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Four days. Four Tournaments. Four cities. All within seven weeks.
The 2025 USAFL USAFL Regionals Championship Series presented by Tasmanian kept us on our toes. From wild weather to exciting plays, and even a game won after the siren.
All told, the dust settled on what some of us (okay, maybe just me) have come to lovingly refer to as the Great American Aussie Rules Travelling Road Show.
It’s all done and dusted, with a total of 39 matches being played, and nine teams earning the right to be called USAFL Regional Champions.
The tour started in suburban Philadelphia, the theme of the day’s Northeast Regionals being “New York, New York.” Under pewter grey and slightly weepy skies, old rivals put on a show for the crowd who endured the changing conditions. Four of the seven games were close heading into the final quarter. The Magpies men were able to thwart the DC Eagles/NC Tigers, Baltimore Dockers, and Philly Hawks/Cleveland Cannons en route to their sixth victory. The final game pitted the ‘Pies and Hawks; Philadelphia needed to win by 16 points or more to snatch up the title. New York responded to this bit of news by kicking three goals inside the first four minutes and stomping home by 60 points to win their fifth regional championship.
New York’s women always battle the DC Eagles tough, and on this day it was another arm wrestle. DC’s defense parried away chance after chance, but it wasn’t enough to stop Liz McAskil booting home the only two goals of the contest, and the ‘Pies were regional champions for the sixth time. The teams also played a mixed-team game in a downpour. It was a well played affair all the same, one which saw McAskil and DC’s Ash Malabanan consolidate their medal-winning performances on the day.
A week later, the scene shifted to the friendly confines of Miller Park, on the campus of North Carolina State University. The Southeast Regionals featured a number of newer teams in the up-and-coming part of the country, including first time appearances from the Wilmington Bombers, Maine Cats, and Bayou Brawlers. It was the hometown North Carolina Tigers who were victorious, but the Cats came in an encouraging second in their first major tournament as a standalone club. The Virginia Lions played strongly to a 1-2 finish, while Bombers and Jacksonville Saints were a spirited fourth despite leaving with no wins.
A fortnight passed and we were on the road again, this time to Olathe, Kansas, and Lone Elm Park. The last time we were there for the 2023 Super Regionals, the thermometer and wet bulb were both bursting at its seams. A more temperate day met the eight co-ed sides competing in two divisions.
Though teams from Minnesota down to Texas came, the tournament was topped by the Southern teams. North Texas hammered Minnesota in their opening match, then went on to turn aside high scoring Chicago and plucky St Louis en route to the Division 1 crown, their first ever title. The Devils, founded in 2020, have slowly been improving since coming into the league and now have their sights set on doing the same thing when we get to Tucson. The Freeze may have something to say about that, having rebounded from the loss with two routs of their own to place second.
Division 2 saw Oklahoma also pick up their first regional championship, and their first USAFL tournament victory since winning Division 4 at Nationals way back in 2017. All three games were tight affairs until the end, as they defeated Des Moines by 19, hometown Kansas City by 21, then turning aside a burgeoning Nashville Kangaroos team in what was a de facto Grand Final between two 2-0 teams.
June became July, and the final stop of the series pulled into Westminster, Colorado, with the Rocky Mountains providing yet another treat of a backdrop. Ten teams representing eighteen USAFL clubs converged for a fitting cap to the summer.
One interesting note was that, coming into this weekend, the Portland Steelheads held the single game Regionals scoring record with 100 points. By the ended of the day, that record was broken four times, with the Arizona Hawks the new holders with 114.
Men’s Division 1, for the second time in three years, came down to Denver and Austin. And for the second time in three years, the Bulldogs beat the Crows to claim their sixth regionals. This time, however, it wasn’t the after-the-siren thriller that it was in 2023, as the home team won by 47 points.
The Women’s Division was a showcase of talent from all over the country. The four core teams had athletes from other teams in tow, and it made for an intriguing set of six matches. In the end, it was a rematch of last year’s Western Final and the last three Nationals Grand Finals; San Francisco and Minnesota. The Freeze, alongside women from North Texas, Bayou, and Houston, were outplayed in the final match by the Maidens, who were accompanied by the Seattle Grizzlies and Sacramento Suns and St Louis. Can the Maidens ride the wave into Nationals and take back their title come October?
Two recent Grand Final rematches is pretty great. But the third, between Seattle and Sacramento, was better than the 2023 Div 2 Granny. With the teams tied 31-31 heading into the final term, goals were traded like Pokemon cards. The Grizzlies went up 38-32 before the Suns kicked two in succession to wrench the lead back. Seattle would score a tying major with a minute to go, but needed another point since a draw would’ve given Sacto the cup on percentage in matches over third-placed Houston. The Suns won the opening tap, then kicked a point after the siren for the outright win.
Arizona hadn’t won a regionals since they teamed up with Portland to take out Men’s D2 in 2018. That streak came to an end with that record setting win over Denver’s reserves, then a 22-point decision over a Portland/Wasatch combo that has a ton of talent ready for the run home.
As August is upon us and the final two months of Regular Season 2025 plays out, the tournament committee has a better idea as to where each team will slot into for Nationals.
But before that, one more moment to salute the individual performances of Regionals. For the fifth season, the All-Regionals Teams, presented by Odin Mortgage & Tax, honored the best of the best from the four tournaments.
The teams were selected on the basis of umpires’ votes, with additional selections being made on the basis of recommendations from observers at each individual tournament.
Minnesota’s Cathy Hoha is the only player to be named to the All-Regionals team in all five seasons, as she continues to prove that age is just a number in her domination of the forward line for the Freeze.
Erik Hansen (NC), John Hinchen (PHL), Marissa Poorboy (DEN), Nicole Feery (GG), Nico Caprignano (SAC), and Chance Mire (BAY) were all named to their third team in 2025.
Connor Jo Lewis (MIN), Jenna Taipaleti (SAC), Dan Duffield (DEN), Adam Edwards (NY), Barb Williamson (AUS), Indigo Ao (POR), Emma Whewell (WIS), Bernie Berges (DC), Tristan Cruwys (WSH), and Ben Collins (DEN) all became two-time nominees.
