Advent Photo #09 Story

'Story'
   Well, this is a terrible photo, taken in a rush to make the deadline for the ABC radio Photo Comp [the deadline for which was unfairly extended anyhow]... BUT, this is a picture of me outside the newly redeveloped No2 Sportsground in Newcastle. It's now a stunning venue with rectangular field and new grandstand, blue room and bar etc. This last week it played host to the Asia Pacific Special Olympics Soccer!!
   I was standing there thinking back over 25 or so years of Rugby Union and fond memories of the old ground and it's connections with history, match of the day and so on...
   One thing I miss since rupturing both kneecap tendons in 2003 was that 'one more chance to run out onto No2'!! My story is that I love that game, found a 'home' in playing ot alongside cricket and some of my best memories of sport and comraderie are from the teams I played in and coached [or both] and the success and fun we had. It was almost as good seeing others do likewise in their respective teams. The 1993 1st XV were a team of legends who finally cracked it with a few missing pieces of the puzzle together that year...
   Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes, it's chess with aggression and brings skills and tactics to the fore... you need an ounce of luck but you gain it from the small percentage things you do well and the challenge in trying to play the perfect game... well, what an idealist would consider the perfect game.
   This is all part of my story, the story I place alongside the story we reflect on in Advent, the story that gives meaning and definition to all my endeavours... a story of world changing values, history and the call to follow...