On Tuesday 3 March the VFUA held its annual Mini Olympics and this year witnessed the Development boundary umpires secure the Paul Anderson Shield. The weather played its role with the sun out and the night presenting itself beautifully.
The traditional opening event – the 4x 200m relay – started the Olympics with great contest and spirit from all squads. The race nearly saw a three-way dead heat for first with Development Field, Senior Boundary and Development Boundary all jostling together with fifty metres remaining. But it was Development Boundary who snuck home to win a thriller.
Once again the soccer was a big hit for everyone, overall producing some fairly even matches with the Senior field umpires taking out the event.
Senior Boundary tried to set themselves up for an Olympics win by
winning both the push-up and sit-up events, but even after claiming maximum points in these events their younger counterparts held sway. Both competitions saw only minor margins between all squads, with the finish shaping us a close thing.
The throw-in contest got the crowd excited, especially with the coaching panel having a go. Nashy stamped his authority on the event, showing up Boundary coach Vitiritti in the process, nailing two of his three throws. With both Boundary squads failing to hit the target, the Goal and Field umpires produced some sharp throw-ins to show them how it’s done. Development Field took out the event.
The bouncing once again featured the hype of Jake Robertson’s dramatic bouncing style. The crowd was enticed to applaud his approaches and everyone seemed to enjoy it as much as him. However, yet again, Robbo failed to hit the target with his offline attempts.
As the numbers were crunched to get a winner, VFUA President Daniel Butcher presented the Anderson family with flowers and thanked them for their ongoing support to the night. The VFUA is continually privileged to join with them each year to honour the spirit of Paul.
Senior Boundary track representative Lachlan Rayner accepted the 2015 Paul Anderson Shield on behalf
of the squad in Anthony Laughton’s absence.
The VFUA would also like to acknowledge the following:
- · Cam and Angela for allowing the event to be held
- · Kym for running the night
- · The trainers for cooking the BBQ
- · The umpires for their generosity and great spirit
- · The coaches for their assistance in judging and scoring
- · Not least the Anderson family, whose commitment to attend each year makes the event perpetually worthwhile
Results:
- Development Boundary 102.25
- Development Field 97
- Senior Field 91.25
- Senior Boundary 87
- Goal 69.5
