Wednesday 14th May.  An even bigger turnout this week, and special welcome to first timer Beth.  This must be a near record attendance with almost enough players for three full teams.   So after warm ups it was 3 x 15 minute matches with Red vs Blue vs Resting.  Special thanks to those on the Resting team who doubled as out of bounds ball chasers.   Our defensive skills must be flourishing as I can only recall 1 x Red goal and 1 x Blue goal across all three matches.  Coach says we all need to focus on calling out to each other: " Next week I don't want to be able to hear myself speak! ".   We had a team coffee meeting after the match to discuss the possibility of extending our weekly sessions from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.  Stay tuned for details.

 Wednesday 7th May.  We had a big turnout this week, welcome back Alan & Janette.  Did you know that on this day in 1840 the famous Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born?  His music for ballets are perennial favourites: Nutcracker, Swan Lake , and Sleeping Beauty.   After warm ups, Coach Hugh took us through some defensive drills, getting the backline to move in unison like a flock of Swans on a Lake when approaching an incoming attacker.   For match play it was Red vs Blue, 6 a side plus a floater.   There were no Sleeping Beauties in this very competitive match up, and despite a few Nutsings, those defensive drills definitively paid off with a low scoring 2 all 2 draw.

 Wednesday 30th April.  We had a good turnout today, with twelve ready, willing, and able players including a first timer - welcome Gengis!  We played the classic game: six a side with rotating goalkeepers, Red v Blue.   The first half was a vigorous hard fought battle, with Da KonMan starring for the Blues.   One.   Two.   Three.  Three goals from three attempts - 100% accuracy!   Da KonMan for Prime Minister!! (Wait, what just happened on the weekend???)   However, the Reds did not lose heart in the face of this surprising onslaught, and countered with a goal from Baz, and two from our new player Gengis, to level the match score at 3 all.   Another great game, well played everyone.

Wednesday 23rd April.  They tell me that you can split an atom into two , but no matter which way you try to   slice and dice it, you can't create two even teams from just seven players.   So we did the next best thing and played four against three until the four team scored a goal, when El Presidente quickly swapped bibs and made it three against four until the newly augmented four team scored a goal, then rinse and repeat. What an innovative solution!   The three team gained excellent practice in defensive skills, and the four team had much needed passing practice in a possession game.   Scoreline: 4:3 wait, no, it was 3:4.

  Wednesday 16th April Once again we are back indoors at the Pelicans' Nest (aka Altona Sports Centre ).   School holidays have depleted our numbers so it was down to 5 a side, no goalie, scoring shots from the forward half only, and hit the cones to score a goal. To save on the bib laundry, it was Uniforms vs Plain Clothes, with a special guest appearance for the Plain Clothes in the second half by Yvanna showing off her fancy footwork in her second match after a stunning debut appearance at the Broadmeadows tournament last Friday.

 Friday 11th April - World Parkinson's Day 8 Pelicans left the nest bright and early to sally forth up the M80 Ring Road to participate in a tournament at the Broadmeadows Aquatic and Leisure Centre.   Arranged by WalkingFootball 4 Health Victoria , the tournament's purpose was to raise awareness of Parkinson's disease, and half our entry fees were donated to the Shake It Up Foundation , a not for profit organisation established in 2011 to promote and fund research into Parkinson's disease in Australia.   Visiting dignitaries including the mayor of Hume City Council, and the state Member of Parliament kicked off proceedings with a series of speeches. We faced an arduous draw, with back to back matches against a strong Sunbury team, followed immediately by a determined team all the way from Beechworth.   They were so impressed with Stephen's goal keeping against them that they drafted him to be goalie for their next match too.   Lunch passed all too quickly...