Geelong League update

On Tuesday night I drove down to Geelong, as has now become the norm. Much better than the hike to Albert Park that was the Monday night routine for three years. But this week I didn't have the cleats packed - just a chair. It was Grand Final time, and BUUF wasn't in it. Again. In fact, BUUF lost every game this season. The game was between Flying High and Yoghurt Slingers. Both teams had around 14 or 15 players, all itching to get game time.

The standard of the first round of Geelong League a few months back wasn't crash hot, and BUUF had a bit of a stroll through the park for the first few weeks. But the standard jumped. Dramatically. And the game on Tuesday night was a bloody good game. Dan and I speculated on the possible match-ups... Jake Angelovich versus Lewi Broad, Pete Nixon versus Dave Pelletier, Tyler Dickson versus whoever wanted to follow him on a deep cut, and Maddie Thomson versus anyone cutting in. But those match-ups got changed up, with several other kids taking the job of Boss and Jake-As. Dave P continued to run wild, but his targets were limited. Andrew Berry threw himself at countless stray discs - I think he took about four or five catches on second efforts. Luke McCully caught anything thrown remotely near him. It was a great game to watch.

Flying High won in the end, but next season they'll be two teams. You see, Slingers and Flying High have a LOT of players. Last time BUUF played Slingers they had 19 players. The growth of this league is ridiculous, and with the warmer weather starting to (finally) show, it'll happen faster. So the move to a new venue (Deakin University) and expansion to 6 teams is necessary. Am I working towards a point here? Yes.

Everyone...well, the AFDA and UPA, seems to banging on about youth development. And while I thought the intentions were good, I wondered why we were reaching out to an audience that can't drive themselves to tournaments. But with the enthusiasm, energy and improvement shown over these last few months, I'm sold. Kids all the way.