IFAF World Junior Championships: Early arrivals Australia prepare to take on the world

| 2024 IFAF World U20 Championship | 06/18/2024

Australia have traveled further than any nation competing at this month’s IFAF U20s World Junior Championships and were the first arrivals in Alberta when they touched down on Friday. They were also first onto the practice field, put through their paces by head coach Mitch Woellner and his staff at Clarke Stadium on Saturday.

This coming weekend on that same field, Australia will take on Japan at 4pm local time on Saturday, June 22. The game will be streamed live on IFAF.TV.

More than 13,000km separates the team’s departure city of Sydney and the Alberta capital of Edmonton which plays host to 12 games being played over three game days from June 22-30. That unenviable distance and significant travel time are not the only challenges the Outback squad has faced in preparation to take on the world.

Woellner only recently stepped up to take on the role of head coach having originally been recruited as Australia’s defensive coordinator. Time has been of the essence in making sure the Aussies are ready to challenge Japan for a semi-final meeting against either the United States or Panama. The last time the two nations met, Japan won the battle for fifth place 51-14, at the 2018 IFAF World Junior Championships in Mexico.

Read the full article by Michael Preston.

Michael Preston (@PRMikePreston) is currently working with IFAF in a PR capacity. He recently covered Super Bowl LVII as a member of the NFL PR team as he has done for 20+ years. He has held communications positions with NFL Europe, the North