Boys and girls football will be played at the 2007 Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney. The first time the sport has been included on the program.

"We are delighted that football has been accepted into the Australian Youth Olympic Festival." John O'Neill, CEO of Football Federation Australia.

"Inclusion in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival will help to ensure that our Olympic teams remain competitive with the world's best".

"It is an exciting time for football and on the back of the Matildas most successful Olympics ever in 2004 and the quarter-final finish of our under 23 men's side we are confident that we can push in to the medal rounds next time" O’Neill said.

2007 will be the fourth AYOF staged by the Australian Olympic Committee using many of the venues built for the Sydney Olympic Games. Competitors range in age from 13 to 19 years and are identified by their sports as having the potential to reach the elite level.

The AOC has committed $2.71million funding to stage the event over five days. Planning is in its early stages but the AOC is hoping to include 16 sports on the program and over two thousand athletes from Australia and overseas.

“We are excited to have football on the AYOF program for the first time” said AOC President John Coates. “The sport is booming in Australia and the Socceroos’ win has the whole country excited about our prospects in the future. The festival is used to develop young talent we hope will represent Australia at the Olympic Games”.

Sailing is another new sport on the program. And for the first time two winter sports have been included, figure skating and short track speed skating. The inclusion of the winter sports hinges on Japan, China and Korea agreeing to send teams.

“At this point the reaction from those countries has been positive” said AOC General Manager of Sport, Fiona de Jong.”We are confident they will come”.

The AOC believes China will send a very large contingent as they prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Like us the Chinese have used the previous Festivals to blood young athletes for Olympic competition and we expect them to send their biggest team ever in 2007” de Jong said. “They are sure to compete in all 16 sports”.

The AOC is also expecting Great Britain to send a large team this time as they get ready to stage the Olympics in London in 2012.

“Great Britain has been watching our sports closely regarding junior development and they will use the festival to give their young Olympic hopefuls a much needed taste of international competition in the lead up to 2012”.

The AYOF is held every two years. In 2001, '03, & '05 the USA, Canada, France, Germany, South Africa all sent teams along with athletes from the Asian nations and the Oceania region.

Twenty-seven athletes from the 2001 and 2003 festivals won a place on the Australian Olympic Team in Athens. They won eight medals including three gold. Anna Meares (cycling) Travis Nederpelt and Jessicah Schipper (swimming), Mark Knowles (hockey), Tim Cuddihy (archery), Ben Cureton, Stefan Szczurowski and Kerry Hore (rowing) are all products of the AYOF.

The full list of sports on the 2007 AYOF program are as follows:

Athletics
Badminton
Canoe/Kayak – flat water & slalom
Cycling – track & road
Diving
Footbal
Figure Skating 
Gymnastics
Hockey
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting – clay target
Speed Skating – short track 
Swimming
Table Tennis
Taekwondo

AOC