The Life of an SANFL Footballer

[kia_kaha]

Being an SANFL Footballer is a tough gig, and is definitely not suited for the faint of heart. It takes commitment, more than many people are willing to consign to. Year after year, each club watches players who could’ve made it to the standard of SANFL football, with hard work and determination, walk out there door. These players opt for the easy road. Big bucks in the country are often the downfall of many talented players. At the end of the day though, these are the players the clubs don’t want hanging around. To make it at SANFL level, you have to play for the love of the game. Let’s face it. With the world economy in the state it is at the moment, SANFL clubs are finding it harder and harder to manage their budgets. Majority of the players you watch every week busting their guts for the chance to play in the clubs colors, aren’t doing it for the money. It’s for the love of the game. The coin earned is thoroughly deserved too.

We all know the SANFL is a semi-professional competition, meaning the players have to work during the day, and then rush out to their respective training grounds for compulsory sessions generally three times a week. Monday sessions are generally pretty light, and the weekend’s results are discussed with the playing group. On Wednesdays, the training is ramped up a fair bit. In preparation for the upcoming game, there is generally competitive work and some genuine full-ground drills that are taxing on the legs and lungs of players. It’s pretty stock-standard to be at the club on a Wednesday for over two and a half hours. That’s for those who don’t have to ice, or rehabilitate their body in some other form, after training. As the next weekend’s impending clashes close in, so does Friday’s training session. Again a short, high-intensity night is always in store. It’s a final opportunity for the team to work on any strategies and touch up their skills before the Saturday game. Finally, after a stressful week on the training track, the day every footballer looks forward to – game day. It’s a chance to use the skills, strategies and general hard-work in a game day environment. Every possession is important. A missed kick here; a missed handball there and there’s a very real chance that it’ll result in an opposition goal, and you’ll find a nice spot waiting for you on the pine. The standard expected of an SANFL Football is very high, which isn’t a bad thing, as it’s a privilege to be playing in the second strongest competition outside of the AFL. But that isn’t where the commitment of an SANFL player ends.

Those intending to take their own and their team’s aspirations seriously will often be doing harder yards during the off nights than what they do on most training nights. Non-training nights generally mean weights, a bike ride, a light run (or solid, depending on where the player’s fitness is at), boxing, rehabilitation, skills and many other possible variations. So at this point of time, we’ve covered six days of the week in which an SANFL footballer is dedicating serious time to their football careers, and (hopefully) to the success of the club. Throw in Recovery sessions on Sunday mornings and we’ve rounded off the week spending time at the football club. This is the dedication pretty much expected of an SANFL footballer these days. There’s often a thin line between youngsters making the cut, or finding themselves in search of a home club to play at. Next time you are at the football, keep in mind just how hard the athletes you watch week-in, week-out work to provide the contest the fans expect every week. It’s not an easy life, but most players playing at this level wouldn’t trade it for the big bucks and country footy.

[dedja]

Maybe need to re-title as ... a week in the life of Grenville Dietrich?

[Dutchy]

good read....agreed, there are thousands of footballers out there that have the skill to play at SANFL level but only a few that are mentally tough enough to dedicate themselves to the winter grind to get teh best out of themselves

Always wonder if some of these guys playing in the country or ammo's will look back one day and regret they didnt give the SANFL a bigger crack