Footy!!

So, a few months ago a friend of mine at work sent out an email and asked some girls if they wanted to play a sport called "footy". I had no idea what it was, but I was searching for an extra-curricular activity to keep me busy and maybe waste some of my infinite supply of energy. The first night of practice I went with 2 other girls with the intent to just "watch" and see how it was played. The coach convinced us to play and now I'm hooked!

Here is the gist of the sport:

• Australian Rules Football (also "Aussie Rules" or "footy") is a physical contact sport. It is a form of football with roots traceable from early forms of Rugby and Gaelic football, but it is uniquely Australian. Its rules were codified in 1858, and probably predate all other modern forms of football.
• The primary aim of the game is to score goals by kicking the ball between the middle two posts of the opposing goal. The winner is the team who has the higher total score at the end of the fourth quarter.
• Players may use any part of their body to advance the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are restrictions on how the ball can be handled, for example, players running with the ball must intermittently bounce or touch it on the ground (at least once every 15 meters), throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball.
• Australian rules is a contact sport in which players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents.

It can be a pretty aggressive/brutal game. I've had jammed fingers, scratched up knees and a bunch of bruises, but it's well worth it! It looks like of chaotic when you're watching it because there are lots of random rules.

Here are some pics from a recent game:

This is me about to get tackled.