About Australian Football

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About the Minnesota Freeze

The Minnesota Freeze is an Australian Rules Football Club based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. The team is comprised of players from various backgrounds, ages, and nationalities.

We represent Minnesota at the national level in the United States Australian Football League (USAFL). Throughout the year we play against teams mainly in the Midwest to determine our National ranking. That ranking is used for seeding in the National Championship Tournament held each October, where all teams around the nation are invited to compete in the USAFL tournament to determine champion teams in 4 divisions.

Since our debut at the national level in 2005, we have won 2 National Championships.

Club leadership

Future Goals

We are currently focused on these areas:

• To grow the sport locally with the aim of expanding our Metro Footy competition into enough teams to form local leagues for both men and women.

• Sending competitive teams each year to represent Minnesota at the USAFL National tournament.

• Developing the sport for junior and women teams.

• Conducting events and activities to promote a friendly and social club atmosphere.

Historical Timeline

2010

In what was supposed to be a re-building year after a rough 2009 by Freeze standards, the team rebounded far beyond expectations in 2010 under the guidance of incoming President Brian Driscoll, and new Head Coach Scott Johnson.

The Freeze finished their regular season with a 7-1 record and entered the National Tournament with a #3 ranking in Division 2. In proud Freeze tradition they swept their pool to make it to the Division final but fell to a classy and talented Calgary team.

This year again the club fielded two men's teams with an almost complete team in the Reserve division. This year saw a greatly improved level of competition in that division and unfortunately once again the reserves went winless with a 0-3 record. Regardless, the club spirit became alive as players from both divisions showed great support and comradeship which capped off a fantastic season for the club.

Individual accolades this year went to Zach Weaver in winning the Paul Roos medal for D2 Most Consistent.

An additional bonus for the club was the 6 Freeze Women who joined with Milwaukee and Toronto women to form a combined team. Although their record was 1-2 for the weekend the fantasic experience gained by these women brought a new found energy into developing the Womens program for 2011 and beyond.

2009

2009 was a difficult year for the Freeze. Missing 2 players; Werner and Mergen all year to playing in Australia proved to be hard in the short term (but beneficial later). Injury's and players relocating made the task even harder and showed in both the win/loss column and the player numbers throughout the season. Nationals this year consisted of a D2 team and a small squad to combine with Kansas City Power in D4. As the tournament wore on more injuries took its toll and The Freeze limped over the line with a 0-3 record for D2 and a 1-2 for D4.

2008

The Freeze accepted the invitation to join the Mid American Australian Football League (MAAFL), and after a disrupted start to the season by weather, an unfavorable schedule, and some unfortunate player losses, the Freeze found themselves with a winless start at 0-4. Motivational wins in the final two games added some respect to the record at 2-4, but earned a number 5 ranking in division 2 for the Colorado Springs National tournament.

Always a threat when it comes to the big games, The Freeze showed they can never be discounted, and with comfortable wins over Nashville and Las Vegas their only loss went to the eventual champions The Seattle Grizzlies.

Once again the club fielded two teams with a team in the reserve division, and although it was winless with a 0-3 record it was a great learning experience for all the players and a statement that the club was still one of the largest and still thriving.

2008 Media Articles

"MN Freeze is hot!" - By Bill Wagner - source; The Villager, St Paul, MN. July 2008 "
A foothold for footy" - By Torleif Sorenson - source; The Metropolitan Online, July 2008

2007

Taking away great experience from previous season, and under the guidance of a new Club President; Dale (Diesel) Williams, the Freeze rolled up their sleeves and went to work in 2007.

Not content with just being competitive, the team worked hard all year to redeem their 2006 championship final loss. With away wins over Kansas City and Milwaukee, a home win against Milwaukee, and only one loss - against the number 1 team in the country; Denver, the team went into the Louisville National tournament with a 3-1 record and a number 1 ranking in division 2.

Not letting the odds-makers down, The Freeze comfortably cruised through their pool play by defeating; Nashville, North Carolina, and Atlanta, to set up a final against the number 2 seed The Seattle Grizzlies. In what turned out to be a fast, entertaining, yet low scoring affair, The Freeze ran out eventual winners by 10 points to claim their second National title.

In addition to their division 2 success was the incredible growth the club showed by being one of the few teams to bring two teams to the tournament. The Freeze also submitted a team in the reserve division and with a 2-1 record for the weekend narrowly lost the championship by percentage points only.

2007 Media Articles

Sheedy thinks "Minnesota has best young talent" - source; World Footy News

2006

2006 saw another exciting year unfold for the Freeze. With the official appointment of new Head Coach Jason Becker, the Freeze had comfortable home wins over division 1 team Milwaukee, and division 3 team Kansas City. A hard fought loss on the road at Milwaukee did not hurt the teams rankings either in their preparation for Nationals held in Las Vegas. Coming into that weekend the Freeze were considered underdogs, but went on to surprise everyone by going undefeated in their bracket to set up a division 2 championship showdown with the experienced Baltimore/Washington Eagles. Unfortunately the Freeze came up short on the day but walked away proud runners-up. An added highlight was the success again of Eric Perry, this time winning the Paul Roos medal for D2 Most Consistent.

2005

After exposing those players to the national level of competition, the interest generated saw further growth in player numbers the next year. For the first time the Freeze was able to send a full squad to the 2005 Nationals in Milwaukee. After a fantastic effort by all the players they were able to run out winners by 5 points over a gallant Baton Rouge and were crowned division 3 champions. An added highlight was the success of Eric Perry winning the Paul Roos medal for D3 Most Consistent, and the Geoff Cann medal for MVP in the D3 final.

2004

With the welcome addition of one Sam Gason to Minnesota in 2004 who became President and Head Coach, a more concerted effort was established to focus on the development of two metro footy teams. We developed a more formal training program and took the opportunity to play with Milwaukee in our first competitive games. This lead to us being able to send six players to the 2004 Nationals in Atlanta.

1998

Founded in 1999, it was originally focused on informal kick-to-kicks, but the seed was planted and The Freeze name reserved. Who knew Tony Davis' prophetic words "wouldn't it be cool to have a Minnesota team" would come true.

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