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Our Club beginnings are very humble, with the first practice being held in Marietta in August of 1998, after I relocated to Atlanta for my job. I had previously been involved with the Louisville and Nashville clubs, and wanted to start a team in my new hometown, once I realized there was not one already here. I’d like to say that our Club was established in 1998; however that would be a lie. This club and its players have rarely been part of the establishment. In fact we have always seemed to march to a beat of a different drummer. 12 people attended that first practice; most of the participants were Royal Australian Air Force personnel stationed at Dobbins Air Force Base, but that didn’t last for long since it was very late in the season to be starting a team, and since we had no games scheduled, our numbers soon began to dwindle.
After a few practices, we were invited to join with the teams from Baltimore/Washington DC, Tri-Cities (TN), North Carolina, and South Carolina to make up a team at the first National Championships in Cincinnati. Wayne Stewart and myself represented the Atlanta portion of the combined team, called the Southern Raiders. We lost all three games we played; most by very large margins. It was a sobering start for the club, yet like most clubs, we had to learn to walk before we could start to run. It was during this time that it was decided that the club colors should be the same as the Australian national colors, Green and Gold. However, we still did not have a team nickname, although several names were being bandied about, including the Wallabies, the Bandicoots, the Bunyips, the Kookaburras, and the Wombats. Marty Hyder, who was a big footy fan and had somehow found out about the Nationals, attended the first day just as a spectator. We did not meet, but when he returned to Atlanta, he checked the USFooty website to find out who ended up winning the Championship, and while there also found my contact information. He got in touch with me, and started coming out to practices, as there was still footy to be played that year. A handful of us went to Nashville for their Grand Final Tournament, again combining with other clubs to field a team; this time, the Traveling Wallabies, consisting of us, Tri-Cities, Louisville and Kansas City. Of the original group that played that season of 1998, only Marty and myself remain active. Again in 1999 our progress was slow, with just four to eight people turning up to practice. It was during 1999 that current players and supporters Alp Oran, David Croft, and Nigel Packer joined the squad. Qualcomm, Inc. became our first sponsor, and our first set of team jumpers were purchased with the now infamous “bumble bees” jumpers of green and gold hoops. The club used a local high school’s soccer fields for its practices, but we did not host a game. All our games were played on the road, including a game hosted by the South Carolina Hawks after a skills clinic given by new Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos, who also umpired the game. There was also a tournament in Mount Airy, NC, and the Nashville Grand Final Festival again. It was at this Nashville Tournament where we finally secured our team nickname. Our game against Nashville was harsh and close, with the Kangaroos winning by a goal. After the game, a Nashville supporter, whose boyfriend was a Nashville player, upset by our aggressiveness on the field and our loud and rough behavior, made several comments towards our team and participants; specifically calling our players “a bunch of dirty, obnoxious, laughing jackasses.” Since the laughing jackass of the animal kingdom in Australia is called the Kookaburra, the nickname was immediately adopted. Ask any team in America, and specifically Nashville, and they will tell you that our nickname is Spot On. Later in 1999, Atlanta combined with the Tri-Cities Saints, North Carolina Tigers and South Carolina Hawks to form the Southern Crusaders for the 1999 National Tournament, wisely electing to play in Division II. The team took second place, narrowly defeated in the Grand Final by the combined team of Baltimore/Washington DC and Lehigh Valley (PA). In the year 2000, things started with a bang. Our organization was a year older and a year wiser. The club had its first official coach in Jason Lehmann, formerly a player in the North Adelaide reserves in the SANFL. We also had an influx of players, including assistant coach Darren Bowman, Troy Thompson, Mark McKenzie, Phil Hall, Jason Alexander, Anthony Ellis, Dan Todd, David Fijol, Mark Carlson, Bjorn Farrugia, Heath Moore, and Sam Temme. Our Kookaburras practiced and played their home games at Piedmont Park, which was affectionately known as “the Quarry” because of the large volume of rocks and loose gravel. Our first ever home game was at the Quarry on 4/22/2000 versus Florida, who brought in a handful of players from Tri-Cities, South Carolina and Louisville, to make up numbers. We played well that season, registering a 6-4 win/loss record going into the National Championships. Our performance at the Nationals in Los Angeles was also solid, and this was the first year that we qualified and played solely as the Atlanta Kookaburras. We made it to the quarterfinals by upsetting the heavily favored Baltimore/Washington DC Eagles and the Phoenix Scorpions, but were eliminated by the eventual champions – the Denver Bulldogs. After the tournament, three of our players went to see a taping of "The Price is Right" in LA, and our favorite little runner, Bjorn Farrugia, won a Lay-Z-Boy recliner. We made good progress in our 3rd year of existence, and ended the year by naming Bjorn Farrugia as our inaugural Best And Fairest Player. Alp Oran won the Coach’s Award, David Fijol was named Best Non-Australian Player, Heath Moore won the Best First-Year Player Award and Marty Hyder was named Best Clubman. In 2001, the Kookaburras almost had to begin anew, because we lost nine players/members to relocation, including our coach. We were again forced to press our recruiting to bring in new members. A new coach was named in Steven “Thommo” Thompson, as well as an assistant coach in Lou Fullagar. Also new was the Kookaburras' affiliation with a new league, called the Southeastern Australian Football League, or SEAFL. The initial teams in the SEAFL were Atlanta, the North Carolina Tigers, the Tri-Cities Saints, and the South Carolina Hawks, although the Hawks folded before even playing a game that year. The Kookaburras struggled all season in terms of their play and only produced a 2–6 win/loss record during the regular season, including two losses to North Carolina during league play. However, the Kookaburras were able to get into the SEAFL Grand Final based on percentages, and unbelievably, captured the inaugural SEAFL Premiership by upsetting the Tigers in Raleigh, NC. Entering the National Championships in Washington DC, even though we had won the SEAFL title, our record was still only a disappointing 3-6; therefore we were relegated to Division II. At the Nationals, the Kookaburras came to life again, with victories over teams such as Philadelphia, Boston (reserves), and the combined team of Milwaukee and Louisville. Atlanta progressed to the Grand Final, where the fast-finishing New York Magpies narrowly overtook our tiring team in the second half for the Division II Championship. In the end, the 2001 season was a solid building year for Atlanta, and David Croft was named the Kookaburras Best and Fairest Player. The year 2002 saw the Kookaburras building upon the prior year's momentum, both on and off the field. We secured significant sponsorship from Visy Recycling and Coca-Cola. New jumpers, designed by Marty Hyder, were added, proudly displaying our current AFC crest on the front of the jumper. The “bumble bee” jumpers are now relegated to practice games. Lou Fullagar was named the new coach, as Steven Thompson had relocated back to Australia. Wayne Kraska was named the assistant coach. The club managed media support with local newspapers and radio, including several pictures and a large story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and a couple of appearances on "The Regular Guys" morning radio show on 96Rock. The Kookaburras went 8-4 during the season and repeated as SEAFL Champions, but had trouble at the Nationals in Kansas City, where we failed to win a game, including the 5th loss of the year to our main rivals, the Nashville Kangaroos. 2002 was also the year we registered for Incorporation in the State of Georgia. David Croft again won the Best and Fairest. We have come a long way since 1998, and we still have a long road ahead of us. Mike Powers Former President/Club Founder
Atlanta Kookaburras ARFC February 2003 |
