History of the Club
Tigers' Jumper (uniform)
The North Carolina Tigers are headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina and actively promote and play Australian Rules Football across the state. The club was founded in November 1997, with the first training session in early Spring 1998. It was founded by an American who figured that the time was right for Footy in the USA.
The Tigers are a USAFL Club and are affiliated with the Eastern Australian Football League (EAFL). The EAFL is comprised of teams from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore/Washington, and the North Carolina Tigers. Currently, the Tigers are placed in Division II of the USAFL National standings.
The Club also offers local footy action through the North Carolina Metro Footy League. The Wolves, Capitals and Rams comprise a metro 9-a-side league with games played monthly. Metro Footy is a scaled down version of Footy. Games are played on a regulation size soccer field and have 9 players per side. All are welcome to try Metro Footy, before graduating to the Tigers.
The Tigers proudly sponsor the nations' first two college footy teams - the University of North Carolina Australian Rules Football Club and the NC State Australian Rules Football Club.
The Tigers are renowned for tenacious team performances against difficult odds, shown most recently by being runner-up in the 2004 Steel City Tournament. A North Carolina Tigers' player has won the USAFL Nationals Best and Fairest player award twice and the USAFL Nationals Most Consistent player award, also twice.
In 2007, to mark the United States Australian Football League's 10th Anniversary, the USAFL Board announced a USAFL Team of the Decade, a USAFL All-American Team of the Decade and Umpires of the Decade at our National Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. Our own Rob Beyersdorf was named to the USAFL All-American Team of the Decade and Seth McElvaney was named to the Umpires of the Decade. Congratulations on those achievements!
Year | Coach | Captain | Best & Fairest |
1998 | Simon Percival | ||
1999 | Simon Percival / Martin Coventry |
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2000 | Martin Coventry | ||
2001 | Martin Coventry | Scott Cunningham & Martin Coventry |
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2002 | Martin Coventry | ||
2003 | Martin Coventry / Adam Coleman |
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2004 | Adam Coleman | ||
2005 | Adam Coleman | Jason Heathcote | Jason Heathcote |
2006 | Adam Coleman | ||
2007 | Jason Heathcote | Wes McCallister | |
2008 | Jason Heathcote | Wes McCallister |