WORLD BEATER: Rave reviews for city's International Cup role

WARRNAMBOOL'S five-day involvement in the Australian Football International Cup yesterday drew rave reviews from organisers of the event."We had hoped it would be a raging success but it exceeded everyone's expectations," Warrnambool City Council media and marketing manager Kim Sweetnam said yesterday."I think the players who came brought a spirit that we never expected."For me it was a sense of spirit and harmony."Sweetnam was a member of the International Cup organising committee, gaining first-hand insights to the matches, social functions and school visits associated with the event."It was quite a team effort from the city of Warrnambool and it brought the AFL to town," she said."We anticipated it would bring $1 million to the community and I'm fairly confident it would have achieved that." Victorian Country Football League marketing and communications manager Graeme Allen praised Warrnambool for embracing the cup and its 16 overseas teams."That culminated in such a huge crowd last night (Wednesday) . . . Absolutely awesome," Allen said."The way that community embraces sport it was always going to be a successful event. "I just hope everybody down there got something out of it. It was a unique experience and something that may not come back for a while." Allen praised everyone involved in the Warrnambool leg of the cup, from the organising committee to host clubs, schools, umpires and spectators."The feedback from everyone involved in 2005 was that the trip to the country (Wangaratta) was the highlight of the cup," he said."Anecdotally from people I've spoken to, for many many of the players but also from everybody else, the AFL included, the trip to Warrnambool will be the highlight this year."A number of players have mentioned to me how much they enjoyed their time in Warrnambool and how friendly people were. "Some of the players were just walking down the street and people came out of shops to have their photos taken with them."Sweetnam received a glimpse of the international goodwill and pride created through social interraction at Panmure Primary School on Tuesday.The Samoan team visited the school, singing for the pupils and running a football clinic."When they got back on the bus the kids spontaneously sang the Panmure school song," Sweetnam said.One of the first social functions in Warrnambool was a dinner on Monday night at Brauer College, attended by 800 people.Sweetnam said the entertainment was provided by the teams."They danced together, sang together and clapped each other," she said."It was a really harmonious experience for everyone."It was just so inspiring to see 17 countries come together and it wasn't contrived. It wasn't an effort for everyone to have a good time together."Teams left Warrnambool yesterday for the final round of positional matches today in Melbourne, followed tomorrow by the grand final between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea at the MCG.