I have to admit it: I’m not really a big Australian Rules Football fan. But, when you live in Australia, and you’re raising a boy in Adelaide, it’s not something that you can escape from that easily. The same way that I know I couldn’t escape from cricket and football (soccer), being married to a sports-fanatic Englishman.
And, whilst I have become a cricket and a soccer convert (Rugby too, believe it or not) — I have not turned to AFL all that much. But, somehow, it felt like it was just a matter of time before I had to choose a footy side (Port Adelaide vs Adelaide Crows).
When my son started school, footy talk has slowly crept in to our lives. Not as much as soccer and cricket, of course. But, definitely talks about footy teams began making their way in to our daily conversations.
Then, one day, my son came home with a decision: When it comes to footy, he is going to barrack for the Adelaide Crows. So, of course, hubby and I support whoever he supports.
That’s why when I heard from the PR department of Minda, Inc. (the organisation for people with intellectual disabilities that I support) — that they’re giving away some free tickets to the Adelaide Crows vs Geelong game held last Saturday thanks to some sponsors — I put in my request for a family pass. The clients and full time staff were first priority, of course. So, I wasn’t quite sure if I’d get a pass or not. Thankfully, there were enough tickets to go around.
So, our family went to watch a live AFL match together. It was our first time to watch the Crows in action. Unfortunately, they lost even after putting up a decent fight. Well, it wasn’t a surprise, really… seeing as Geelong is meant to be the strongest team in the league right now.
In any case, other than seeing the delighted looks on my kids’ faces, it was also wonderful to see the clients from Minda having a great night out, watching their footy heroes. It’s always fabulous when individuals and organisations sponsor such events for the clients and staff. It really makes a difference to people’s lives. I hope that there will be more of that sort of thing for the organisation and the clients.
So yeah, the overall experience was definitely fun. Loud, colourful, sporty fun.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
jen 04.20.09 at 8:33 pm
I can relate about the footy talk. My son will barrack for whoever’s the highest on the ladder. We went to a Port game last year and he wasn’t that keen. Hopefully he gets into it though, as he starts playing the game in a week.
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Shai Coggins reply on May 21st, 2009:
Hi, Jen. It’s interesting when they’re so young and just end up supporting whoever wins. My boy’s learning how to support his favourite team even when they’re losing. Not an easy task, I imagine!
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AndreyM 04.22.09 at 3:38 pm
That’s wonderful when two people are combined not only because of love as a feeling, but because they beging to like the same thing and hobbies, which is the best way of a long coexistence!
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Shai Coggins reply on May 21st, 2009:
AndreyM: Interesting insight. Did you actually get all that from this post?
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