World vision

THE AFL continues to spread its message across Australia and overseas, with athletes from India, the United States and South Africa among those currently contesting the NAB AFL Under 16 championships in Blacktown.

The championships, which have previously spawned the likes of Joel Selwood, Brett Deledio and Tom Scully, feature 12 teams and conclude at Blacktown International Sportspark on Saturday.

Teams from the South Pacific, an indigenous Flying Boomerangs outfit and a World XVIII join traditional sides such as Vic Metro and South Australia in the event.

Veteran coach Kevin Sheedy, who was heavily involved in the expansion of the sport in between head coaching roles at Essendon and Greater Western Sydney, is a huge advocate of the junior championships.

He joined players from the South Pacific and World XVIII team in Sydney on Thursday and was thrilled to see how far the sport is reaching beyond Australia's shores.

"I've got no doubt eventually in time, we can really sell this game to the world," Sheedy said.

"We 've got the greatest game on the planet.

"The more years we put into it, the bigger the dividend we'll get in the end."

Players from varied cultures are already having a mark on the AFL, with Canadian Mike Pyke a regular member of the Sydney Swans this season and GWS' Israel Folau of Tongan decent.

The Swans also have youngster Eugene Kruger on their rookie list, who was born in South Africa before moving to Australia in 2000.

Kruger was also at Thursday's press conference and was impressed to find some fellow South Africans on the World XVIII.

"It's great to see how much AFL has actually grown," Kruger said.

"I've spoken to the world team and it's so good to see how many cultures are involved and there are some South African boys there."

Folau is also keen to spread the AFL word to areas that hadn't previously been exposed to the sport.

"I'm an ambassador for the multicultural program," he said.

"And I'm really passionate about helping to grow the game, especially in the Pacific area."

The South Pacific and World sides meet on Saturday, along with matches between the Flying Boomerangs v WA North West, Northern Territory v Tasmania and Queensland v NSW/ACT.