USA Freedom Blog
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I want to start this missive the same way I will end it by thanking everyone who took the time to participate over the weekend, what a fantastic turn out. The timeline shows how impressive the group was all camp long. 50 + at Masses on Friday night for dinner, 70+ at training and the games on Saturday followed by exactly 70 at our gala dinner at the Back Forty on Saturday night. A further 65+ to training on Sunday morning with 45 on the bus joined by 5 more at the races in the afternoon.
It is time for me to leave my Yeronga family. Sunday was my final game and holding true to the trend Yeronga once again came out victorious. I was given the opportunity to play the entire game in the back line moving from half back pocket to fullback. I was told I had a “blinder” of a game, Aussie talk for amazing. In most of the games during the season I had not seen much action in the backline but the Logan girls came to play and with many of our top players out due to injury the game proved to be decently competitive.
Sunday brought Yeronga another victory (151-10) and another goodbye or at least for the season. We all said farewell to Kathleen Dunn she is headed of f for 6 weeks and will not be with the team for the finals.
The team will see her again next season. She made a great partner for me when we trained with the tennis balls. Thanks Kathleen! As is tradition for Footy clubs we after each game we sing our victory song, here is Yeronga’s…
Cheer! Cheer! the pink black and white,
Honor the name by day and by night,
With all the rain and its’ unpredictability the coaches and captains have created some alternative training options for the team. Thursday we ran to the tennis training complex (Pat Rafter Arena) about 2 km away and used two adjoining tennis courts to run training. This is the arena where the Australian Open has been played and is a top notice tennis training facility.
On Sunday The Lady Yeronga Devil’s played the Zillmere Eagles, a team that we may see again in the finals. Due to some whether over the past week our training fields had been closed and we weren’t able to get as much training in. This showed on Sunday the team’s head was not entirely in the game. You could feel the lack of enthusiasm. Despite this Yeronga held out for the win. Our best quarter was the 3rd quarter where we finally started to come together. We let back on our efforts in the 4th quarter allowing some unnecessary goals and behinds through.
On Saturday July 14, 2012 I had the opportunity to watch the Yeronga Senior men’s team play. The field was wet from the previous days of rain. The men were constantly sliding through puddles and you could tell it was tough to get your hands on the ball. In addition the ball was heavy due to being saturated by the puddles of water making long kicks nearly impossible. The Men played with heart and never let up. They came away with the win. The men came off the field worn out but satisfied by their win.
My final 3 games with Yeronga... My how the time does fly!
12:00 PM
Sun 15/Jul Yeronga Sth Brisbane vs Zillmere Eagles Kedron(Map)
10:00 AM
Sun 22/Jul Yeronga Sth Brisbane vs Griffith Moorooka Reds Leyshon Park Yeronga (Map)
12:00 PM
Sun 29/Jul Logan Cobras vs Yeronga Sth Brisbane Tansey Park (Map)
We typically have games on Sunday but this weekend our game was on Saturday night at 5:45 against Palm Beach. We played at their field which is located on the Gold Coast. By 5:45 it is dark here so it was another game under the lights. I have never played under the lights and now two games under the lights. It is a unique experience to play under the lights and I have grown to enjoy it!
We arrived to training on Tuesday to see a pile of tennis balls. Was this Footy training or Tennis training? Curious I thought. After warming up Head Coach Jake Simmons-Bliss had us pair up and grab a tennis ball. We used the tennis balls to help improve our eye-hand coordination with the ball. We need to be precise and build our skills. This is an exercise I am sure to bring back to the states and use. Jake informed me he has tons of unique training exercises up his sleeve.
Over the past week we experienced a great deal of rain causing the grounds to be very soggy. Tuesday’s training was cancelled and as the rain continued it looked like we may not be able to train Thursday as well. The rain began to clear Thursday but with all the rain the fields were closed so that they would not get torn up by trainings. Kate Clarkson one of my teammates connected us with an indoor facility and trainer that came to do some fitness training with us.
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