Footy

Footy=Australian Rules Football

I was introduced to footy when me and Julianne went to play with a couple guys from her dorm. Turns out the guys were actually having a practice to be a team so Julianne and I stole a ball and tried to learn how to play. Let's just say we weren't going to make it on a team anytime soon. There really is no way to describe this game. It is a combination of soccer, football, volleyball, rugby and just utter chaos. After trying to learn how to kick the footy ball correctly and pass it correctly Julianne and I were exhausted from chasing the ball down. We got pretty good at the end but only if we were a couple feet apart.

On Saturday Julianne took me to a real footy match to show me what it was actually supposed to look like. Um yeah this sport is crazy. It goes non-stop in a huge field. During the game people run onto the field to give players water and such. The field is way bigger than a football field and it is an oval. The fans are just as crazy and yell things like "you bloody Muppet" and wave flags and have giant pom-poms.



They enter the field at the beginning of the game and run through banners while their team's theme song is playing. Yes they have their own theme songs.


I took videos because you can't really understand it until you see it played.

This is how they start the game. The Refs are in red and they bounce a ball in the center then everyone runs in and tries to get it. Which ever team gets the ball starts with the ball.



They can kick or pass the ball to eachother. If they kick it and their teammate catches it they are allowed to mark it. You will see that in this video (he gets the ball and then everything stops and he is allowed to back up to try and make a goal.) You will see 4 posts at each end of the field. If they kick it through the center two it is 6 points, the side two are 1 point each and if you pass it through any of them they are 1 point. This guys scores 6points.



This is how the refs throw the ball back in if it goes out of bounds. They face away and just toss it in the air then the teams push and shove and try to get the ball.


This guy marked the ball inside the line so he was lining up to kick for a point. Look for random people with white shirts on. Those are the people who run into the field while the game is playing to give people water. The coaches can also run onto the field and tell players what to do. There are basically just a ton of people on the field at all times. Oh and not to mention the seagulls that were in the stadium landing on the field randomly.