 Like tennis, they call their game a match; yet they look like soccer players, and they kick and throw a football. These athletes are part of the Australian Football League. As a class assignment, I went to the Subiaco Oval to learn about this game called footy. (Click on photos for larger images.)
West Coast is 4–0
Go Eagles!
Over the weekend I attended an Australian Rules Football Game between the West Coast Eagles and the Western Bulldogs. Aussie Rules Football you say? You may be wondering what the sport is, and for a good part of the game, I was wondering as well! The entire experience of getting to the game, observing the game as well as its many fans and then venturing home was lots of fun!
 I was attending the game along with the other members of my Indigenous Australian Sport Class, of which there are about fifteen. We got our tickets in class, and we were all responsible for getting to the game ourselves. After discovering that a shuttle bus was running from the University bus station, a group of about six of us headed over there only to discover a line of roughly seventy excited fans ready to cheer their team to victory. One thing that surprised me was the large number of people wearing some sort of clothing supporting the Eagles. I have been to professional sporting events in the States, and although there are people who dress in their team colors or clothes, it is not to the extent as it is done here in Australia! One of the most popular articles of clothing worn was a blue and yellow scarf, which I later noticed was used to wave around after the team had scored a goal.
We boarded the bus, which was quite crowded, and were off to the Subiaco Oval where the game was to take place. After a half an hour bus ride, we disembarked and went off in search of Gate 10, which was where we were to meet the rest of our group. After finding our seats, we had our first chance to look around and see the entire stadium. Although not as large as some stadiums back home, it was pretty impressive and had the atmosphere of professional sporting arenas back home. There were vendors walking around with drinks and food as well as music playing, which helped to get the crowd excited and interested in the game.
 Once the game began, I was absorbed in attempting to learn the rules from those around me who knew more about the game than I did. Aussie Rules is not similar to the type of football that I am used to. There are not specific plays, and players run around the field attempting to kick the ball between the middle two of four posts located at either end of the playing field. The ball movement between players can be either using a kick or hitting the ball as if underhand serving in volleyball. Kicking is the preferred method because if a player catches the ball after it is kicked, the other team must give them a distance of ten meters in which they can then make their play. This is called a mark, and for every mark, the officials blow the whistle. A goal is scored if the football is kicked between the two middle posts, and this is worth six points. One point can be earned if the football is kicked between either side of the main goal, between the other two posts. Another thing which I noticed is that play does not really stop for an entire quarter; there is constant motion, and even if a fight breaks out, the game continues. The game consists of four quarters, but each has a different length of time. Our entire group was pretty confused about that, and I haven’t been able to determine the reason for the different times. The game went by really fast, and before I knew it, the Eagles had beaten the Bulldogs, 143-107! It was a really high scoring game, which was great because it kept the fans entertained throughout the entire game.
 After the game, the next exciting thing to happen was trying to get home. Thirty-nine-thousand excited fans, including me, were trying to leave the stadium and make our way to various buses, cars and trains. My group decided to take the train back into the city, take another train and finally take a bus back to campus. I have never seen the trains as full as when they were leaving the train station. People kept pushing their way on causing some people to become rather upset. We just waited for a train that was not extremely full and easily made our way home.
Overall, the entire experience of going to the game was great! I am already planning on going to another game sometime in the semester. The game may sound confusing (and it actually kind of is), but feel free to ask me any questions you might have!
Until next week,
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