AFL Ontario

AFL Ontario
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2015 AFL Ontario season
Sport Australian Football
Founded 1989
No. of teams 10
Country  Canada
Most recent champion(s) Etobicoke Kangaroos

AFL Ontario is the largest Australian Football league in North America. It is currently composed of teams from the Greater Toronto Area, Southwestern Ontario and the National Capital Region, who play off for the Conacher Cup (named after Lionel Conacher), presently awarded to the winner of the annual AFL Ontario Grand Final.

In 2009, AFL Ontario established a second tier competition known as Division 2. The teams in this division compete for the Mike Pyke Cup (named after Mike Pyke) the first Canadian to play in the AFL who also managed to win an AFL premiership in 2012. In 2011, with the increase interest in women's football, AFL Ontario established their Women's League with great success. With the help of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, 2011 also saw the development of AFL Ontario's junior competition. 2012 saw the women's division double in size to 6 teams competing, and the junior competition continue over the summer holidays.

AFL Ontario, along with the North West Pacific Football League is a member of AFL Canada, the governing body for the sport in Canada.

In 2006, AFL Ontario had around 330 senior players consisting of over 170 Canadian nationals.[1] With the rapid increase in awareness and interest in Australian football in Ontario, this has increased in 2012 with almost 650 senior men and women members.

History

AFL Ontario which was originally known as the Canadian Australian Football League (CAFA) and more recently as the Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL), was established in 1989. Two teams were formed that year - the Toronto Panthers and the Mississauga Mustangs, with a draft of interested players prior to a three game season and Grand Final. The coaches of those inaugural teams - John Pearson (Toronto Panthers) and Terence Wallis (Mississauga Mustangs) brought a significant amount of experience from playing at a high level in Australia. An interesting fact is that the first Grand Final was attended by a number of AFL executives including Ron Barrassi and members of the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne Demons.

Founding members of the original competition include: Kingsley Ellis (ex-Fitzroy VFL - lead central Umpire, founder of the Hamilton Tigers), Terence Wallis (founded & coached the Mississauga then Toronto Dingos), Bill Frampton (Mississauga then founded the Brampton Bulldogs), Sandro Mancino (Toronto Eagles, Scarborough Rebels and then founded the Balmy Beach Saints). These pioneers set the foundation for the current competition. During the early years CAFA played a number of International games against visiting teams from Australia (Balmain FC, Golden Oldies touring team) as well as the team representing the Australian Rules league in England. The Canadian team narrowly missed beating the touring Australian teams over the years, but soundly defeated England on the four occasions that it played them (1990 - 1996) culminating in a strong win by the touring Canadian team in London (1996) coached by Terence Wallis.

Premiers

Year Premier Runner-up Division 2 Premier Division 2 Runner-up Women's League Women's League Runner-up
1989 Toronto Panthers Mississauga Mustangs
1990 Toronto Panthers Mississauga Mustangs
1991 Toronto Panthers Scarborough Rebels
1992 Scarborough Rebels Mississauga Mustangs
1993 Lawrence Park Rebels Toronto Panthers
1994 Mississauga Mustangs Lawrence Park Rebels
1995 Toronto Eagles Broadview Hawks
1996 Toronto Eagles Hamilton Wildcats
1997 Toronto Eagles Lawrence Park Rebels
1998 Toronto Eagles Lawrence Park Rebels
1999 Toronto Eagles Broadview Hawks
2000 Toronto Dingos Toronto Eagles
2001 Lakeshore Rebels Toronto Eagles
2002 Toronto Eagles Toronto Dingos
2003 Toronto Dingos Etobicoke Kangaroos
2004 Toronto Dingos Toronto Eagles
2005 Toronto Dingos Lakeshore Rebels
2006 Toronto Eagles Broadview Hawks
2007 Toronto Eagles Etobicoke Kangaroos
2008 Etobicoke Kangaroos Toronto Eagles
2009 Toronto Eagles Etobicoke Kangaroos Quebec Saints Broadview Hawks
2010 Central Blues Toronto Dingos Quebec Saints Central Blues
2011 Etobicoke Kangaroos High Park Demons Etobicoke Kangaroos Broadview Hawks Toronto Eagles Etobicoke Lady Roos
2012 Etobicoke Kangaroos Broadview Hawks Broadview Hawks High Park Demons High Park Demons Hamilton Wildcats
2013 Broadview Hawks Toronto Dingos Toronto Dingos Broadview Hawks High Park Demons Hamilton Wildcats
2014 Broadview Hawks Central Blues Toronto Rebels Toronto Dingos Ottawa Swans Hamilton Wildcats
2015 Etobicoke Kangaroos Toronto Eagles Toronto Downtown Dingos Toronto Rebels Etobicoke Kangaroos Hamilton Wildcats

Clubs

Current Clubs

Club City Website Formed Premierships
Broadview Hawks Toronto broadviewhawks.com 1989 2
Central Blues Toronto bluesafc.ca 2006 1
Etobicoke Kangaroos Etobicoke roosafc.ca 2003 4
Grand River Gargoyles Guelph grandriverafc.com 2001
Hamilton Wildcats Hamilton hamiltonwildcatsafc.com 1997
High Park Demons Toronto highparkdemons.ca 1989 1
Ottawa Swans Ottawa ottawaswans.com 2007
Toronto Downtown Dingos Toronto torontodingos.ca 1996 4
Toronto Eagles Toronto eaglesafc.ca 1989 12
Toronto Rebels Toronto rebelsfooty.com 1990 3

Affiliated / Formation Clubs

None

Past Clubs

Club Cities
London Magpies (2003-2005) London
Windsor Mariners (2002-2005) Windsor
Brampton Wolverines (1993-1999) Brampton
Balmy Beach Saints (1992-1997) Toronto

Principal Venues

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ League Annual Report
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