2009 AWARD WINNERS

The winners of the awards for 2009 are:

Fairest and Best: Marie Galick
Runner-up Fairest and Best: Neda Dalili
Leading Goal Scorer: Marie Galick
Most Improved: Chantelle Spindler
Coach's Award: Stephanie Tooke
Club Award: Lucy Nolan

Congratulations to the girls, and congratulations to all the Emus for an outstanding first season!

2009 US Nationals, Mason Ohio

The US Footy Nationals is the pinnacle of our season and what we’ve been working hard towards all year. Both the Calgary and Edmonton clubs are looking for more players to compete in the event so we have put together some key information for your consideration.

Where:

Heritage Oak Park Mason, Ohio

When:

October 10/11, 2009. Note that games are all day on both days then there will be a celebration on Sunday night. Ideally we would have everyone there for a light training session Friday afternoon at 6pm so take that into consideration when booking flights. Also you may want to consider not booking the earliest flight home Monday morning as Sunday might be a tad late for the over 21s.

Registration

Both clubs have been registered with US Footy however each player must register themselves. Currently the pricing for individual registration is $50 if you register in August, $60 if you register in September, $75 if paid after September 30 so get in early.

Calgary Kookaburras will cover the first $40 of the registration for their players which was included in membership fees paid.

To register online start here... http://www.usfooty.com/usfooty/content.aspx?section=playerrego&id=2&menu=clubsmenu
1. Accept the Waiver
2. Note that there is a separate registration for new players so select the appropriate section when proceeding.
3. New Calgary Players register under Calgary Kangaroos (we are affiliated with the Roos because we split the cost with them). Edmonton players register as the Emus.
4. You will need a credit card to pay for your registration.

Flights

Mason, Ohio does not have an airport. The closest centers to fly into are Dayton and Cincinnati (both about 40mins away). Alternatively there is also Columbus about 1h20 away. Here were a few flight options that we looked into a couple of weeks ago:
1. Calgary - Dayton was the cheapest out of the three cities around Mason and that was around $620 return.
2. Great Falls - Dayton around $460-$500 return. If you're after a bit of a road trip Great Falls is about a 5hr drive south of Calgary crossing the border.
3. Seattle - Dayton around $250 return if you are around that part of the world. Only problem is flights at the moment from Calgary to Seattle are around $350 return.
4. San Francisco – Cincinatti around $200 return and some girls have planned a road trip down there already.

We had a quick glance at flights from Edmonton as well but they were similar to the Calgary cost. If you can book through a travel agent such as flight centre they can sometimes get contract prices which are less than the price advertised through the airline. Calgary gals we generally go through: Lace Shaw Chinook Flight Centre 403-252-0347 lace_shaw.ab@flightcentre.ca

Calgary will also provide their players with a travel subsidy but it will be dependent on the amount of money raised through fundraisers after the accommodation and van rentals have been paid for.

Accommodation & Van Rental

Accommodation has been sourced at Kings Island Resort Conference Centre through US Footy at a discount. We have reserved rooms for both clubs (fri/sat/sun night) there and the price is US$100 per night per room which can sleep up to four.

Van rentals will be organised closer to the date once people have booked their flights. We will try and work it so the groups of people landing together and flying back together will have the cars in their name and can pickup/drop off at the airport. The fields are reasonably close to the hotel so we will only have one/two van rentals per team with them commuting.

Calgary will cover the costs of the accommodation and rentals for their players through fundraising.

Additional Information

Team sizes have not been confirmed through US Footy yet. We are working towards having two divisions with the firsts playing 12 a side and the seconds playing 10 a side. However that is all dependent on the number of teams and players that each club submits. We are working towards having two teams from Calgary and one team from Edmonton. Free agent players from Vancouver and Montreal may also join the clubs to supplement numbers.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask the coaches or the committee of both clubs and they will point you in the right direction.

US Footy Web Page: https://www.usfooty.com/usfooty/.

Alberta Blues Win '09 Stampede Cup

Stampede Cup is the biggest day of footy annually in Alberta, with men's and women's clubs from across western Canada travelling to play during North America's biggest outdoor festival - the Calgary Stampede. Stampede Cup 2009 was a great showcase of footy, with men's clubs from Burnaby, Edmonton and Vancouver joining the local Kangaroos and Bears teams in a round-robin tournament, and the best of Alberta's women playing an exhibition match in front of a large and lively crowd at Saints Rugby Fields.

The women's exhibition match provided an opportunity to mix our three squads up and to provide opportunities for our new players to lead on-field. A rule allowing only first-year players - specifically Edmonton Emus - to play in the midfield was introduced to encourage their development.

Several first-year players impressed during the match. Alena Manera, Neda Dalili and Marie Galick of Edmonton, Emilie Zaloum and Lauren Howard of Hillhurst and Melanie Howard of Kensington all showed remarkable improvement since their debuts in May and June, and the standard of women's footy is improving markedly each month. Marie and Lauren both kicked their first goals in Alberta Blues' 40-point victory over Alberta Teals. Erin LeBlanc was best-on-ground, kicking three goals and dominating in the midfield for the Blues alongside fellow Gaelic-convert Lesley Zmurchuk. Alena was named best first-year player.

The teams celebrated the match long into the night at Kookaburras' sponsor venue Bottlescrew Bill's Pub, which was busy with a large Stampede crowd. Squad lists, scores and goal-kickers from the day are featured on the Alberta Footy Women's League results page.

Canadian Nationals This Weekend!

Hello all!

This weekend will be the Canadian Nationals for Canadian Women's Australian Rules Football. The Edmonton Emus are very excited to be participating, and hopefully being a contender for the title! We'll be playing games against Calgary, and Vancouver, and hope to do well.

Everything you need to know about nationals can be found here.

See you there! If you'd like to send the Emus well wishes, please write on our facebook group wall, or drop us a line at edmontonemus@gmail.com.

More details to come!

Training update

Training will now be held every Monday and Thursday at Hawrelak Park from 6:00 pm till 7:30 pm. We'll be heading down to the Walkabout, our sponsor pub every Thursday after training. We will meet at the first car park as you drive into Hawrelak Park on your left. Hope to see you there!

Training This Thursday!

Hey all!

The Emus and the Men's team will be training at 6 p.m. at Hawrelak park this Thursday. We'll be playing a scratch match, and doing some fitness training, with beers to follow. Meet at the first parking lot, and the grass that is next to it. We hope to see you there!

Check out the Calgary Kookaburras website for game recaps from this weekend. It was a great weekend of footy!

Lastly, thanks to iNews880 for taking an interest in the Emus! To read the news story, click here.

Footy Games this Saturday!

This Saturday we have the second round of footy matches for 2009, hosted in Edmonton.

Time: 11am-4pm @ Queen Alexandra School (corner 107 Street and 78 Ave NW).
Bring: Cleats/runners, mouthguards and socks
Food: Food and drink will be available for purchase

The game schedule will be: 12pm - Edmonton vs Hillhurst, 1:30pm - Hillhurst vs Kensington, 3pm - Kensington vs Edmonton. Come out for a great day of footy!

Afterward, the Emus are hosting their jersey presentation at the Walkabout Pub on Whyte Ave. We'd love to see anyone who's ever wondered about the club there!