In late 1996, a group of dedicated expatriate Australians started to kick a football around a local community park on Sunday afternoons. Sufficient interest was generated from passers-by that during 1997, a handful of Australians were having a kick and teaching a few of the locals the basics of the game. Success has drawn advertisements in the local paper, and signs in windows of sporting stores. At this time, the participants were all from Santa Cruz, California.
In 1998, the reach was extended to the greater San Francisco Bay area, via the Australian-American Chamber of Commerce, the Internet, and continued advertising in the local Santa Cruz area. Currently, over 25 players are registered with the Club.
In March, Mike McGarry from the North Melbourne Football Club in Melbourne, Australia, paid us a visit while on vacation in the area, and agreed to champion our cause to the NMFC executive. The result was that North Melbourne has endorsed us by supplying us with guernseys and allowing us to use their logo - the distinctive Australian kangaroo. This connection with Australia is strategically important for the club, and greatly appreciated.
After strong training sessions from the start of the year, the club played its first official game on April 19, 1998, and competing in our first National Titles made it to the Grand Final.
In 2002, the 'Roos turned their attention to local footy and started the Golden Gate Australian Football League. The GGAFL has four teams in the Bay Area and over eighty regular participants. |