The Dreams Of Nations

I have been watching a series of documentaries on the impact of football success and failure on nations, during the lead up to the World Cup - that's the game of soccer that is played by amost every nation in the world, for those americancentric amongst you who believe a world cup can be played by the United States teams only!
It has been interesting to see the social and political impact a sport event can have, especially on countries that are struggling beneath oppresive regimes or economic downturn. Throughout the history of international football the game has been used by both dictators and freedom fighters alike, as a means to gather the masses and to provide a symbol of what they wanted to say.
In Australia over the past few weeks we have seen a groundswell of support and glorification of our team that rivals anything to date, including our Olympic efforts. There is something about the "team" schema that invokes a sense of belonging. We are the Socceroos and they belong to us.
At a time when our multicultural experiment in the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne was in danger of going horribly wrong, the World Cup success of our team has united cosmopolitan suburbia. Football in Australia has historically been played by new immigrants attempting to find something familiar in this strange cultural landscape. Until recently teams have been divided on ethnic lines which unfortunately has prolonged the conflict our new citizens were fleeing from in their old worlds. That was until a huge shake up and reorginising of the game on a national scale four years ago. The ethnic teams gave way to a new national comp with a melting pot of talent. The final result of this was seen in our world defying team.
Although Australia has hit the wall and the euphoria has melted away, the unity and acceptance remains.
Hopefully we will be able to look back in a few years and say that this was the turning point and that we will no longer see our young men involved in the ugly riots we saw last summer.
All power to you boys and thanks for the great ride to the second round!

True Value

What is it that makes something valuable?

There are plenty of answers to that question, depending on your take on life. Commodities in short supply are deemed by commerce as valuable. Items that are very old or have a special history are said to be priceless.

The thing I was thinking about while sitting in church last night, is that the thing that makes us valuable is how much we are loved. I was thinking of my two best mates who's story appears below. To the commodity maket or to a collector they were worthless. The world would have thrown them away. Even my family would have rejected them if I had not loved them. As it was, when my parents saw how much I loved them, even they went out on a limb to protect them. My dog had a habit of biting people she thought were a threat to me, and my riding instructors were often telling my parents to get rid of my horse as he would never take me to the top!

Last night I was reminded that the thing that make us so valuable in this universe is that the Creator of the universe loves us.

Best Mates

As a child growing up on a small vineyard/mixed farm in rural Australia, my best friends were usually the animals that followed me around on a daily basis.

I remember my first dog was a stray that wandered in and stayed. He was a littly pug nosed animal with traits of about five different breeds.

My grandparents lived on the farm next door and bred purebred golden labradoors. My long time best mate Ding can be seen on the right in this picture. She was the result of my little hobo getting in with my grandmother's prize winning labradoor! Because my little dog had been killed on the road a few weeks before Ding's birth she was spared and given to me instead of being destroyed as a mistake.

Ding and I spent every day together, playing among the grape vines, climbing on to the shed roof, and eating almonds! Ding loved grapes and almonds.



My other best mate was one of my horses Midnight. I bought him at a horse sale for thirty dollars. He had been bucket reared as an orphan and was a scrawny little colt that had been destined for the dog meat buyer.
We had a love/hate relationship in which Midnight loved to be a pet but hated to be ridden. In the first few years of our relationship I spent as much time being thrown to the ground as I did staying on his back. Everyone advised me to sell him but were mates and you don't sell your mate!
We eventually came to an arrangement and competed in showjumping and eventing with a little success.



Both my best mates passed away as old animals, still in my care. Ding died the night after my first date with my husband to be, and Midnight as a 27 year old, with his head cradled in my arms for the last few hours of his life.

The thing that made them both my best mates was the fact that they listened to all my ramblings, were with me as I dreamed of things to come, and never told me what I could or couldn't do. They were always there for me, I laughed with them and cried with them.

Touch Football (Rugby)

What would make a 17 year old girl take up touch football and spend time training in a rough and strenuous sport?????

Oh!

No, I don't think it has anything to do with the boys playing Touch!


Well maybe just a little......

After a number of years playing soccer/football at a high level, Sarah took up touch football to keep fit during Summer and to have fun with some of her church youth group friends. She recently tried out for the state Under 18 girls tems and has just returned from a very succesful tournament in New South Wales. After a 14 hour bus trip they played over two days, ending in the semi finals. Another 14 hour trip overnight meant she only had time for a quick shower before heading to school and Year 12 finals. Fortunately her school took pity and sent her home to bed, allowing her to complete assessment tasks the next day.