One Crazy Sport

Australians are known for being pretty intense about their sports here. We got to experience that firsthand tonight, as we attended our first Australian Rules Football (or "Footy") game!

First off, what exactly is Australian Rules Football? I'd describe it as a mix of football, soccer, and Quidditch! It's like football in that the ball is a similar shape to our football; there is tackling and lots of punt-type kicks; and there is sort of an end zone. It's like soccer in that the players dress like soccer players (which is not OK - they should totally have pads and helmets on); the teams cover the field like a soccer team does; and the ball moves around the field very quickly. It's like Quidditch in that it's a quirky, mysterious game with lots of oddball rules, but you're drawn in to it even if you don't totally get it :)

I won't even try to explain all the rules of the game, but you can click here and here for short videos explaining how the sport is played.

Adelaide has its own professional-level team, the Adelaide Crows, and they play at the Adelaide Oval. Oh, did I mention that the Oval is about a 15 minute walk from our front door? This is a huge stadium seating over 50,000, and most of the seats were full. This was the first big stadium that the boys have been in!

Like I said, the game is very fast paced, and you really had to pay attention, as it was easy to lose the ball in all the action. Can you see it here?

The Crows (in navy, yellow, and red above) played the North Melbourne Kangaroos (in white and blue) tonight. I believe this was the last regular season game, as the playoffs start soon. The Crows aren't expected to make the playoffs, but their fans still showed up in full force.

We were in the standing room-only section, and the boys did get a little antsy. We tried to sweeten the pot with some sugary donuts. Yep, they can definitely be bribed with food :)

We attended the game with 5 of the 6 Simpson students - this is a fun crew!

See the dark blue people at the top of this next pic? In a genius moneymaking strategy, the Adelaide Oval was designed with a walkway/lookout space on TOP of the stadium. For only $100 (and actually $235 on a game day), you can put on a suit with attached harnesses, and do the Oval Roofclimb, which takes you along the top of the stadium roof. All throughout the game, we saw groups about this size taking the tour.

A halftime selfie. . .

So we didn't quite make it through the whole game; the boys got anxious so we headed home after the 3rd quarter. The Crows had a big lead at that point and they did win the game. We can check this off our "Authentic Australian Experiences" list - it was a fun game to watch!