footbag.org

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

The Australian Footbag Championships will be held from Feb 13 to feb 16. Contact the Melbourne Footbag Club for more details or go to www.ausfootbag.org

Already the event is building up. Yesterday Ales Zelinka arrived from Praque. He was awesome to kick with. Hitting Nemesis first attempt on demand, and also hitting some awesome runs. We then took him to a classical music concert, and had a good chat on the way about what things are like in Prague and politics and all kinds of things. It is good too, that the three of us that were with him could all talk about classical music (especially J.S. Bach) - Dan and Jon were with me, and they are both really into classical music as well. I am not as much - but have learnt a lot about it and also listened to it a lot. I am also a big fan of J.S. Bach so that pleased Ales to no end!

It's amazing that he is so concerned about his style - yet has, in my opinion, the best style in the world. He also said he liked my style, which was a massive compliment, and gave me props when I hit a nice run starting with your mom.

He was very excited to be in Australia and was taking photos of everything. He also wants to visit a desert. He did get very sunburnt yesterday. I told him to put on sunscreen - but he only put it on his forhead and arms below the elbow. Everywhere else got burnt.

I'm so rapped that he's here, and that he's so easy to talk to - I knew he was good at footbag, but wasn't so concerned about how he played so long as he didn't keep to himself, steal stuff and sleep with the girlfriend of anyone he stays with. He's heaps smaller than I thought too. Phat Matt Baker told me he was about six foot tall (but I guess Matt's about 6.5 so everyone is short to him).

Today we are taking him to the St Kilda Festival, which is a huge street festival (average attendance 300,000 people). We will play all day and do some busking. The weather report said it would be up to 38c (100.4 f), but at the moment (9:00 am) it is overcast and only about 20c (68 f).

I will make this a bit of diary of the leading up to, and after the tournament. I will also get Ales to post about what he thinks of Australia, and whatever else he wants when he is staying at my place in 4 or 5 days time.

Feel free to comment.

[Gareth Williams (Kiser_Tobias)]

The Queensland contingent is pumped. Both Adam Fox and Myself have totally increased our amount of play in preperation for the Championships in the hope that we might just look somewhat okish.
With no doubt that we will be totally blown away with the whole level of play, I know that we'll be picking up heeps. With the championships in Feb, I can see this is going to be one hell of a year for me and footbag.

[Max Kerkhoff (max.kerkhoff)]

i just got a very funny email from my girlfriend - she is in melbourne till today - she said that yesterday, she saw some people shredding at fed square ...they were all good, but one of 'em was outstanding, he wore a shirt of the finnish team - i had to laugh out loud, knowing that ales is kinda obsessed with finland and wears his team finland shirt all the time ... jeremy, i think it is really funny that she must have seen you, but didn't know yet, that we'll be probably staying with you! this world is so small! (i actually don't know whether this phrase is as common in english as it is in german) looking forward to australian sun and shred! have fun at the tourney! max

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

Yeah, that's cool! We have that expression too! She should have come and said hello!

Yesterday was awesome. The temperature was about 100 degrees Farhenheit but then a cool change came at around 3pm. We kicked well. Ales hit blurrywhirl>blurrywhirl>blurriest>bedwetter>pixie parradon>ps whirl>mobius. Which is his record for fearlessness he thinks, but hasn't ever tried to go fearless. Earlier in the day I had asked what his record is, so he pulled that out on demand (first attempt). He and I also went swimming at St Kilda Beach - but were too afraid to put our heads under the water (it was pretty dirty!). We also gave him a meat pie with Sauce. We are hard pressed to find Australian food. Dan was going to give him some Vegimite, but I don't know how that turned out. Later we kicked at flinders st and just drilled stuff. Ales is making me drill my weak pixie, which is good!

At the St Kilda festival Lynton hardly kicked and then went home to get his lavers and stopped to watch the cricket (Australia scored 359 in a one day game against india) so never came back.

Today I also feature in the Age, with a very cool picture and story here although the picture at this site isn't as good as the one in the paper.

Oh we've been filming some of this stuff too, so hopefully we'll get it on the net soonish!

[Scott Stevens (pill)]

wow that's a phat combo!! that's great that you got in the paper for footbag!! i wish papers around here would do a footbag article

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

I thought my training sessions were disciplined until yesterday. We played at Flinders St station again - Just Dan, Ales and I and just drilled stuff. Ales thinks that basically everything I do needs work (except some of my strong side stuff and my atomic sets). I drilled drifters, dlos, switch overs, toe stalls, clippers, butterflys and stepping stuff. My left toe shakes when I toe stall - possible from my ankle injury, but we're working on it. Ales drilled swirls for like an hour. Also pixies, stepping, eggbeaters and diving/ducking. Dan drilled mainly whirls and a few other things.

Ales also ate vegimite for the first time last night, and liked it - but doesn't really understand why we like it so much. Dan made the good point, that maybe we don't like it as much as we act, but are just patriotic about it. We gave it to him on bread, rather than making the mistake so many people make of just giving him a tiny bit on a spoon. Only Australians eat vegimite from the jar, and that's only after years of training!

Today I think Dan is taking Ales on a small drive past Geelong along the coast. Tomorrow Ales is coming to stay at my place (provided I can get my bed...) stress stress stress. The comp is nearly here and I still don't have a routine... I might just improv something! I don't feel like I have any pressure on me anyway - I'm pretty sure of my result, and feel any pressure from those below, or feel that I can beat those above. Jeremy to finish 5th in routines or 4th if Lynton doesn't compete. Shred and sick 3 are my events where I can get a good result if I perform well (aiming for 4th in shred and 3rd in sick 3 minimum!)

[Ian Pritchard (chopper)]

wow do u reckon i could get in on one of these schooling sessions? Ales will have a field day telling me whats wrong with my game
just gotta preserve the legs at this point...

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

Well I've been a bit lazy with posts.

On tuesday Dan took Ales on a trip to the forest. Ales thought he might have scared a kangaroo away, but didn't actually see it. It sounded like he had fun.

We had a massive kick on Wednesday. Lynton kicked seriously for the first time since his ankle injury and hit some nice stuff. Rasmus>assassin>phoenix>blurriest was probably the highlight. Also atomic warrior>superfly. Ales hit my favourite combo of blurry drifter>superfly on both sides. I learnt fairy sets and also weak side shooting, it is now stronger than my former strong side. Brendan just said "try it pogo atomic" and I hit weak shooting butterfly first attempt after that.

Ian also arrived on Wednesday at about 1pm.

After kicking Scott drove Ales, Ian and I to a house I used to live at to get a mattress. It turned out that it wouldn't fit in Scott's car so Ales and I carried to a train station and took it home. We got some strange looks...

I also had a chat to a guy who saw my interview in the paper and wanted to make some kind of dvd about us (or me).

A someone also left a tent behind at the kick. We don't know who it was, but if they want it back - send me an email!!

Today (or yesterday, since it is now tomorrow, err on Thursday) Richard arrived. Ales, Ian and I slept in and were worried that he would be waiting for an hour for us. Luckily Richard was held up for over an hour at customs and we were hardly late at all. We had a small kick - my legs were sore and I just drilled stuff, and then went home. We did a monster shop and then went and kicked with the Adelaid girls and Norman. Ales was kicking super well, despite forgetting his shorts. I hit a few nice things. Ian was hitting big runs too. Ales then got annoyed about lots of things and we went home. Not before Katrina gave me a copy of the Rage Against the Machine Killing in the Name single. That is soooooo cool. Thanks Katrina - You rock!!

There is currently Richard, Ian and Ales staying at my place also my housemates - derrick and Andy, and Derrick's girlfriend Bree. So that makes 7 of us in a three bedroom house.

I got super stressed when Lynton called me to ask if Dylan was in Melbourne yet. Luckily he is arriving tomorrow. Then for some reason my land line phone died. Ales has now gone to bed and we will follow soon!

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

So on Friday we met the rest of the competitors at Federation square and then went and kicked at the Magic Circle. Everyone was taking it easy. Ales was skooling easy stuff, but did hit a superduperfly on demand for Lynton. We then went home showered, and went out for dinner at Thai City. Yours truely ordered the "Chick with honey sauce" and was a little disapointed that the sauce was not as sweet as I had been hoping!

Then we went out to a pool hall and played pool. I was in my usual crap form. Ales started really bad but made the most amazing progress and won all his games I think. Norman was a fucking shark and sunk everything, except for when he asked us which pocket to sink the ball in! Matt Baker arrived and then Brendan and I lost our undefeated crown from the East Coast Champs at fussball. Ales was a gun and kicked everyone's arse. Yours truely then fucked up majorly... and although I'm unwilling to say how, I know.

Matt then drove Ales, Richard, Ian, myself and Caroline home in a very small car.

Today was rather stressful with everyone at my house being late. We had heats for everything today. Intemidate routines were first. Ian was the best, but Kenny was a big surprise. Scott did not look like retaining his crown. Dan then "injured" his ankle and will not compete at all. Open routines were good with the top three being Ales, Johnny Murphey, Myself. Lynton is a wildcard entry since he had to work all day.

Intem sick 3 was next. A few nice combos were hit although I can't remember them all. Dylan hit whirl>butterfly>whirl and something harder. Scott hit butterfly>pdx mirage>pixie butterfly. Cameron hit atw>squeeze>atw!

The open sick 3 was a little dissapointing for me, but ok anyway. Ales qualified first with blurry whirl>blurriest>bedwetter (although he didn't like the form...) and also tatw>toe whirl>butterlfy. Johnny Murphey qualified second with Blurry whirl>ps whirl>spinning whirl and pixie warrior>matador>pdx blender. I was third with blur>pixie butterfly>blurriest - hit on my second last attempt - having failed to hit any of the combos that I wanted to hit and needing to get something on the board.

Shred 30 was ok, although I was again dissapointed. Ales qualified first with a score of 171, Johnny M second with 160 and myself third with 108. We then went and kicked. Some highlights were pixie warrior>matador>blurry whirl>ps whirl>spinning whirl>scorpion's tail>pdx blender from Johnny Murphey. Bedwetter>triple over down and ps whirl>superfly>whirlwind in the same run from Ales. We went out for pizza and then had a night shred. Matt leant that scotch and slurpy doesn't work well. Lynton kicked ok. Ales hit fog>triple over down. Murphey hit alpine matador. Ales tried to hit Merkon>your mom and Johnny tried to hit the sickest (litrally) combo ever of 69>merkon. Then Ales, Johnny, Ian and Richard went home to my place and had some slurpy's and aussie meat pies and watched the footage. Adam was kicking well too it turns out.

Oh and Harvey turned up and did a routine!!

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

Oh and Ales hit symposium whirling swirling mirage. He also threw sugar at the waiter when we got pizza.

[Jeremy OWheel (owheelj)]

Ok, well firstly here are the results. These are unofficial - only because I don't have them written down, so it's possible I'll make a mistake somewhere.

Open Shred 30
1. Ales Zelinka- 160
2. Johnny Murphy - 130
3. Jeremy O'Wheel - 95 (Australian Winner)

Open Sick 3
1. Johnny Murphey - matador>blurry whirl>mullet
2. Ales Zelinka - blurry whirl>blurriest>bedwetter
3. Lynton Stephens - Atomic warrior>blurriest>whirling swirl (Australian Winner)

Open Routine
1. Ales Zelinka
2. Johnny Murphey
3. Lynton Stephens (Australian Winner)
=. Jeremy O'Wheel (Australian Winner)

Intermediate Sick 3
1. Ian Pritchard - Pixie Butterfly>pdx mirage>parradon
2. Scott Kirchner - Butterfly>pdx mirage>pixie butterfly
3. Dylan Governer - Smear>butterfly>pdx mirage

Intermediate Routine (1 min 30)
1. Ian Pritchard
2. Garath Williams
3. Scott Kirchner

Thanks You's go to Scott for the time, effort and money he put into the event. Brendan likewise, and also for judging. Forrester Winterburn for sponsorship. Jon Lee for actually turning up and also for judging. Ian, Phil, Dylan, Annabell, Matt, Caroline, Tamara, Katrina, Norman, Garath, Adam, Richard and Johnny for all making the trip. All of the Melbourne Footbag Club. Lynton for his MCing. Lynton and Dan for being able to host people. Anyone else who had anything to do with the event.

It was a great tournament - undoubtably the best Australia has put on. Despite the stress suffered by myself, I had a really good time. I was dissapointed by my performance, and feel like my results are much better than what I deserved. My shred 30 score was about 30 points lower than the last time I did one in September. I hit my very first sick 3 attempt (bs blur>pixie butterfly>blurriest) and then dropped everything else. My routine needed a lot more preperation. I was most impressed with the Intermediate routines - although a little annoyed that only one person actually choreographed something to music (Ian).

After the event we shredded for a while. Garath really badly sprained his ankle trying to hit a mirage down four steps. Then we went and played park cricket - Ales took the catch of the day, but might need a little more work on his batting and bowling. We had a bbq and some drinks by the Yarra. Also burnt all my leg hairs off playing with a fire footbag.

I got to sleep at sometime shortly after 7am.

[Gareth Williams (Kiser_Tobias)]

You can find the footage of Ales hitting Symp Whirling Swirling Mirage ("Croxton") in the Multimedia section, or just go to the Ausfootbag website and find it under the single tricks section of the Multimedia page

[Gareth Williams (Kiser_Tobias)]

You can also find Ales classic catch from his first over at Cricket on the Ausfootbag website. Over1.mov

[Ben Spink-McCarthy (Spink)]

Thanks for typing all that out dude, sounds like it was a really legendary event. Makes me wish I had of gone really

[Juha Linnanen (pillar)]

Yeah, good job on writing all this, Jeremy. I love reading tournament reports and yours was one with many details. The tournament sounded great too.