from Geelong , he introduced Australian football with a few other students and made it the popular sport it is today. He found his passion for Australian football in Geelong while he was completing secondary education there. He became a great supporter of the Geelong School football club, the Cats , and remained loyal to them. Whenever he was in Melbourne , he attended the Cats Games .
In 1994, Kinza Clodumar , then chairman of Nauru Insurance Corporation , saved the Australian Australian football team Fitzroy Lions from bankruptcy through a seven-year million dollar deal.
Between 1987 and 1999 the national championship was dominated by the Menaida Tigers ; they won ten championship titles in a row. In 1996 eight teams played in the senior league. In 1997, neither the senior nor the junior championship was held. Nevertheless, the Nauru Secondary School sent a U14 team, which was invited to the Queensland Junior State Championships . They won all four games. Then Paner Baguga , one of the best U18 players at the time, was sent to Brisbane to play for the Morningside team in the Queensland State Football League . 2001 again no national championship was played.
Leagues and Teams
National team
In 1995 the Nauruan national team took part in the Arafura Games in Darwin , where they won the bronze medal. The "frigate birds" (as they were then called) were trained by the former Geelong Cats player , Mark Yeates .
In March 2000, the national team, now called the Chiefs , took part in the Web Sports Cup in Queensland, in which they won against the national teams from Samoa and an Australian selection. They repeated this success at the Pacific Cup a year later. In 2001 they won the gold medal at the Arafura Games in Darwin.
In 2002 the national team took part in the first Australian Football International Cup in Melbourne, and held 7th place. For financial reasons the national team could not take part in the second cup (2005), and it is still questionable whether they will come to Melbourne for the next one in 2008.
League teams
- The Menaida Tigers are the most successful team in the league. They won the championship twelve times in a row between 1987 and 1999 (1997 was not played). The team comes from Buada and Aiwo and plays for the power plant. Her previous name was Linkbelt Tigers . With René Harris , the Menaida Tigers have a prominent fan who used to work as a sponsor. Hundreds of other fans regularly support the Tigers at their games.
- The Panzer Saints are the second major team in the league. They won two championship titles in 1986 and 2000. The national team coach Wes Illig and the successful Australian striker Paner Baguga used to play for the Saints . The Saints come from Meneng , are very popular there and have a correspondingly large fan base. The Panzer Saints U17 won the U17 championship in 2003
- The blues from Anabar and Anetan are a less successful team. A well-known former player is Sean Oppenheimer , founder of the junior league and the largest private company Naurus, Capelle & Partner . The U14 of the Blues won the first junior championship in 1999 against Ubenited . The elite reached the final in 2000, but lost it significantly against the Panzer Saints .
- The Ubenited Power are a team that emerged from the Ubenide Power and Ubenited teams . Ua Valdon Dowiyogo played for the Ubenited Power. You come from Ubenide and are the only ones to have a team in all leagues. The U17's greatest success came when they won the championship in 2000.
- The Aces are a team with small ambitions. With them u. a. Wes Illig and Marcus Stephen , Nauru's most successful weightlifter. Presumably they come from Anetan .
- The Supercats, or just Cats, are an independent team with no home district. They get their name from the Geelong Cats , an Australian team in which many Nauruers have played. The Supercats had two Australian U19 players in their ranks in 1996.
- The Boe Lions are a team made up of Boe . They are named after the Australian team Fitzroy Lions and have prominent support from Kinza Clodumar . Her greatest achievement was winning the U14 championship in 2000.
Nothing is known about Team Esso , the Eagles , the Frigates and the Yaren Magpies .
The season lasts from May to December. The league is, so to speak, isolated from other foreign leagues. Foreigners rarely play in the Nauruan league; only six Australians have played in Nauru since 1989. In 1996, two Geelong College players played three games for the Supercats . Other foreigners who played in the league came from Kiribati , Tuvalu and Fiji . Nauruan players in the professional league in Australia are also rare; so far only Paner Baguga has made it to a professional team for a short time.
Senior leagues
The senior league consists of an elite class with seven teams and a reserve class with five teams. Only two games per week can be played on the Linkbelt Oval , as it is currently the only oval in Nauru. The Denig Stadium is not suitable for football.
Senior league teams (elite):
| team | Team colors | Constituency (s) |
|---|---|---|
| Menaida Tigers | Black yellow | Aiwo , Buada |
| Panzer Saints | Red-white-black | Meneng |
| blues | Blue White | Anabar , Anetan |
| Ubenited power | White black | Ubenide |
| Boe Lions | Brown-gold-blue | Boe |
| Aces | ? | ( Anetan ?) |
| Supercats | Blue White | - |
Senior league teams (reserve):
| team | Team colors | Constituency (s) |
|---|---|---|
| Eagles | ? | ? |
| Ubenited power | White black | Ubenide |
| Esso | Yellow black | Aiwo , Buada |
| Yaren Magpies | Black-and-white | Yaren |
| Frigates | ? | ? |
Junior Leagues
NAFA does not host a junior championship. She used to organize a U16 championship, which was canceled.
The Nauru Mini Football Federation (NMFF) organizes championships for the U17, U14 and U11 teams . It is not affiliated with NAFA. The NMFF was founded by Sean Oppenheimer , a former blues player and chairman of the private company Capelle & Partner . Oppenheimer tried at NAFA to introduce junior leagues. He also had sponsors who invested $ 3,000 in it. But NAFA rejected the request.
Therefore, Oppenheimer started their own championship for U14 teams with some like-minded people in 1999. The Capelle & Partner donated balls, jerseys, trophies, and more. They met every week to plan the championship. The plan was to get enough players for two teams. Instead of the required 36 players, more than 400 young people registered, so that six teams could be formed.
When the championship was up and running, NAFA wanted to be integrated; however, the NMFF refused. The population supported the new junior league and many attended the games. The championship ran from June to November and was a great success. It was played on an area in Ewa at the headquarters of Capelle & Partner , as the Linkbelt Oval was leased by NAFA.
500 spectators were present at the first junior championship final when the U14 team of the Blues defeated the U14 of the Ubenited Power . In 2000 a U11 and a U17 championship was started, both also organized by the NMFF. NAFA continued to only organize the senior championship.
Teams of the junior leagues:
| U17 | U14 | U11 |
|---|---|---|
| Ubenited power | Aces | Aces |
| Aces | Panzer Saints | Panzer Saints |
| Panzer Saints | Menaida Tigers | Menaida Tigers |
| Menaida Tigers | Boe Lions | Boe Lions |
| blues | blues | blues |
| Ubenited power | Ubenited power |
Sponsorship / referee
There are no official referees; the six referees required in Australian football are made up of independent players. You are not wearing official work clothing; instead they must wear white clothing.
The main sponsor of NAFA is the Q Store , a goods store that sponsors the trophies. The prize for the prize is a flight to Australia with Air Nauru , which sponsors the trip. Besides the Q Store, the airline Air Nauru is NAFA's most important donor.