AFL to Hold Pacific Rim Training Camp
August 28, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release
NEW YORK â More than 200 aspiring professional football players, coaches, officials and administrators from Australia, New Zealand, and Japan will participate in the second Arena Football League Pacific Rim Training Camp to be held August 30 â September 7 at Penrith Leagues Club in Penrith, Australia in conjunction with Gridiron Australia.
This is the second time in 2002 the AFL has conducted such an event to recruit and develop an international talent pool as well as to set the stage for future expansion in the Pacific Rim region.
"We are responding to the international interest that already exists for Arena Football," said Commissioner David Baker. "The first Pacific Rim Training Camp, held earlier this year, was such a success that we felt compelled to hold another in the same calendar year. The Australian camp allows us to further expand existing relationships in the Pacific Rim and to develop new partners that share the same vision of making Arena Football a worldwide sport."
The inaugural training camp, conducted in Honolulu, Hawaii in February, drew more than 150 athletes with nearly a dozen participants eventually being invited to AFL training camps this past season. Tentative plans for a third Pacific Rim Training Camp to be held in Japan in January 2003 are underway.
Notable AFL coaches and former AFL players, including AFL vice president of football operations JERRY TRICE and the AFL's all-time leader in all-purpose yards, GEORGE LAFRANCE, who currently serves as general manager for the San Diego Riptide of arenafootball2 (af2), the AFL's developmental league, will teach the strategies and rules of the Arena Football League to the more than 200 international participants.
Each day, coaches and administrators will participate in clinics, while players will be put through a series of workouts culminating in a public tournament on Saturday, September 7 at Jamison Park in Penrith.
"We have had a tremendous response internationally and we view this second training camp as an educational tool for our international participants," said AFL Vice President of International Development JERRY KURZ. "This is also a recruiting opportunity to develop Arena Football League players outside of the United States. There is a strong chance that some of these players and coaches will be competing in af2 as soon as the 2003 season."
In addition, the AFL will conduct a "Junior Arena Training Camp" on Sunday, September 1. Approximately 40 high school students will learn the game of Arena Football and participate in drills and camp workouts in the daylong session.
The AFL has a strong international history having played 21 exhibition games in either Europe or Canada since the League's inception in 1986. The AFL also fields an international team, Canada's Toronto Phantoms.
The Arena Football League consists of 23 teams, including eight in the 10 largest U.S. media markets, plus Canada's top market. Sixteen teams competed in the AFL's 16th season this past year, including new teams in Atlanta (Georgia Force) and Dallas (Desperados). Next season will see the addition of the Colorado Crush (Denver) and possibly more teams. The AFL ownership group includes nine NFL owners who own or have applied for AFL teams. Arena Football continues to be the world's fastest growing sport both nationally and internationally totaling more than 50 teams in the AFL and arenafootball2. The AFL kicks off its 17th season on February 2, 2003 on NBC.
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