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Simon Yeo

Adelaide Road Trip

Apr 18, 2017 | Travel | 0 comments

Adelaide Road Trip

My 13 year old son, Brad, is really into football and Essendon in the AFL.  As a treat to him, we made the trek over to Adelaide during the Easter long weekend to see Essendon play the Crows.  I’ve said many times that I don’t mind a good road trip, so a quick interstate trip behind the wheel was a treat for me too.

As I’ve revealed in the last couple of blog posts, I’ve discovered a new interest in making videos for YouTube, so this was a great opportunity to make a short movie with Brad.  Check out our Road Trip video below.  At 15 minutes the film is a bit longer than I would have liked, but it tells the story of two days on the road, budget accomodation and a loosing football match.

Under 13 footy

Aug 23, 2016 | Sport | 0 comments

2016 Pakenham Under 13 Grand Final

Under 13 footy

For the past two years I’ve been the Team Manager of my son’s junior Aussie Rules football team.  This year was Under 13s, and we actually ended up with a great group of boys that won most of their games and made it through to the Grand Final.  Unfortunately we didn’t get the win, but everyone is really proud of how hard they fought, the sportsmanship they showed and the way the conducted themselves on and off the field.

Sometimes being involved with junior footy can be frustrating.  Getting the kids to show up to training when its pouring rain, finding volunteer parents to help with the various game day roles, players going on family holidays mid season, and many other challenges, can make getting a team on the field interesting to say the least.

The rewards of junior footy, like most kids sports, is seeing them having fun and being active with their mates.  For our boys, seeing them graciously congratulate the winning players and proudly accepting their Runners-Up medals made the season worthwhile.

Well done boys!  Lets hope we can go one better in the Under 14s next year.

Runners Up Medal 2016 Pakenham Under 13 Grand Final

Runners Up Medal – Under 13 Grand Final

Friday night junior footy

Jun 25, 2016 | Sport | 0 comments

Junior football at Koo Wee Rup on a cold and wet Friday night.

Floodlights shine through the darkness at the Koo Wee Rup football ground, it’s wet and only five degrees Celsius, the not so perfect setting for junior Aussie Rules football.  The opening bounce was at 7pm, and it was only going to get colder and wetter.

The Pakenham Under 13 boys were going into this match against Koo Wee Rup undefeated, but this game was different, everyone was fighting the cold and rain, as well as the opposition.

At every quarter break we had buckets of warm water for the boys to thaw out their frozen fingers, as well as towels and blankets.  As for the parent helpers, our team Runner and Goal Umpire volunteers had to endure the freezing conditions the most, but there was no complaints.

When the final siren sounded, Pakenham had suffered their first loss of the season, but the boys beat the cold and had a lot of fun. Running back into the change rooms, there was hot Milo drinks waiting for all the boys, courtesy of the Koo Wee Rup Junior Football Club.

You’ve got to love junior sports!

Pakenham Under 13 boys try to keep warm and dry at the Quarter Time break against Koo Wee Rup on a cold and wet Friday night.

AFL Womens Teams

Jun 15, 2016 | Comment and opinion, Sport | 0 comments

AFL Womens Teams
AFL Womens Teams (from AFL website / AFL Media)

The AFL announced today the eight teams that will take part in the inaugural Womens League in 2017.  I think this is fantastic!  Back in the day we would have scoffed and said “footy is a man’s game”, but now I reckon it’s great to see the women participating.  No longer will we see teenage girls being told they cant play any more when they get too old to play with the boys.

During the Big Bash Cricket, we went along early to a game to catch a womens match curtain raiser, I’d be more than happy to do the same for the womens football.  The skill level we’ve seen in the AFL demonstration games of womens football has been terrific, hopefully there’s enough talent out there for all eight teams to be competitive.  I wish the womens’ teams every success, hopefully it works out well for the AFL and everyone involved.