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AFL Ontario

AFL Ontario
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023
SportAustralian rules football
Founded1989; 36 years ago (1989)
PresidentJaclyn Halliday
No. of teams9
CountryCanada
HeadquartersOntario
Level on pyramid1
Official websiteAFLOntario

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.

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

History

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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 Geelong Cats 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), Wild Bill Fampton (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.

In 2011, with the increased 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 continued over the summer holidays.

Division 2

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In 2009, AFL Ontario launched a second division originally consisting of six founding teams. London (Ontario) AFC withdrew before the official start to the season and the team's players were absorbed into the Quebec Saints. Along with the Saints, the Toronto Central Blues, Broadview Hawks, Etobicoke 'Old Boys' Roos and Toronto Eagles made up the founding five teams of the new OAFL Division 2 competition. In honour of the first Canadian to ever play in the AFL the competition's premiership cup was named the Mike Pyke Cup (named after Mike Pyke).

The OAFL Division 2 season was traditionally shorter than that of the OAFL. In 2009 due to teams playing different numbers of matches the ladder was determined by 'Match Ratio' rather than premiership points. In 2010 all teams competed in 8 rounds and thus the ladder reverted to determining positions by premiership points.

2010 also saw the introduction of hybrid teams. New team the Toronto Rebel Dogs (a partnership between the Toronto Downtown Dingos and the Toronto Rebels) and the 'DevilRoos' (a partnership between the Etobicoke Roos and High Park Demons). The Toronto Eagles withdrew their team from the 2010 season.

Current Clubs

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Locations

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Location map of current clubs in the league.

Men

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Club Colours Nickname Home Ground Est. Years in OAFL Premierships
Total Years
Grand River (Guelph 2001-?)
Gargoyles Margaret Greene Park, Guelph 2001 2001- 0 -
Hamilton
Wildcats Mohawk Sports Oval, Hamilton 1990 1990- 1 2022
High Park (Mississauga 1989-2006)
Demons Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 1989- 1 1994
Ottawa
Swans Manotick Polo Field, Kars 2007 2008- 2 2018, 2019
Toronto Dingos
Dingos Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1996 1996- 4 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005
Toronto Eagles
Eagles Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 1989- 12 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2017
Toronto Rebels (Scarborough 1990-92; Lawrence Park 1993-2004; Lakeshore 2005-07)
Rebels Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1990 1990- 6 1992, 1993, 2001, 2016, 2023, 2024

Women

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Club Colours Nickname Location/Home Ground Est. Years in OAFL Premierships
Total Most recent
Etobicoke
Kangaroos Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 2003 2011- 5 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022
Hamilton
Wildcats Mohawk Sports Oval, Hamilton 1990 2012- 2 2021, 2023
High Park
Demons Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 2012- 2 2012, 2013
Ottawa
Swans Manotick Polo Field, Kars 2007 2012-2014, 2018- 2 2014, 2024
Toronto Central
Blues Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 2005 2012-2019, 2025- 0 -

Affiliated (non-league) clubs

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Club Colours Nickname Location Formed
Barrie
Giants Barrie 2017
Kingston
Kingston 2018
Forest City
Crows London 2018
Aussie X Ontario 2008 (junior development)

Former clubs

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Men

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Club Colours Nickname Location/Home Ground Est. Years in OAFL Premierships Fate
Total Years
Balmy Beach
Saints Toronto 1992-1997 0 - Folded at beginning of 1997 season
Brampton Wolverines Brampton 1993-1999 0 - Folded after 1999 season
Broadview
Hawks Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989-2017 2 2013, 2014 Folded after 2017 season
Central Blues
Blues Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 2005 2006-2023 1 2010 In recess since 2023 season
Etobicoke
Kangaroos Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 2003 2003-2018 4 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015 In recess since 2018 season
London
Magpies London 2003-2005 0 - Folded after 2005 season
Quebec
Saints Montreal 2009-2010 0 - Withdrew from OAFL after 2010 season due to long travel times
Windsor Mariners Windsor 2002-2005 0 - Folded after 2005 season

Women

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Club Colours Nickname Location/Home Ground Est. Years in OAFL Premierships
Total Most recent
Toronto Eagles
Eagles Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 2011 1 2011

Past champions

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Year Premier 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
Year Premier Runner-up Division 2 Premier Division 2 Runner-up Women's League Women's League Runner-up
2009 Toronto Eagles Etobicoke Kangaroos Quebec Saints Broadview Hawks Not contested
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 Dingos Toronto Rebels Etobicoke Kangaroos Hamilton Wildcats
2016 Toronto Rebels Ottawa Swans Not contested Etobicoke Kangaroos Hamilton Wildcats
2017 Toronto Eagles Toronto Rebels Etobicoke Kangaroos Central Blues
2018 Ottawa Swans Toronto Eagles Etobicoke Kangaroos Ottawa Swans
2019 Ottawa Swans Hamilton Wildcats Hamilton Wildcats Etobicoke Kangaroos
2022 Hamilton Wildcats Toronto Rebels Etobicoke Kangaroos Hamilton Wildcats
2023 Toronto Rebels Toronto Dingos Hamilton Wildcats Etobicoke Kangaroos
2024 Toronto Rebels Toronto Dingos Ottawa Swans Hamilton Wildcats

Principal venues

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  • Margaret Green Park, Guelph: Grand River Gargoyles
  • Mohawk Sports Park, Hamilton: Hamilton Wildcats
  • Manotick Polo Club, Ottawa: Ottawa Swans
  • Humber College South, Toronto: Etobicoke Kangaroos, Toronto Dingos, High Park Demons, Toronto Rebels, Toronto Eagles and Central Blues

Participation

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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.

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "League Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2006.
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