Orange County Giants: Bringing Australian football to California
LADERA RANCH, Calif. — The Orange County Giants Football Club was founded in 1998 (23 years ago). The club plays in the U.S. Australian Football League. The league was established two years before the Orange County Giants were founded. It comprises 50 men’s teams and 27 women’s teams.
Australian rules football is mainly played in Australia, and the United States is one of the countries that is starting to play the game. A game comprises two teams with 18 players each. Each team competes to earn points by kicking a ball, which is oval-shaped, past a goal post located at each end of the field (also oval-shaped). Each member of the team passes the ball by punching it or kicking it. It is against the rule to throw the ball.
The play continues except for when the ball kicked by one player is caught by another player, in which case they get a free kick. Players are allowed to tackle the opposite team players to win the ball. There is no offsides, and players are allowed to move 360 degrees within the field. Kicking the ball through the middle goal post earns the most points of six, while by the side earns one point. The team with the most points wins the game.
The Giants are one of the few teams in California that is making the game popular. Their home ground is Founders Park in Ladera Ranch, while their training ground is at Heritage Park in Irvine. The Orange County Giants are famous in the United States Australian Football League for their orange, black and white colors.
Before the Club was established in 1998, there was no Australian football in Ladera Ranch or the whole of Orange County. Instead, a group of friends who loved the game wanted to play in Orange County, and that was how the club was formed. They focus on growing the sport in the Orange County localities, and most of their players are American.
In 2002, the Orange County Giants won the Division II Championship of the league. In 2014 and 2015, they made their first consecutive Division I Grand Final appearance.
The club is partnering with clubs within and outside of the United States. For example, in 2019, they partnered with GWS Giant, a professional club based in Sydney, to improve club development. They have also added a female team.
One of the games showed that the Giants have all they need to be one of the leading teams in the United States Australian Football League.
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