News — Club News

Saturday night’s, night of nights was a spectacular event, pinned by the announcement of the Life Membership Award to none other than Big, Bad Al MacGlashan!  A well deserved award and it was fantastic to see a lot of the past players, coaches and committee men to witness the presentation, and also to add a few words of encouragement.  In fact we should turn it into an annual ‘roast’.  Great to see so many of you out in force, and thanks to Four Corners Tavern Group for looking after us as usual.  Kate and her team did a wonderful job at the SideBar Grill.  The club also topped $10K donated to Lukemia & Lymphoma, Club Treasurer presented another $1,500 Saturday to add to the cause.

Congrats to the following 2012 award winners:

Rich Noty Award – Eric Zukowski
Oxford Landing Coaches Award – Nolan Schmelzer
Athletico Most Improved Award – Keith Campion
MacGlashan Medal (Leading Goal Kicker) – Paul Meyer
Warwick Burgmann Medal (Metro MVP) – Nolan Schmelzer
Qantas Medal (Club MVP) – Russ Adams

The Chicago Swans have taken out divvy 3 at the USAFL Nationals competition in Mason, OH.  After defeating New York, Florida and Sacramento on the road to the final, Chicago battled the Columbus Jackaroo’s to lift the cup.

Final Scores:

vs New York 6.12 (48) to 0.1 (1)
vs Sacramento 6.4 (40) to 3.1 (19)
vs Florida 5.7 (37) to 3.7 (25)

vs Columbus 4.7 (31) to 3.4 (22)

Chicago and Nashville are the titans of the central United States with a long and storied history, just like our professional counterparts in Australia, the Sydney Swans and the North Melbourne Kangaroos. Both USAFL Clubs have been an integral part of the growth of Football in the Central region, and in 2012, that rivalry is set to continue in a big way with the inaugural Wayne Schwass Cup on August 11.

Since 1998 Chicago and Nashville have played at least once every year, with Chicago holding the advantage of 9 wins to Nashville’s 8. Of the 12 MAAFL Championships, Chicago holds 4 titles and Nashville holds 3. Chicago is 6-0 in Chicago, Nashville is 5-1 in Nashville. The remaining games are on neutral grounds (such as the national championship tournaments).

This week the Roos travel north to continue that rivalry, but this time the stakes are very different. With both clubs strengthening their relationship with their professional namesakes back home, 2012 marks the inaugural Wayne Schwass Cup which Chicago and Nashville will now battle it out for every time they meet.

Wayne Schwass played 282 games for North Melbourne and Sydney from 1988-2002 and averaged over 21 possessions per game throughout his stellar career. Playing on the Wing, he was known for his blistering place and courage. His record speaks for itself, winning Best and Fairest Awards at both clubs, representing the State of Victoria 3 times and being named to the All Australian Team in 1999. He is a Premiership player with the Roos in 1996 (against the Swans) and was named to North Melbourne’s Team of the Century. Not only does this make him a great candidate to not only honor this Cup after and continue the Swans/Roos rivalry here and in the States, it’s his work since then that is just as impressive.

“Schwatta” was born in New Zealand, making him one of the very few who were born overseas to succeed at the highest level in Aussie Rules Football. He has since forged a name for himself as a highly respected Australian AFL media identity on TV, radio and in print with Triple M, Fox Sports and the Herald Sun. He commentated the International Cup in 2005 (NZ took the title that year), and helped found the Sunrise Foundation which supports those suffering from depression after his own experiences as a professional athlete.

So as the Swans/Roos rivalry grows here in the US, we’re proud to honor Wayne Schwass and his contribution to the sport of Australian Rules, to North Melbourne and Sydney respectively, and to the great work he performs through his foundation.

Chicago will be unveiling its brand new jumpers this weekend, at which time the Chicago United name is being retired, and the Chicago Swans will rise like a phoenix. With jumpers donated by North Melbourne being worn by Nashville, it’s the Swannies taking on the Roos USAFL style.

So with Nashville in strong form, and Chicago always strong on home turf rest assured it’ll be a tough match and the footy will do the talking. Stay tuned for the result as both Clubs look to add more silverware to their trophy room.

Check what Wyane Schwass said about the Wayne Schwass Cup here.

Thee opening weekend of our football season saw us set sail South down the picturesque 65 to Louisville for Kings of Louisville tournament between Nashville Kangaroos, Columbus Jackaroos, Ohio Valley River Rats & a mix up of the spares and a new team from Cleveland.

Some of the boys loitered overnight in Indianapolis; a few others couldn’t drive past the birthplace of John Cougar Mellancamp and set up camp in Seymour, IN. On paper the squad of 22 heading down looked really solid; which also included a number of star recruits donning the Chicago jersey for the first time. Congrats to those boys, Russ, Dennis, Xavier & Toby.

The scene was set on a sunny 70 odd degree day, with three quarter size grounds and 14 a side format proposed. Upon our arrival, we were informed that only 4 teams would play, with the lads from Cleveland not having enough players to make the trip.

So the schedule was set, Chicago Swans V Columbus Jackaroos and the Nashville Kangaroos V Ohio Valley River Rats. We ended up playing a full game against the Jackaroos, a game they were desperate to win, having never beaten Chicago previously. Chicago knew the Jacks would come out firing, and really took the game up to us. In a game where Chicago never really threatened saw Columbus ultimately run out winners by 5 points.

A good tough hit out first up, from a team that had been nipping at our heels for a while now. Led well by a solid defense and an excellent game from one if the best center half forwards in the game.

That said, considering it was our first game of the season, and with blokes like Ponyboy sunning himself in WA, regular full back Hoyty plucking a few notes at some dive bar in Chi-town and ‘Big Bad’ Al McGlashan preserving his last hurrah for a home game, the boys needed to pick up the slack and fill the holes.

There were indeed some promising signs of good things to come from new recruit Russ, working his way around the ground in a tireless performance. Since defecting from Milwaukee a couple back, Pat Defors has become a rock solid defender for Chicago. And a big improver, who could make a push for this year’s MVP award, Jayson Schmelzer was in and under everything on Saturday. There were signs shown yesterday that Jays might be useful as a pinch hit midfielder in the future.

The second game was played in Nationals format, with 20 minute halves. Once again we battled hard in tough conditions; We really let ourselves down in the second quarter kicking 6 behinds. While the work rate was pleasing, we can’t allow teams to get four goals ahead and expect to peg them back later in the game. We did eventually run out of legs in the last few minutes of the game, however were still a chance to take the win with 90 seconds to go.

Solid efforts by newcomer’s Russ Adams and Toby Patterson, and regulars, Dave Fitzpatrick, Frank Bradley, Josh Edwards & Mike Panek gave us a lot of drive from their respective positions on the field.

After a grueling four session boot camp at LA Boxing and a few outdoor training sessions down at the lakefront, the footy season is ready to kick off. The first real hit-out of the season will be in Louisville, KY on April 28th.  This will be a tournament between a number of teams from the mid-west and will be a good warm up for the blockbuster against New York at home the week after.

To prepare for the Kentucky trip, the first round of “metro” footy was converted into an intra-club scratch match. With brand new goal posts spiking out of the Waveland fields, over 30 players took the field for the first game of the season. Those travelling to Louisville vs those staying at home, the final result had the travelers the victors but inaccurate kicking kept the contest tight.

Final Score:

Goals:

United: Oscar 4, Crackers, Xavier 1
Tigers: GG 2, Keith, Joe, Sars, Nolan S 1

At first, I bet Jason Wilhelm never imagined that after playing less than two years of footy (Australian Rules Football) that he would be motivated enough to move to Australia. For Jason (aka “Ponyboy”), footy started out as a way to absorb some free time… simply “something to do”. This kid from Cleveland probably never realized by showing up to a random Tuesday training session, that not only would he come out loving the game of Footy; but that he would make as many friends as he did.

A latecomer to Australian Football with a background in swimming, Wilhelm joined the Chicago Australian Football Association in April of 2010 as the rookie ruckman for the Lincoln Square Tigers. He started to establish himself as one of the football league’s elite ruckmen with regular standout performances. It wasn’t much later that his appreciation of the club was noticed; playing in as many games as he could with as much involvement in the social activities as possible. For Jason, Chicago Footy was more than just a game. Cleveland is Jason’s home and he didn’t have many friends in Chicago before coming here. Winning the Runaway Train Award in 2011 doing so, he has attended almost every function that the club offered and now he can link most friends in Chicago to some Footy connection.

“Probably the single best decision I made was to listen to Billy Ulhman and come to training one lonely Tuesday” – Jason.

Now, with his family and friends awaiting his return, he’s off to Australia to play Footy for 8 months. He has worked hard on his kicking action and believes getting some consistency in his technique will hold him in good stead for the future. So, why not learn in Australia?  Because of the Chicago club’s connections, Pony Boy has an opportunity to play for GinGin Eagles… spending the next 8 months petting kangaroos, watching cricket matches, eating Vegemite and playing footy.  We wish him all the luck in the world!