Seattle Grizzlies Australian Rules Football Club: Blog Posts

2011 US Footy Championships Updates

Ed Fayette

The Grizzlies have arrived in Austin and are busy preparing for their matches this weekend. To stay updated on results throughout the tourney you can check the official USAFL website www.usfooty.com.... Or, for up to the minute updates on all things Grizzly, follow our official twitter feed @seattlefooty. Cheers!

AFL Finals Action Live at Kangaroo & Kiwi

Ed Fayette

In addition to their live coverage of every match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, our sponsor pub the Kangaroo & Kiwi (kangarooandkiwipub.com) have informed us they will have the tele's showing Geelong v. West Coast LIVE at 9:20 pm this Friday, September 23, immediately following the AUS v. US Rugby WC replay. If you're looking for some grub before the match be sure to get there early to have a look at the new Rugby WC menu... Min's new lamb sandwich is out of this world. Oh, and did we mention that Boags is back?

In addition, they will be pre-empting all live rugby matches on Friday, September 30th in honor of the 172nd-ish Annual Seattle Grizzlies Live AFL Grand FInal Live Coverage Night Party and Feed at the K&K (SGLAFLGFLCNP&F@K&K for short). As always, it's going to get packed real quick so get there early for a good spot. Grizzlies will be on site selling raffle tickets and hosting giveaways of what will surely be some high quality gear. This is one of the Grizzly's top fundraising efforts of the year, and our last big push before Nationals so we hope to see each and every one of our supporters there!

That said, why anyone cares about the finals anymore now that St. Kilda has been eliminated is beyond me... Regardless, i'll see you there.

Grizzlies Lend Legs to Seattle Gaelic Football Club

Ed Fayette

On June 14, 2011 in what has become an annual tradition, the Seattle Grizzlies loaned players to the Seattle Gaels for exhibition matches versus Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia during the annual Green Lake Gaelic Games.

Attending the games, and pictured left to right above, were Grizzlies Alex Jessup, Ryan Kastl, Aran Parker, captain Ed Fayette, and former captain Josh Anfinson. Despite some difficulty adjusting to the "minimal contact" nature of Gaelic Football, the Griz grasped the game (and it's awkward volleyball shaped footy) rapidly, and quickly stood out among their fellow players.

A big thanks to the boys at the Seattle Gaels (www.seattlegaels.com) for having us out once again, we look forward to smashing up their opponents with them again next year, and wish them best of luck at the GAA Finals later this year.

Winkler/Choate - who is the biggest loser?

Matt Muller

At our first MetroFooty game on Saturday night, a pair of scales appeared at the end of the game and soon after Winkler was down to his lime green jocks. It was definitely a cool night and Aran showed (or not?) that it was.

Dan Choate and Aran Winkler are great mates and have made a bet that one of them will be a bigger loser (of weight) than the other by the May 28th MetroFooty game. The winner will win a grand total of $1 from the opponent.

Weights from Saturdays weigh in were:
Choate - 232.4 lbs
Winkler - 219.4 lbs

Ryan Kastl makes Revo squad

Matt Muller

Congratulations to Ryan Kastl, who has been selected as part of the 29 man "US Revolution" squad heading to Australia in August for the 2011 International Cup. Ryan has worked extremely hard over the last couple of years to get to where he is today and we wish him all the best. Stay tuned for details on fundraising events we'll be putting together to help Ryan pay for the trip. We're sure Ryan will do his country and the Grizzlies proud.

More details at:
http://www.usafl.com/node/18754

2011 footy season begins in 3 weeks!

Matt Muller

The 2011 Seattle Grizzlies season is only 3 weeks away. Time to dust off your boots and start your running!

Training
Training dates have been added to the website. We'll be training on 4 Saturdays, starting on March 19th at 9:30am in Greenlake before moving to our regular Tuesday or Thursday nights depending on when our MetroFooty game is.

MetroFooty
Thanks to Stearnsy again for getting all of our MetroFooty dates squared away with the City of Burien. We tried to keep a similar format to last year, with Monday or Friday games every 10 days through end of June, with a break in July and then more footy in August and September as we lead up to Nationals. Unfortunately early season Friday nights were not available so we will be playing a few MetroFooty games at 5pm on Saturday afternoons. Dates are on the web and below.

Season Kick Off Event - Saturday April 9th at 6pm sharp
In previous years we've had a MetroFooty Draft Day to kick off the season. This year we'll be kicking off the 2011 Season with a friendly competition amongst grizzlies players, supporters, wives, girlfriends, etc at the local Seattle Curling Club.

Curling starts at 6pm sharp. $40 per person regardless of whether you are curling or not. (some special exceptions). $40 will cover the cost of Curling for 4 hours, beer, wine and food. More details to come.

Start organizing your teams of four and RSVP below now!

Find out more about Curling here:
www.curlingseattle.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3U5tj7ldds

18-a-side Games
We had some great feedback from our 2010 season that we did not commit to enough 18-a-side games prior to Nationals. For 2011 we hope to play at least five 18-a-side games against Portland, Vancouver and San Diego in August/September as we get ready for Nationals.

Away Trips
The 2011 Nationals are in Austin, Texas on October 8/9. In the lead up to the Nationals we will be travelling to San Diego the weekend of August 6/7. San Diego flew to Seattle in 2009, so this will be our return trip to them. More details to come but start saving your $'s.

MetroFooty Schedule
Saturday, April 16 @ 5pm - Metrofooty 1 in Burien
Monday, April 25 @ 7:30pm - Metrofooty 2 in Burien
Saturday, May 7 @ 5pm - Metrofooty 3 in Burien
Monday, May 16 @ 7:30pm - Metrofooty 4 in Burien
Saturday, May 28 @ 5pm - Metrofooty 5 in Burien
Monday, June 6 @ 7pm - Metrofooty 6 in Burien
Saturday, June 18 @ 5pm - Metrofooty 7 in Burien
Friday, July 29 @ 7pm - Metrofooty 8 in Burien
Friday, August 19 @ 7pm - Metrofooty 9 in Burien
Friday, September 9 @ 7pm - Metrofooty 10 in Burien
Friday, September 22 @ 7pm - Metrofooty 11 in Burien

18-a-side Schedule
June 25 - Portland Tournament
August 6/7 - at San Diego
August 13 - Portland at Seattle
August 27 - vs Portland in Chehalis
September 17 - vs Vancouver team(s) in Seattle
October 8/9 - Nationals in Austin, TX

Full Schedule

Click to enlarge

Seattle GF Night featured on "Stateside Footy"

Matt Muller

Footage shot by our very own Jeff "Fingers" Purcell is featured on "Stateside Footy". It begins at about 26:45 into the video below:

Australia Day Event - January 22nd

Matt Muller

As part of the Seattle Australia Day event at Seattle Center the Grizzlies will be conducting a number of kids footy clinics. Come join in on the festivities. The Public daytime event from 10am - 6pm is FREE.

Seattle Australia Day
January 22nd 2010
Seattle Center, Fisher Pavilion
A lot more info at www.aussieinseattle.com

Public day event - 10am-6pm
• Free access, open to the public
• BBQ & Cake Competition
• Kids Activities (jumping castles, crafts, face painting, footy demonstration, etc)
• Bands/music
• Beer & Wine garden with Australian beverages
• Food
• Raffle

The Nighttime Event
QLD Relief Fundraiser - 30% of food sales will go towards the fund.
Jan 22nd Seattle Center – Fisher Pavilion

The cost is $30 which includes free light food until 7.30pm and 4 live music performances.

There will be a bar selling only Australian Beer and Wine!

Great Australian Music will be performed throughout the night by various Aussie and local musicians. American singer, Hank Cramer, will bring some traditional Aussie Country and Folk classics, Down Under Cover will deliver the Aussie rock classics, Sabriena Simon & Ace will give us the Aussie blues and roots classics, and rumor has it that the evening may end with some ACDC classics – which may get a little rowdy!
Tickets can be bought here on Shindigg

Seattle Grizzlies on Evening Magazine

Matt Muller

The Seattle Grizzlies were featured on Evening Magazine on Monday September 20th. You can watch the story here:

If you're interested in playing Aussie Rules, please contact us:
http://www.seattlefooty.com/ContentPages/ContactUs.aspx

If you're just interested in supporting the Grizzlies you can sign up for our supporter email list here:
http://www.seattlefooty.com/ContentPages/Supporters.aspx

And if you want to see how the pro's play it in Australia, our "Superbowl" which is called the "Grand Final" will be live from Australia this Friday night at 9:30pm (doors at 6pm) at the Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub:
http://www.seattlefooty.com/Events/View.aspx?EventId=159

Zach Johns Update - August 28th

Zach Johns

Just a final update on footy in Perth.

We made the finals in the 3's 4's and 5's of amateur footy in Perth. I played with the 4's. We just barely reached the finals on the final game of the regular season loosing by two points. We had a 7 point cushion we could lose by as it went to percentage if we lost.

Unfortunately we lost in week one of the finals. We played a strong team and were dominated on all areas of the oval.

It was good fun running with the amateur club CBC Fremantle. As for now, I look forward to returning to Seattle and joining up with the Grizzlies shortly. See you all soon.

Zach Johns Update - July 29th

Zach Johns

Yo fellow Grizzlies.

Just a quick update on footy here in Perth.... It's been an interesting ride here as far as footy goes. I trained with five teams since Nov. The majority of that time was with Claremont (Nov to Feb). I trained with another WAFL club for about a week, but it didn't work out there. My stint with Boddington was short lived. I played one game there and decided it wasn't worth it to drive down into the country several days a week for a team i didn't feel committed to.

So i ended up joining an amateur club through a friend of mine in Perth called CBC Fremantle. The amateur system is run different here in AU compared to things in the states. Basically an area within the city will have a club. This club depending on depth of players, previous years performance, and numbers will have a certain amount of teams divided into grades with A (1's) being the highest level. Our club has 7 sides including two colt teams (18 and under). I've played with the 3's and the 4's since joining the club maybe 10 weeks ago. I've settled on the 4's side. I play in the middle the entire game and do well so I am happy at this level.

The guys are all in there 20's and are pretty fit and tough for the most part. So it's a good level for me and the guys work hard and are passionate about their footy.

So we have won seven straight games in the 4's and have two weeks left before finals begin. The top 6 teams advance to the finals out of 15 teams. We are currently 4th with a bye this week. With a win in two weeks we will advance to the finals. We are playing well so it looks like we will have a good run in the finals and maybe even a crack at winning a flag.

If you are "keen", here's a link to WAAFL (amateur footy in WA). You can check out the amateur system and results.

http://www.wafootball.com.au/waafl/fixtures-and-results

Best,
Zach

Seattle Invitational Tournament

Matt Muller

Our annual invitational tournament is this weekend in Issaquah. There will be some great quality footy. Vancouver were the Division 1 National Champs in 2008 and Seattle were the 2009 Division 1 runners up after winning the Division 2 National Championships in 2008. Hope to see a lot of supporters there.

Schedule:
1:30pm - Portland v Eagles/Bayhawks
2:30pm - Seattle v Saints/Cougars
3:30pm - Seattle v Eagles/Bayhawks
4:30pm - Portland v Saints/Cougars

Address: Klahanie Park
25099 SE Klahanie Blvd Issaquah WA (Map Link)

More details are here:
http://www.seattlefooty.com/Events/View.aspx?EventId=145

Seattle Grizzlies sign Nintex as a major sponsor

Matt Muller

Seattle Grizzlies sign local Aussie company, Nintex as a major sponsor

The Seattle Grizzlies are pleased to announce that they have signed on Nintex as a major sponsor. Nintex is a global innovator of software products that extend Microsoft SharePoint technology and was founded by a couple of Australians with offices in Seattle. One of the founders, Brett Campbell recently moved to Seattle and discovered the Grizzlies. Originally from Melbourne, Brett and Nintex wanted to support something Australian in the Seattle area, so it was a natural fit.

As part of the deal, the Grizzlies have designed new MetroFooty jumpers with the Nintex logo on them. The jumpers shown below will look familiar, with our regular Grizzlies jumper and a new Away/White version of the jumper that will be used starting in August of this year.

Seattle Invitational Tournament

Matt Muller

We have confirmed our field booking for the Seattle Invitational tournament on June 26th at Klahanie Park in Issaquah.

More details to come on teams attending, but mark it on your calendars now! Field address and details are at:
http://www.seattlefooty.com/Events/view.aspx?Eventid=145

New Day Northwest

Matt Muller

Did you see us on New Day Northwest?

http://www.king5.com/new-day-northwest/Aussie-Footy-Taking-Hold-in-Seattle-94831639.html

As mentioned in the segment, our next game is on Tuesday June 1st in Burien

If you're interested in playing, be sure to contact us or sign up for our supporter email list.

Grizzlies on New Day Northwest - come watch!

Matt Muller

As mentioned a few weeks ago, the Grizzlies will be on New Day Northwest this coming Tuesday, May 25th - the audience needs to be at the studio by 9:15am - taping starts at 10:15am and is done around 11:30am.

Josh, Ryan, Ed, Richo and Rich will be showing off their skills as we tell the Northwest a little bit about the Grizzlies.

If you would like to sit in the audience with a few other Grizzlies, please email newdaytickets@king5.com or call 206-448-3690. The studios are located at 333 Dexter in Seattle. Be sure to wear a Grizzlies t-shirt or footy jumper if you have one!

If you miss the show, the footage will be up on their website within 24 hours:
http://www.king5.com/new-day-northwest

Tigers v Saints Photos from Friday Night

Matt Muller

A big thanks to Jacob Lucas for taking some great shots of Friday nights MetroFooty game.

You can view his handywork here:
http://photos.jflphotography.com/Sports/AussieRules/MetroFooty-4-Tigers-v-Saints/

Grizzlies help out local Tent City

Matt Muller

On Sunday, April 4, a bunch of Grizzlies and Associated Missuses put on a BBQ feed for the homeless men and women of Tent City in Issaquah. A big thanks to all those who put their hand up and got involved, and hopefully learned a little bit about the issues facing the working poor around Seattle.

Patrick, one of the Tent City residents, gave us a tour around their temporary home, which looks a bit like the set of MASH, without the helicopters and camo netting, and Alan Alda.

The Grizzly crew fed close to 100 people, most of them fellas, with a few snags left over for Pedro.

Those people who made the commitment to help out not only gave up their Sunday evening but also paid for the food they provided, so it really was a great effort. Shows what we can do on a bigger scale when we all pitch in a little. Peely's fruit salad even had strawberries in it, which was pretty sensational. Iron Chef award goes to Deborah, however, for her remarkable ANZAC biscuits.

I have spoken with a lot of the people from Tent City since the barbie, and they were really appreciative that we did something different for them, rather than just dropping off 10 trays of meatloaf. Only 11 people were hospitalized for food-borne illnesses, which I think out of 100 people is a good result. Thanks to Andrew and the K&K for the pork sausages.
Great work people. It is great that, as a club, we are always looking at the bigger picture and willing to help out where we can.

A few pics courtesy of Jono's missus Megan are available at:
http://www.seattlefooty.com/Photos.aspx?Year=&PhotosetId=20

Jake.

Zach Johns - April 12, 2010 update

Zachary Johns

Hey all.

Here is an update I procrastinated on for quite sometime. After a month or so of procrastination i decided to wait for something interesting to happen.

Footy was my primary reason for coming to Australia. My goal was to make the Claremont Tigers squad which is a pretty good squad in a pretty good league...

From Nov and into Febuary i was training with the squad 3 to 4 days a week depending on what the schedule called for. I was prudent for everything and worked hard on the field. There were several stages of cuts made. I made it through the first few and thought I was good to go. I received a call a few hours before our second "scratch match" (scrimmage) asking me to come in and see the coach. The news I received in the coaches office is what i expected after receiving the call. I was cut from the team. I was upset at the timing and also surprised at being cut at that stage. The reason given was due to my kicking. I pleaded a bit with the coach and thought i was being screwed over a bit because of my age, the timing, and being a visitor. I also felt that on the field I would have been an asset to the team. Most of the guys on the team are in there early 20's. I was one of a handful over 25. Two of the guys over 25 played AFL, two were cut, and one was a veteran on the team. The wrong side of 25 and an amateur kick were legitimate reasons looking back on it now.

So I was cut from Claremont but thinking it may be a blessing in disguise as are things like this are quite often. It was nice not to have to go to training anymore. It was stressful wondering if i was going to make the team, working my ass off on the field, and not really enjoying the months of training without competing on the field. Claremont is 3 and 0 as of last weekend smashing the defending champions and the other two teams they have played. It looks like they may win the flag this year. They also have 16 AFL guys on their list which is high number compared to other teams and recent years. This does not mean that 16 play each week, but it is where guys play if they don't get a go with the pro teams similar to minor league baseball, but different???? I may have had a better shot with other teams in the WAFL.

Shortly after being cut another coach from a country club came to see me to talk about playing for his club. I wasn't to keen on it because it is a town called Boddington about two hours outside of Perth. I would have been set up with a job and a place to live, but instead opted to travel down for games along with one day a week of training while being subsidized for traveling. It is a risky drive down to Boddington considering the high chance of hitting a Kangaroo. The road to Boddington runs about 100km through untouched habitat which means many kangaroos.

Week 1 finally happened last Sunday (April 11). I started at Half back flank. The guys are fast, big, and strong with good skills. I got the ball a fair amount of times but struggled to dispose of it efficiently. The game is rough as well. I was involved in several scuffles. Punches were thrown in a few other scuffles. Should be an interesting season. It was the first game I've played in quite a while so I think i can do quite a bit better, but i fell short of my expectations by a mile as well as my coaches i believe. So we will see what happens with all of that. I will send off another update after a few more games. We won the game by a goal and a few points. The other team cut our lead to 4 points with a few minutes left but we closed the deal. Good comp though.

I will continue the footy journey. I will keep you guys in the loop. Hope all is well for everybody. I look forward to hearing how the Griz go this season. Work hard boys. I can't wait for Nationals!

Grizzlies Bootcamp 2010

Ed Fayette

Minister of “Extracurricular Training”, Ian Cleary reports:

Time to get out of the city and get down to some serious training… If you often find yourself reaching for the tissues-don’t even bother; This one is for the boys.

We are heading deep into grizzly country and we might not even be coming back. So grab your tent, your sleeping bag and your sense of adventure and set the weekend of May 15^th aside, as this is the one you don’t want to miss.

A full schedule of intense training has been set aside to launch us into what is surely gonna be a big year for the Grizz, starting at 9.00 am Saturday with a guided trail run through the newly built Olympic adventure trail, a skills session/scratch match will follow in the afternoon. We’ll round out Saturday night with a bit of celebration for those grizzlies headed into wedded bliss this summer (congrats Jeff, Josh, Tim, and Ed)

All hangovers will be brushed aside come 9am Sunday morning as the training program resumes with a light jog/polar bear swim around majestic Lake Crescent.

To get more detail and register for the camp check out the evite at http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?event=ZGXVPVGHBHAIQUSRHLVP