AFL Europe Podcast

#AFLEuropePodcast | Welcome to episode twenty-five of the AFL Europe Podcast where we are joined by Oliver Krajacic.

Oliver joins us from Austria and as part of our One Kick Later series to share his journey into Australian Football that started ten years ago and reflects on the beginnings of the sport in Austria.

Oliver shares how the sport has grown in his home country, the importance of staying connected with the AFL Europe community and all teams including receiving support from Croatia over the years, being joined by former AFL player Max Bailey at a Styrian DownUnderDogs training and more. Enjoy!

#AFLEuropePodcast | In this episode we are very excited to be joined by former Richmond Tigers star and current Adelaide Crows Leadership Development Manager, Dan Jackson.

After retiring from the AFL in 2014 with more than 150 games under his belt and just a year on from winning Richmond's Best & Fairest award, Dan has very much remained involved in Australian Football by helping the sport grow internationally.

On top of studying, working and travelling around the world, Dan met with and attended many local footy clubs where he was drawn in by the international footy community's passion for the sport, and in 2018 even took on the role as an AFL Europe Commissioner.

Whilst we share Dan's experiences and memories of being involved with the AFL Europe community and the sport worldwide, as well as his playing career, Dan takes us inside his job at the Adelaide Crows as their Leadership Development Manager, sharing his passion and the growing importance for building strong relationships and culture in organisations and sporting clubs.

#AFLEuropePodcast | Welcome to episode twenty-three where Carissa Turner from Wales joins us as part of our One Kick Later series.

Carissa was introduced to Australian footy by her work colleagues in Cardiff, where she first trained with the Panthers.

She shares how welcomed she felt from the get-go and swiftly fell in love with Cardiff's footy culture and supportive environment. This new found passion was quickly recognised on the field, as she earned her way to represent her country and play for the Wyverns at two Euro Cups, and travel to London for the 2019 European Championships where she lined up for the Great Britain Swans.

Not only has Carissa represented Wales in Australian Football, but also in badminton! Carissa speaks on her time as a top 100 badminton player in the world, travelling across the globe to compete, her experiences at two Commonwealth Games' and the many differences between the two sports.

Thanks to Carissa for sharing her passion for Australian footy and everything she loves about the Australian Football community in Europe.

#AFLEuropePodcast | This week, we're stepping away from our One Kick Later series and are very excited to welcome 2021 AFLW Brisbane Lions premiership coach, Craig Starcevich, to the AFL Europe Podcast.

Plenty of people within the AFL Europe community will be familiar with Starcevich who has presented in both of the AFL Europe Coach Development Series', as well as running a training session with the German women’s national team in Heidelberg last year and helping out the AFL Switzerland teams through their 2020 season, where he even played a game.

Well in this episode, whilst we appreciate and recognise Starcevich's efforts to support our great sport in Europe sharing his experiences within the community, we take a dive into getting to know Craig Starcevich as a former AFL premiership player with Collingwood, and now AFLW premiership coach of the Lions.

In between, Starcevich has held roles such as High Performance Manager with the Lions men’s team during their three peat, as well as working in Female Football High Performance with AFL Queensland.

Starcevich has had a front row seat to see how both the men’s and women’s games have evolved over the years, and shares with us some incredible stories and experiences from his time in the sport.

#AFLEuropePodcast | Russia's Slava Belov joins us in episode twenty-one of the AFL Europe Podcast!

After attending an AFL match live in Melbourne in 2012, and then playing a season with the West London Wildcats in the AFL London league in 2013, Slava eventually headed back home to St. Petersburg with his newfound love for Australian Football, and launched the St. Petersburg Cats.

What started as Slava and two of his closest mates, the Cats have since grown into two teams; Baltic Hawks and Northern Tigers, who compete in the St. Petersburg Australian Football League and when possible, drive more than seven hours to the country's capital to play the Moscow Bears.

Slava's focus with the Cats over the years has been about building a welcoming community whilst exploring new ways to improve game development and skill, such as introducing by-laws and taking match stats.

An interesting listen as Slava shares his story about finding the sport and a bit about the Australian Football landscape in Russia.

#AFLEuropePodcast | Welcome to episode twenty where we take a look back at some of our favourite moments from the One Kick Later series, so far!

If you'd like to listen to the full episode from each guest, below are the times they featured in on this episode and their respective interviews:

0:32 - 2:26 | Episode 11 - Florian Naumann

2:27 - 6:19 | Episode 12 - Laura Turner-Ramadan

6:20 - 7:23 | Episode 14 - Alban Schieber

7:24 - 8:45 | Episode 15 - Morten Merhøj

8:46 - 10:53 | Episode 16 - Effie Senti

10:54 - 12:30 | Episode 17 - Josip Kravar

12:31 - 13:35 | Episode 18 - Theresia Meißner

13:36 - 14:45 | Episode 19 - John Enright

#AFLEuropePodcast | Welcome to episode nineteen where John Enright joins us as part of our One Kick Later series.

If you've played across any of the AFL Europe competitions over the last 15 years, you're more than likely to know or recognise John. A former player and now umpire, John's love and devotion to Australian Football has seen him represent his national team, the Irish Warriors, on numerous occasions as well as officiate matches across the world such as in the cities of Bordeaux, London, San Diego and Umag.

Travelling to these international Australian Football tournaments, John has played and umpired alongside some incredible people and has developed a wealth of experience and knowledge about the sport that he shares on the podcast.

In addition, John is an amazing story-teller and this episode will no doubt give you a great insight into what it means for some people to play, coach, umpire or volunteer at some of the Australian Football events and matches that are held across the world, as well as the special people you get to meet along the way.

#AFLEuropePodcast | Germany's Theresia Meißner joins us in episode eighteen and as part of our One Kick Later series.

Theresia, who only started playing Australian Football in 2018, has had a remarkable few years in the sport. Representing her national team at AFL Europe tournaments, where she picked up multiple Team of the Tournament honours, and winning a premiership in AFL Germany women's inaugural season in 2019, Theresia is now living in Australia and competing in the Victorian Football League women's (VFLW) competition with the Geelong Cats.

Hear about Theresia's incredible story, from finding the sport in Germany and being able to excel at it in such a short period of time, to her journey to Australia and competing in the VFLW and more recently, becoming an umpire.

#AFLEuropePodcast | For episode seventeen we are joined by Josip Kravar out of Croatia.

Josip's footy story begins as a university student in Zagreb where he first found and got involved in the sport. His passion for the sport and pride for the Croatian footy community quickly flourished, as he grew into the roles of Association of Australian Football Croatia President, Zagreb Hawks President and AFL Europe Commissioner.

It doesn't stop there, Josip's playing and coaching history has seen him represent his country for more than ten years at European Championships, Euro Cups and at the 2017 AFL International Cup, where Croatia won the Division 2 tournament on debut and put the world on notice for their signature, hard-style of play.

Hear from some of Josip's incredible stories over the years such as bumping into Leigh Matthews in Melbourne, getting to know Ivan Maric and attending a Richmond Tigers training session with the Croatian national team, his experiences playing and coaching in big games as well as an update on the near-completion of Croatia's first 18-a-side pitch.

#AFLEuropePodcast | Welcome to episode sixteen where we chat to Effie Senti as part of our One Kick Later series.

Effie moved to Hobart, Tasmania as part of her university studies in 2017 where she first found and started playing Australian Football. Upon returning to Switzerland, she got in contact with the Winterthur Lions and made her way down to training despite being the only female there.

Effie has since taken on roles with AFL Switzerland including secretary, head of women's development and most recently, president. She is also the founder and president of Switzerland's newest team, Zurich Giants, and played in the first women's Swiss national team to compete in AFL Europe's Euro Cup.

Hear from Effie as she shares her experiences and success in developing women's participation, what goes on in an AFL Switzerland committee meeting including the importance of sharing 'footy family' values, the first-ever Auskick session in Switzerland and simply why she takes her footy everywhere she goes.