The Indonesia Garudas will make their first appearance at the 2014 International Cup.

The Indonesia Garudas will make their first appearance at the 2014 International Cup.

John Eddy is the Chairman of the Indonesian Garudas’ International Cup 2014 Committee for AFL Indonesia. Below, he writes to teh Garudas’ Club 500 members – of which AFL Asia is a member.

Dear 500 Club Member,

We are now about 48 hours away from embarking on our Melbourne trip to attend the International Cup, with Indonesia represented for the first time – a venture in which many people have had involvement at various stages.

At the Jumper Presentation on 19 July, prior to the announcement of the Team, we acknowledged the contribution of about 25 individuals who had given serious time and effort towards the development of Australian Rules in this country. Some of those individuals are on this email list, some are still in Jakarta and some have since left. Wherever they are, those 25 can be satisfied that their efforts have resulted in something fairly special.

In addition to those 25, there have been hundreds of others who at some stage have helped in many different ways to get us to where we are today. Thanks go to everyone.

The 500 Club of which you are a part, has been a fabulous success and currently stands at 72 memberships. We are often asked how we managed to raise the funds for a trip to Australia and we always receive a good reaction when we explain the great support we have received from the football community in Indonesia and around the world.

Lead Sponsors for the project are Seascape Surveys and the Victorian Government Business Office. Many thanks to Peter Reichlmeier from Seascape and Brett Stevens, the Commissioner to Indonesia, for supporting the Indonesia Garudas and helping get us to Melbourne.

Updates will follow as the tour progresses.

Go Garudas!