As most people already know the world over, Aussies love their sports. Whether it be playing for fun, fitness, the social aspect, or for many the thrill of competitveness and the joys of winning, sporting competition brings out the best in all of us, and enhances the well-held tradition of 'mateship'.As our bodies age, and our lives take on various challenges, the ability to remain competitive diminishes somewhat, and the time required for training and games can take it's toll. Many Aussies then become the 'armchair' sports fan. I, for one, rarely miss the opportunity to watch my teams slog it out in the football competitions aired on Starhub Ch170.
This brings me to the crux of this article... one would think that living in Singapore would offer little opportunity for Australian sports people who would like to compete at a decent level in 'key' Aussie sporting activities. I have found recently, that this is far from the truth.
Call it what you will - fitness fanatacism, middle-age crisis or perhaps just downright stupidity, I have recently discovered the "Singapore Wombats" and years after retiring, I have once again 'unhung' the football boots and begun training with this very decent-level Australian-Rules football team.
Although the home ground of the Wombats is at CB ANZA Turf City, pre-season training has been going on at the Australian International School (on the rugby oval) each weekend for the last 6 weeks.
Joining this team has done more for me than I could've ever imagined - not only has the training given me an indication of how much work I need to do in order to get back to an appropriate level of fitness, nor has it just been sobering to see the high level of fitness of some of the blokes my age and even much older,.... meeting with a group of real down-to-earth ockers (along with a couple of real nice poms), has reinvigorated the feeling of mateship within, and has made me feel much more at home in Singapore. Instead of speaking 'international english', I can revert to the 'Auslish' and Aussie slang we have all been brought up with... for a few hours each week, it's almost like being back down-under. I'm also very much looking forward to the many social gatherings with family and friends that will be organized by ANZA and the Wombats throughout the season proper.
The Singapore Wombats club was founded in 1993, and has become a major force in the Asian Championships competition, having walked away with the premiership title in 2001, 2005 and 2006.... with the enthusiasm and skill of many of the boys this year, I don't see any reason that we cannot achieve the same result in season 2009. The season proper kicks off on 4th April with our first game.
Anyway, time for me to go and soak in a hot radox bath - I'm really not as young as I used to be... :(
The 2009 sponsors (so far) are as follows:
2 comments:
"International English"??? Oh man, I already had lots of problems with that, if you start speaking Australian I won't understand anything ;)
Don't forget to invite Eric and myself to one of your matches!
Haha - mate, if you heard some of the guys at training today, you'd probably think we were talking in a completely different language than English.
Will invite you guys without a doubt - perhaps we should post it at the FB Singapore cafe and invite all the old 'foodie's' crew. :D
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