“What a morning!” Dimma thought to himself as he neatly put away his lycra and headband, per the Marie Kondo tidying ethos. “This yoga thing is so unreal. I mean between the mountain, tree, chair, cobra and boat poses – I am truly sorted. I mean, it really makes me feel so calm. I think I’ll call myself Dimma Wellman from now on, or DW for short. Wellness, wellness – it’s the karma, the yin and the yang, those courses I did the other week – the zen and the transcendental meditation – boy oh boy, nothing can stop me now!!!!”
Ring…ring…
“Hi – DW speaking…”
“Dimma? It’s Sheeds!! What’s DW?!!! Look. I need you to get to the ground pronto. I have got my times wrong and I am still halfway through my quinoa, chai and bird seed cereal…. Help me out, man!”
“Sure thing, Sheeds – I am on my…” Click…
“What a man,” Dimma thought to himself. “He is such an inspiration to me.”
And with that Dimma jumped in his car and put on “You’re the Inspiration” by Chicago – number one on his pre-game playlist, especially when he thought of Sheeds. It was by far the most played song in all Dimma’s music, currently sitting at ‘played 1,346 times’.
So – game day. Almost a full side – bar Niko – who had been sending beach postcards to Dimma almost on a daily basis… Dimma arrived at the ground in 5 minutes flat… He looked at his watch. Still no Sheeds. Or Umpire Razor Ratcliffe, for that matter… “Oh well,” he thought, “I’ll sort it.”
10 minutes to game time – and then – there Sheeds was!! Sauntering through the carpark, whistling away, with his green and yellow “HR” cap perched jauntily on his noggin. Boy he looked professional. “Best coach I’ve ever worked with!” Dimma thought….anyway. Back to the game, shall we?!!!
THE KIDS WERE PUMPED!! Especially when Dimma put on “Old Town Road” for the kids to fire themselves up with. The remix, with Billy Ray Cyrus, not the original, which is apparently rubbish. Sheeds sighed…he much preferred the original. And Achy Breaky Heart. However. I digress.
The captains for the day were Aiden and Angus – and gee they almost jumped on the coaches when their names were read out! They were rapt – well done kids! They proudly led the team out and it looked like the Blues were ready to roll.
Alex was patrolling the hot spot, with Cate, Seb and Sam patrolling the loose ball gets. Jason and Tom were roaming around the zone/half forward line, with Jason slotting a great goal on the run, and all the forwards were picking up kicks coming in from the mids, who were doing a great job! Dan, Tim and Diesel were making their opponents accountable and Jacob, Ben and Xavier were doing what they do best, getting in hard in the packs with plenty of courage. Angus was celebrating his captaincy responsibilities by going nuts in the middle, driving the ball long whenever he got it. The backs, led by Teddy (easily the best game he has played – well done Teddy!), were doing a magnificent job, manning up per Sheeds’ instruction and Arlo, Jack and Aiden (also relishing his extra responsibility) were terrific in setting up many plays and dishing out to teammates. Harry was winning plenty of his own ball and seeking out his mids on the fly. A great quarter kids!
The second quarter was more of the same, with Jacob being incredibly brave down back and copping a knock to the schnozzer in the process! Great work Jacob! The team were really playing well and trying their best against a great opposition. Sheeds was prowling around, proud as punch!! Sam also copped a knock to the hand/finger and came off, but the general consensus was that he was also amazingly brave and ready to come back on if his coaches needed him to. Wow. Great teamwork Jacob and Sam!
Half time was punctuated with oranges, water, a blissfully calm (see para one of this report) and smooth wristband transition. There was almost an aura over the team. Except when Sheeds started humming Achy Breaky Heart…
Then – they went nuts! Links. Handballs. Calling teammates’ names. Long kicks to position. Jack was running amok down forward, as was Harry. Goals to both! Dan took a pearler of a mark down back, as did Jacob at half forward. Xavier was winning the hard ball, Teddy was continuing his great game, and Arlo and Diesel started to get their hands on it. Sam came back on and was a great contributor, and Aiden, Jason and Sebastian were giving plenty of drive. Tim and Alex were playing a terrific game, playing often on the tallest in their zone, but doing the team thing and denying his opposition player any easy ball. Well done Tim and Alex! Tom, Ben and Angus were sparking up and their teammates responded – especially Sam, and also Harry, who seemed to have the ball on a string! Great work….! Charlie was doing his wrecking ball thing in the guts and getting the ball out to his teammates in tight situations. A top game.
The last quarter – Sheeds was so impressed with the quarter and how the team all played, he maintained the positions, after consulting with Dimma and Carolyne, the runner for the day. The team responded in kind, especially Cate, who had been rotated off in the third. Her opponent was never more than 30 cm away and didn’t get a kick – an example of more great teamwork! More goals to Harry and Jack – the whole side was going nuts! Everyone mentioned above again did a magnificent job and the defenders down back seemed to be repelling everything. But it’s about the team – and the coaches were so proud of you all – what a great game. And we even all sung the song – with gusto! It’s a special thing to see such rapid improvement, and all the team were enjoying themselves, playing our great game, Aussie Rules!
Thank you again to all the parents for supporting, water, snakes, oranges, medical, timekeeping, B&F voting, umpire escorting, photos, running and goal umpiring. Thank you Fi for again getting the team on the field, signing in etc etc etc. A special thank you to Damo Garlick – for pulling on the whistle (briefly) whilst Razor battled the traffic against the odds, and eventually arriving with a full police escort, with sirens blaring to do his usual team umpiring role – thank you Paul.
#goBlues #goRovers #goBillyRay #goYoga
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