International Australian Football Title in Play for Maple Grove Native

Kathryn Hogg didn’t seek out Australian rules football. Instead, the game found its way to her.

Hogg, a Maple Grove native, began watching it on and off through the years during lags in the cable television schedule and quickly became intrigued.

“I began to become more interested in the game and discovered the sport had an official website,” she said. “I went on their forums and asked if any women were playing Australian football. My interest in the sport began to grow after I met a woman who was forming a team in California.”

From there, Hogg’s career took off. From Aug. 13 through Aug. 27, she will be competing in the International Cup of Australian Football for the U.S. National team—the U.S. Freedom—in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

The tournament will include teams from Canada, Ireland, Papua-New Guinea and Australia.

Tryouts for the U.S. National team began in February in Austin, Texas. Players who made the team were trained by Brett Kirk, a retired professional player from Australia.

Australian rules football is a contact sport in which players can tackle using their hands or using their whole bodies to obstruct opponents. 

Their style of football is an extremely popular sport in Australia and is played at an amateur level in several countries.

According to the Australian Rules Football official website, points can be scored by passing the ball through the opponent’s goal. The main way to score points is by kicking the ball between two goal posts. The team with the higher total score at the end of the match wins unless either a draw is declared or a tie-break is used.

Hogg said the game shouldn’t be compared to other international contact sports.

“It’s definitely not like rugby or related in any way,” she said.

After becoming involved with the sport, Hogg helped organize a women’s exhibition match in Kansas City and began playing with a California-based team. She then went on to play for the U.S. Freedom and has been playing with them since 2007.

She has played in eight total games for the U.S. Freedom, according to the team’s official website.

Hogg said her style of play is similar to that of a U.S. women’s soccer standout. The U.S. Freedom hope that aggressiveness comes out during the International Cup.

“I am like a very old Abby Wombach,” Hogg said. “We both can be found lurking close to the goals, and I can generally catch the ball as well as she heads it.”