THE local community is being introduced to a sport popular down under. Aussie rules football is an exciting game requiring a high level of fitness as Victoria Fei discovers.

Being fast paced and action packed, the high-scoring Aussie rules football is undergoing a big promotional push in Yangpu District.

The district witnessed a match between the Melbourne Demons and the Brisbane Lions this month. Organized by the Australian Football League, it was an introductory show with the aim for the sport to reach a wider Chinese audience.

"Although it is rather new to Shanghai, the game ushers a new age for sports exchange between China and Australia," said Wu Qianyu, vice director of Yangpu District. "Yangpu has successfully introduced popular sports events such as the X Games. Aussie rules football is another trial in conducting sports exchanges."

Currently, Aussie rules football is available at five elementary schools in Yangpu, as part of the cooperation between the local government and the AFL. Around 600 students have the chance to play, using donated equipment and sportswear.

Andrew Sawitsch, community development officer of AFL China, teaches the game once a week at each school. Moving from Beijing to Shanghai especially for the sports initiative, he is now devoting most of his time to running campus playgrounds and sharing tactics with young children.

"It is a game with body contact, however, girls can also play," Sawitsch said. "It needs skills and helps build kids' reactions."

According to Shi Qin, a chief physical education teacher from the elementary school affiliated to the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, only two classes - one at grade four and one at grade five - can have Sawitsch's class.

"The girls never get afraid of this fierce game," Shi said. "We have two PE teachers who also go to Sawitsch's class to learn, as a means to teach more students later."

However, Oliver Ward, club secretary of the Shanghai Tigers, Shanghai's first Aussie rules football team established in 2002 by a handful expats, pointed out the difficulty in promoting the game in China is it is "so foreign and with low awareness."

"There's a lot of knowledge about the rules that needs to be taught. If people don't understand the game, it's very difficult for them to enjoy it," Ward said. "It's a longer term challenge that has just begun, but I think eventually many Chinese people will see Aussie rules as a great team game that is exciting and rewarding to watch and play."

Since Aussie rules requires a big ground to play on, with a typical oval of about 150m long and 120m wide, Ward said it is a challenge to find fields to play on in Shanghai.

Besides Jiangwan Stadium in Yangpu, the Shanghai Rugby Football Club (SRFC), the home base of the Shanghai Tigers, has a huge area capable of hosting two games at once.

The Shanghai Australian Football League, the first and only Aussie rules league in Shanghai, and the second in China, welcomes any locals who show an interest in the game. The league currently has three teams with a fourth to be introduced in the Spring 2011 season.

"We hold a draft at the beginning of each season and anyone can join. Many of our players have never played Aussie rules before coming to Shanghai," said Ward, who is also an account director for an international advertising agency.

"We actively encourage local participation and welcome anyone who wants to give the game a try. We currently have about 10 local Chinese guys as playing members of our teams."

The recent promotion of Aussie rules in Yangpu has even been talked about among the local Australian community.

"It's great to see more Aussie rules games played in Shanghai. I did attend the introductory game in Yangpu and brought a bunch of locals with me. I'm sure they were very confused by the rules of the game but the sheer excitement of such a fast-paced game translates into any culture," said Steven Roadnight, sales manager at Just Beer. Originally from Australia, he has been living in Shanghai for five years.

"They all enjoyed the feeling of the crowd cheering along as well, not quite the same as the Melbourne Cricket Ground back home but it was a good introduction for the locals."

Roadnight explained that Aussie rules is a very physical game. With four quarters running for 20 minutes each, the 18 players from each team have to run for the whole time on the field.

"The game requires a high level of all-round fitness that is achieved by attending footy training at least two to three times a week with all the other members of your team," said the 36-year-old.

"This builds a very strong sense of friendship. On weekends you and your mates have the aim of crushing the opposing team physically, mentally and by score."

As far as Roadnight knows, there is already a strong league in the city playing every weekend that has attracted not only Australians, but also players from many other nationalities including Chinese.

In Australia, children starts young. You would be considered "strange" if you did not play Aussie rules when everyone else did.

"Typically, it is a town team that you join rather than a school team. There are training camps that can be attended," Roadnight said. "Talent scouts will attend local games and the best players will be taken up by the professional teams to join their junior ranks. My favorite part of the Aussie rules in Yangpu was seeing all the kids getting out on the field and having a kick."

It is true that anyone can play, so long as you have a good level of fitness. "Shorter and less muscled players are great in positions such as the wing," Roadnight added.

Frank Li, an Australian who was born in Shanghai but has lived in Australia since 1981, called himself a late starter. It was not until year seven that he finally kicked an AFL ball.

"It is a sport that tests your hand-eye coordination, running, catching and kicking skills. It will appeal to many people in China," Li said. "This sport uses every part of the body. It is more challenging than say, basketball or soccer or ping pong."

There is a big difference between Aussie rules and soccer. As an Aussie rules player you can carry the ball and run with it. And unlike the soccer ball, which is round and easy to predict the bounce, the Aussie rules ball is "oval in shape so when it bounces you don't know where it is going to go - left, right, forward or back."

Running, kicking, passing, jumping and catching are common to a player. However, being a spectator, it is about appreciating all these skills and enjoying an afternoon with friends and family.

Li also paid a visit to Jiangwan Stadium in Yangpu to see the AFL show, feeling really interested in watching the game with people who had never seen it before.

"To see the reaction on Chinese people's faces when someone kicks a ball 50 meters in the air, or when someone takes a spectacular high mark (catching the ball after it is kicked) or when a hard tackle is made is just awesome," Li said.

"Australia is a very sporting nation. You can see that in our Olympics results. For a nation of so few people we do very well. I think promoting Australian sport in China is very exciting but it will not be a simple task."