Footy!

Well we are fully in winter now so it seems reasonable to dawn a tank top and some short shorts and go run around outside.  Thats right, I've picked up a new sport and it's called footy.  In order to properly tell this story I'm going to have to take you back a couple months.  Back in mid April I decided that I wanted to give footy a go, so I started looking to see if there were any clubs near our house.  I was in luck, there are 3 teams that call Albert Park home.  So I sent each of them an email expressing my interest and only one got back to me.  The club was the South Melbourne District Football Club.  They said "come on down and give it a go", so I did.  I showed up to the Tuesday night training session with a brand new pair of footy boots and no idea what the fuck I was doing/getting into.  I learned very quickly that its not very easy to kick this stupid ball and that even though I'm in pretty good physical shape, I was by far at the back of the pack.  I had greatly underestimated the game that I showed up to play, but I was not discouraged.  I showed up to every training session (Tuesday and Thursdays) eager to learn, improve, and almost puke my guts out from exhaustion.  Bruises, muscle pain, general aches, these have been the norm for me now for almost two months and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way.

So what is footy?  Well its short for Australian Rules Football but it would be easier to call it Australian No-Rules Football.  It truly is a game that you learn what you can't do rather than what you can do.  I think of it like a combination of American football, hockey, and soccer.  There are no pads, no helmets, brutal tackles, fast pace play, and lots of running.  Its said that some midfielders run a marathon every game.  Its Australias biggest professional sport and Melbourne is home to 10 professional teams.  It has an absolutely massive following and attendance to some of the games at the MCG reach upwards of 95,000 people.  Thats college football numbers in the states.

MCG - Richmond vs Essendon

Etihad Stadium - Richmond vs Western

I have now been playing for just over 2 months and have actually played in 5 league games.  I'm still learning and improving my skills but I have made great strides at a quick pace.  Most of my teammates have been playing since they were about 10 years old.  To put that into perspective, imagine someone trying to play baseball on a league team who has never thrown a ball.  I am actually quite astounded at how nurturing and supportive my team has been of me.  They don't look at is as "this kid sucks, has no idea what he's doing" but rather they help me learn from my mistakes and truly want me to become a better player and bring value to the team.  So for the moment I have hung up the hockey skates and dawned a pair of neon green footy boots at least until the season ends in mid September.