Sydney Uni American Football Club

The first session for everyone will be held on Wednesday the 12th of June with a start time of 7pm sharp. The location is St Andrew’s oval, which is on campus. A map to Sydney University can be found here, and St Andrew’s oval can be found on the campus map here. Carillon Avenue is the nearest entrance.

At this first training session the coaches will be putting us through a series of non contact movement drills, to see what position best suits you. You will need to wear clothes you are comfortable to run around in, and a pair of footy boots.

The next training session after that (Sunday the 16th of June, starting at 10:30am), everyone who has paid their registration costs will be issued equipment, and from then on training will be full contact, so you’ll need a mouthguard.

The vast majority of questions can be answered from our FAQ page (located here), however I’ll address a few here:

1) Do you have to be a student to play? Not at all. The majority of the team are not students as a matter of fact.

2) Do you have to buy all the equipment? No: you will need to own footy boots and a mouthguard, but the club will hire you the rest of the equipment (helmet, shoulder pads, jersey, pants and accessory pads).

3) When do you train? We train Wednesday evenings from 7pm and Sunday mornings from 10:30am. Once the season starts, the Sunday morning trainings are not held.

4) When are games held? Games are played on Saturdays, usually in the afternoon or evenings.

5) Does it matter if you haven’t played before? Not at all. 90% of people who play for the club had never played the game before they started.

6) What can I do to improve/have the best chance of playing? Come to preseason training. American Football is a technical game, and likely very different to anything you have ever played before. Coming to preseason training where you will learn the basics, and build from there is the only way to get better.

7) Will I get playing time? I hear you guys are really good! We have a strong, competitive culture, which has made us the club we are today. It’s a simple rule at Sydney University: If you’re good enough, you’ll play. We don’t make rookies sit on the bench for a set amount of time or anything similar- if you’re good enough, doesn’t matter if it’s your first or your fifteenth season, you’ll play. Every year we get multiple rookies who beat out veteran players for starting positions- this year it could be you.

The success of the club is built on the new players we get, and we want you to be part of this great game, at the greatest club in the country.

If you have any questions that are not answered in the FAQ, please send them through.

Cheers, and see you on the 12th.