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Florida Redbacks Australian Football Club
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Redbacks split road trip to Baton Rouge
September 12, 2009 - 09:00 AM
On a cool and rainy day in Baton Rouge, 11 players from Florida traveled to Louisiana to take on the Tigers on their home ground and the Dallas Magpies. We had hoped for more players but the Ft. Lauderdale Squids all pulled out this week and we lost a few of our own. None the less, despite small numbers, despite missing several star players, we knew we had a good solid team.
Our first match was against the Tigers. In the opening half, the Florida Redbacks dominated. New recruit Nick dominated all across the middle. Our onballers were stellar – Janni, Dustin, and Alex seemed to grab everything out of the middle and were constantly feeding the forward line. The wet ball however made marks very hard to come by. None the less, Adham had a fair share of the ball and launched a number of shots on goal. Unfortunately, the Redbacks were not able to capitalize on our dominance as no one seemed able to kick straight.
1st half
Florida Redbacks 1 6 12
Baton Rouge Tigers 1 0 6
The second half saw continued Redbacks dominance but not quite to the same extent. Baton Rouge did have several forays forward but were repeatedly cut off by the excellent defense of Jeff Grubb (Grubby), Mus, Basil, and Beast (Nick). Baton Rouge did score once when a player not to be named lost his temper resulting in a 50 meter penalty and again when yours truly unfortunately let a ball slip out of his hands…. Besides those glitches, the kicking was much more on target with Adham kicking straight and Joey crumbing a goal on a ball into the goal square from Adham. Altogether a comfortable win and notable as it was the Redbacks first win ever on the road outside of nationals!!!
Final
Florida Redbacks 4 8 32
Baton Rouge Tigers 2 1 13
The Redbacks then had a break and watched the Baton Rouge Tigers take on Dallas… and it was not pretty. Baton Rouge only crossed mid-field twice the entire game as Dallas obliterated them… Literally the Dallas defenders stood there well rested – we had hoped that Dallas would get worn out by playing against Baton Rouge but this certainly did not happen.
Final
Dallas Magpies 12 18 90
Baton Rouge Tigers 0 0 0
So, despite seeing a devastating performance, our little Redbacks squad came out with our heads held high, confident that we could give the Magpies a tough match. We actually wanted to play 12 vs. 12 as we had our first game so that it would be our players vs. Dallas but Dallas wanted to play 16 vs. 16 since they had brought a lot of players. Thus, we were forced to take 5 additional players on to our squad. These players did try valiantly to help us but as one might imagine when one-third of a team’s squad is fill-in’s, this did disrupt our team chemistry….
The first quarter saw the Redbacks come out fired up… but the same could be said about the Magpies. A tough, hard hitting battle ensued with the Redbacks actually winning the center clearances. However, the deliveries from the middle players to the forwards were often not on target and even when they were on target, the Magpies defenders were getting better position and were usually first to the ball. Initially, the valiant Redbacks defense of Mus, Beast, Basil, and Grubby repelled the Dallas forays forward but eventually the relentless pressure and the inability of the Redbacks forward line to hold the ball forward resulted in the Magpies lighting up the score board with very accurate kicking.
1st half
Florida Redbacks 0 0 0
Dallas Magpies 6 2 38
At the half, the Redbacks switched some players around and discussed strategy to try to help keep the ball forward more often. For the most part the plan actually worked as Dallas was not able to pressure the Redbacks defense as much. The Redbacks actually had a few scoring opportunities but the shots on goal unfortunately were well off target. The Redbacks did end up with one behind for a tiny point of pride in not getting shut out. In addition, the Redbacks, despite missing numerous key players, did not give up and fought back and kept the second half close even with the highlight of Nick G. taking a brilliant speccy over a Dallas player – unfortunately he bruised his shoulder on the play and missed most of the second half.
Final
Florida Redbacks 0 1 1
Dallas Magpies 9 3 57
Goals (only 1st game obviously):
Adham – 2
Dustin – 1
Joey - 1
BOG Game 1 (as determined by Redbacks leaders, I don’t know ump votes):
Janni 3
Dustin 2
Adham 1
BOG Game 2 (as determined by Redbacks leaders, I don’t know ump votes):
Mus 3
Beast 2
Basil 1
Special thanks to Alex for paying for the rental van for us and helping out a lot of the guys on the trip who were low on money. We really appreciate your support of the club.
Oct. 10-11 – National Championship Tournament in Cincinnati – starts 9am Sat. am:
This is the highlight of our season – we will be playing in the Division 3 playoffs – I expect that we will be seeded fairly high. Let’s go with a strong squad and end the season with a national title!!!!
I would like every player on the team e-mail list to e-mail me so I can start to figure out numbers – E-mail me if you are a Yes, maybe, or a No.
Travel Info – You will need to buy plane tickets as it is too far to drive. Round trip tickets are currently running around $150. Once I know numbers, we will reserve hotel rooms. Costs should be low as we will once again put 4 to a room unless someone wants a room to themself (let me know).
US Team tryouts/training – if you are under the age of 23 and interested in making the US national team, they will be having a training/skills session/try out on Friday Oct. 9 – let me know if you are interested… by the way, there will likely be Australian scouts present – this is how several of our guys ended up getting recruited to play in Australia over the years – Dustin, Justin, Danny, Cam, CJ….
Nationals Registration – you cannot play nationals unless you register – do this ASAP!!!!
Usfooty is offering a cheaper means of registering for nationals but you have to register in the next month. As you can see, do it now and it’s still a lower price ($60) then it will be if you wait to the end. You have two choices – register yourself (click on the big blue link below) or give me the money and any relevant info at training on Thursday (I’ll register anyone who gives me money ahead of time).
From USFOOTY
ALL players need to register and agree to the waiver PRIOR to playing any game for their club. We know clubs have already started and with the system not working earlier that would be impractical to adopt and impossible to enforce this year. Players are required to at least sign a hard copy waiver before playing any game to be covered under the League’s Liability Insurance program.
Clubs can direct payers to the registration button to the left on the usfooty.com homepage ....OR ....clubs can manually register multiple players at one time by sending a check for multiple registrations along with the names of the players they are mass-registering along with the check.
These are the player registration fees for 2009:
- $60 per player - if paid between September 01- September 30
- $75 per player - if paid after September 30, including registrations at Nationals.
- The fee includes participation at the 2009 Nationals
- No rebates if registered player does not attend Nationals.
- No discounts for students, first year players or women this year.
- No “name exchanges”. Once a player is registered that payment cannot be transferred to another player.
This is a USAFL Player - 2009 Season Registration (which includes participation at 2009 Nationals). The loadings are designed to encourage teams to register as many players as early as they can. If someone “comes out of the woodwork” later in the season, conveniently before Nationals, and they gain an exemption from the 3 point qualification system, that's fine, they can play, but they are going to pay more than the player who registered early and has been contributing to their club and Usfooty all year.
cheers,
Marc (mkarver@chuma1.cas.usf.edu)
USF metro footy starting up again
January 11, 2009 - 06:00 PM
Some good within club scratch matches prepared the Redbacks for a big win to open the season against the favored Nashville Kangaroos. Let's keep it up. We play scratch matches after training every Thursday at 6pm.
University of South Florida
front Fowler fields
Tampa, FL
contact Marc Karver at mkarver@chuma1.cas.usf.edu if you are interested.
Florida Redbacks Tangle up North Carolina Tigers comeback attempt -
June 20, 2009 - 02:00 PM
Game Report
On Saturday June 20, the North Carolina Tigers (0-3) travelled to Fort Lauderdale to take on Florida United (which combines the Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids with the Florida Redbacks. On a bitterly hot day in Ft. Lauderdale with the heat index around 115, 20 players from North Carolina came down to play against our combined Florida United/Saints/Squids/Redbacks team. Surprisingly, despite having home field advantage, our Florida team lost a lot of players before game time and only had 20 players also. It looked like we were in store for a very even match against one of the fittest teams in the country. What ensued was an unpredictable rollercoaster match in which momentum swung back and forth over large periods of time.
In the opening quarter, the Florida Redbacks dominated. Phil controlled the ruck taps to our dominant players in the middle especially US national team Revo player Dustin Jones and Janni Mirosevich. They followed with frequent deliveries to the forward line with numerous possessions by our uncatchable free floating forward, Ryan Morton(who probably totaled 25 to 30 possessions during the game). However, Ryan did his best impression of Hawthorne’s Buddy Franklin and peppered the goal area with points. Not to be out done, no one on the Redbacks was able to capitalize on our dominance as no one seemed able to kick straight. Jason Namour set a good tone for the team early on with some good tackles against a North Carolina team that early on was holding on to the ball frequently too long.
1st quarter
Florida Redbacks 2 8 20
North Carolina Tigers 1 0 6
The second quarter saw continued Redbacks dominance early on with Alex grabbing numerous possessions in the middle and delivering to our forward line. Through the first two quarters, Mustapha Turay had completely shut down North Carolina’s best player, Jason Heathcote, and intimidated their entire team with one of his monstrous hits. However, after slotting a few more goals early and seeing our lead grow to 31 points, the tide started to shift. Phil our ruckman hurt his back, the Redbacks started to get tired, and the North Carolina Tigers were still running.
2nd quarter
Florida Redbacks 5 10 40
North Carolina Tigers 2 2 14
The third quarter saw the Redbacks come out flat and the North Carolina Tigers come out fired up. Mike battled valiantly in the ruck but North Carolina was winning out of the middle and winning most loose balls. Often Redbacks were standing around gasping for breath (we really need to build up fitness). Instead of picking up loose balls, Redbacks were swiping at the ball with their feet – ask Janni what he thinks about that!!!!! Everywhere we looked, Tigers were running free. North Carolina came storming back but Florida was able to hang in there often bolstered by spectacular play and powerful tackles delivered by Nick (Beast) and Brad Vertescher. Both accumulated many possessions and knocked people around while much of the team was struggling. Heathcote was dangerous up forward for the Tigers and Tiger Revo Paul Duncan was starting to get on top.
3rd quarter
Florida Redbacks 6 13 49
North Carolina Tigers 5 6 36
Coach Marcus gave a rousing speech at quarter time but apparently it took a few minutes to kick in. The start of the 4th quarter showed more of the same from the 3rd quarter. North Carolina dominated and suddenly the scoreboard delivered a frightening message to the Redbacks:
Florida Redbacks 6 13 49
North Carolina Tigers 7 7 49
… and then we saw what the Redbacks were made of as they started to lift… Janni took over the game with lots of possessions. Dustin Jones seemed to come out of every pack running with the ball. Alex was getting lots of possessions and delivering with pinpoint accuracy. Mark Diamond (Dymo) and Cameron Pinnock were playing well. Across the field the Redbacks all got their second winds and the Tigers finally tired out and the game turned dramatically. Adham and Mus took numerous marks up in the forward line and even orchestrated the equivalent of an ally oop slam dunk with Mus marking close to the goal and handballing to Adham at the goal line who put it away.
Final
Florida Redbacks 12 15 87
North Carolina Tigers 7 7 49
Goals: Redbacks - Janni – 4; Adham – 3; Dustin – 1; Ryan - 2 (and about 8 behinds : ); Alex -1; Mus – 1
Nth Carol.: Jason Heathcote 3, Marc Castrovinci 2, Steve Miller 1, Stuart Gill 1, Kim Hemenway 1.
BOG (as determined by Redbacks leaders):
Janni 3
Dustin 2
Mus 1
BEST PLAYERS as determined by ump:
Florida: Janni Mirosevich, Dustin Jones, Mike Heithaus, Mustapha Turay.
Nth Carol.: Paul Duncan, Marc Castrovinci, Wes Hayutin, Michael Coysh, Jason Heathcote.
Field Umpire: Ian McNiece (OC).
Special thanks to Marcus for coaching us, Holly for being a life saver and running water out to us while we were dying, and to OC for umping bravely on his own in unbearable heat.
Cheers,
Marc
PS – It looks really likely that we will be starting new metro footy teams in St. Pete and Sarasota – watch your e-mail as it would be great if players from anywhere can come out and help these efforts. There may be a Saturday training from 10-12 either in St. Pete or Sarasota….
Redbacks defeat Roos
April 18, 2009 - 02:00 PM
Redbacks vs. Roos - Well, seems we got ourselves off to a good start on the season. The Nashville Kangaroos came down with a strong team only missing one of their key players and including the USAFL’s leading scorer Chris Moerman who kicked 13 goals in his first game this season against Baton Rouge. The Roos started strong and immediately targeted Chris resulting in 3 goals to the strong forward. The Redbacks knew they would need to make a change to keep him contained. Mus was switched on to the key forward and as we have seen many times before… Mus shut him down and left Chris scoreless for the rest of the game. The game stayed very close for the first two quarters but in the third quarter, our solid team play, skilled players, and better endurance started to win through as we started to pull away. The fourth quarter saw the Redbacks dominate play and finish them off with a final score of:
Redbacks 11 7 73
Roos 6 3 39
Best on Ground for the Redbacks were Alex and Jarred but it should also be mentioned that Cam played quite well and Janni made a great come back from his knee injury last year. Ryan Morton kicked 5 goals as Nashville could not keep him contained. CJ added two more with one a piece also from Cam, Alex, Janni, and Dymo. Our new ruckman Phil played impressively always giving us a good chance with his hit outs in the middle. Big thanks to Marcus from Ft. Lauderdale for coaching the team.
Redbacks battle at nationals
October 9, 2006 - 09:00 AM
The Redbacks traveled to Vegas for nationals. Despite leading at half time in all three games, the Redbacks only ended up beating St. Louis while losing close games to Baton Rouge and San Diego due to injuries and lack of fitness. The Redbacks showed excellent nightlife fitness staying out all night in Vegas - the goal next year is to show the same level of fitness in playing footy!!!
EAFL Rounds 3 and 4 - Redbacks win!
June 25, 2005 - 02:30 PM
EAFL round 3 - Pittsburgh unable to travel and forced to forfeit games to Philly and Florida.
EAFL round 4 - Typical Florida summer weather: low 90's, 99% humidity, followed by torrential rain and hale dropping temperature into the 70's.
Florida Redbacks 15 13 103
Philly Hawks 2 2 14
Story to follow.
(Photo> Alsiter, our Best on Ground flies high)
EAFL Round 5
July 9, 2005 - 02:00 PM
Redbacks lose close battle in the end on the road to North Carolina Tigers -
NC FL
4. 2 (26) 4. 3 (27)
8. 4 (52) 6. 7 (43)
10. 7 (67) 9. 11 (65)
13. 13 (91) 10. 14 (74)
July 9, 2005 - 02:00 PM--EAFL round 5 –
The North Carolina Tigers have beaten the Florida Redbacks by 17 points at the Tigerdome in Raleigh, handing the Redbacks their first loss of the 2005 season.
In a high standard game at the hot (mid 90’s), humid Tigers home ground, which was on the top of a hill (not humid in Florida terms but still humid), the Redbacks kicked the first goal of the match with the Alister to Dustin combination firing as usual. The Redbacks looked to be coming out strong, true to form, hitting hard as usual and winning contests. However, little did we know that this would be our last one goal lead until the fourth quarter!!!! The Tigers, with a young fit group of rotating on-ballers changed strategies and no longer attempted to win the ruck taps. Instead they played to intercept. Alister won every ruck tap in the game but the Tigers constantly intercepted his taps or tackled Dustin, Jeff, or James as soon as they had their hands on the ball. Suddenly it was the Tigers bursting out of the middle with the ball and scoring multiple times to take the lead. Luckily, loyal team supporter Red Walker came out of retirement and played his first game in over a year and kicked his first of four goals. Until he left the game injured in the third quarter, he was a constant spark up forward either scoring or creating opportunities for other Redbacks forwards.
The sequences of play on both sides of the stadium in the first quarter and throughout the game until five minutes to go in the game were excellent with great ball movement and contested marks all over the field. Each time one team scored, the other responded.
At quarter time the scoreboard displayed only a one point difference.
1Q: Redbacks 4.3.(27) to Tigers 4.2.(26)
In the second term the Tigers dominated the first 10 minutes of play. The Tigers ball getters pressured the Redbacks normally dominant midfield and continued to feed the ball to their forward line. The Redbacks defense was under constant pressure but led by a sterling effort by Perry throughout the game, damage from the onslaught was minimized. With the Redbacks stunningly down by four goals, we refused to give in and fought back in the last 5 minutes of the quarter scoring 2 quick goals. Players like Jeff and Justin stepped up and kept the ball in the forward line to create scoring opportunities.
At the major break the Tigers held a 9 point lead.
2Q: Redbacks 6.7.(43) to Tigers 8.4.(52)
The third term opened with the Redbacks responding to Captain Rob’s inspiring half time speech. We controlled the ball for the early part of the quarter and scored goals and behinds to narrow the Tigers lead. The Redbacks forwards were all working well together – Red (first game in a year), Adham (15 year old in his first full game), John (in his 50’s in his first game ever), Marc (5’10” in his first USAFL game at full forward). However, Red then went down with an injury that took him out of the game. As suspected, Red was the spark at half forward – new recruit Steve, first time ever even touching a footy, ran hard but could not replace Red’s experience. The Tigers once again took control of play in the middle and at their half back line and stopped any forward attempts. Thus, at the final change, the Tigers maintained a slim lead.
3Q: Redbacks 9.11.(65) to Tigers 10.7.(67)
To start the fourth quarter, the Redbacks came out firing and dominated play with one goal and three behinds inspired by the great play of James, Jeff, Alister, and John and Justin, and Chris and David and Rob and Perry from the back line. The Redbacks were up by seven and looked potentially able to put the Tigers away despite having no bench and exhausted players. However, exhaustion won out; the Redbacks appeared to lose one step, then two steps… suddenly it seemed as if there were Tigers everywhere across the middle of the field – despite valiant attempts by Sean and Perry and Greg and others to get the ball out of our end and to the forward line, we could not get past the Tiger midfield wall. The Tigers relentlessly but inaccurately attacked with behind after behind after behind. The Redbacks seven point lead was whittled down to two points. Then with five minutes to go, the dam broke and the Tigers kicked three straight goals – the Redbacks had nothing left to answer with and the Tigers were winners at the final siren.
Final: Redbacks 10.14.(74) def. by Tigers 13.13.(91)
Redbacks Best: Perry -3 pts, James – 2pts, Red – 1pt. Most improved – Chris, John.
GOALS (not definite, I’m guessing – please give me correct info if you know as we did not have Coach Trevor to keep track):
Redbacks: Red (4), James (2), Dustin (2), Alister, Marc
NY defeats Florida
September 10, 2005 - 02:00 PM
New York travelled strong down to Florida bringing 27 players and lots of their own spectators - definitely set the bar for how a team should travel. They were quite fit and literally out ran our Redbacks. We kept it close but they owned the 3rd quarter.
Not official quarter scoring but probably close estimates:
1st
NY 2 4
Florida 1 0
2nd
NY 3 4
Florida 2 1
3rd
NY 3 3
Florida 0 0
4th
NY 2 1
Florida 1 1
Official final score:
NY 10 12
Florida 4 2
Florida Redbacks Competitive in Division 2 at Nationals
October 2, 2005
Our season officially ended last weekend with the completion of our 2005 Nationals bid. We went 1-2 with both of our losses being hard fought and close competitions. In fact, we lost a close game to the eventual champions of division 2, the Golden Gate Roos. The Redbacks then played St. Louis later in the day and put together a perfect effort - this was probably the most complete team game ever played by the Redbacks in beating a very strong team.
It is always difficult to claim victory from a losing record but there were many victories over the weekend and in the past season. We were able to be a competitive force in the EAFL, playing for the conference championship in our first year. We are also considered a strong player in division 2 which is a great platform to start on next year. In the end, it was our lack of depth on the road that hurt us in regular season play and Nationals. Building our road team will be the major focus in 2006!
Congratulations are in order for our women's team. Runners up (2nd in the country) in their first year is a fantastic effort.
they obliterated their opponents in their first game, lost a nailbiter to Atlanta in their second game - they almost came back from an 18-0 deficit and lost by only 4. They then won their next game something like 84 to 0 to make the Women's title game - they then fought valiantly against Atlanta but eventually succumbed to defeat - the women's team also could probably benefit from increased depth, fitness, and training together - hope to see lots of the Florida women dedicated to training over the next year!!! Anyway, congrats to them for bringing home the first medals
(runner-ups) in Florida footy history!!!!!!
Contact team officials about end of year BBQ and awards day on November 12 from 2pm until ?????.
This promises to be a fun day and a chance to relax and reflect with fellow players, spouses, kids and supporters. WE hope to see you there, more details to come!
Last thing - Dustin Jones swept the divvy two medals winning most consistent and best on ground.
Even better, his girlfriend, Holly won Best on Ground for the women -
It should be mentioned that Annie Jones was also practically unstoppable and probably received some BOG votes across games.
Currently the Redbacks as a whole are in their off season.
Tampa's men and women will continue to train and a University of South Florida footy club is being started. Contact Marc Karver for more details - mkarver@chuma1.cas.usf.edu
Redbacks on TV - Channel 47
The Redbacks made the TV debut tonight on channel 47 in a 10-15 minute segment about our wonderful Club and highlighted by our big weekend win against Baltimore/Washington.
The show will be replayed this Friday and Sunday night on Channel 47 at 8:00pm. In coming days there will be a streamed version of the segment on our website.
Redbacks Pull Off Stunning Upset
May 14, 2005
In one of the biggest upsets in USAFL history the Florida Redbacks have defeated the Boston Demons, the nation's 5th ranked, team by 17 points in Sarasota, Florida. The Redbacks scored 9.8.62 to the Demons 6.9.45.
Florida started with dominance in the centre. Alister dominated the ruck against the ruckman for the US national team. His taps continuously found Dustin and Anthony who effectively delivered to the forward line. Boston was stunned as the Redbacks scored five unanswered goals spread amongst different players in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Redback defense held strongly – the halfback line of Jarred, Justin, and Janni was inpenetrable. The few times the ball went deeper into Redback territory, Perry was there to repel any Boston efforts. In the last three minutes, the momentum started to shift as it got hotter and hotter (game temperature was in the mid-80’s. Boston adjusted in the second quarter and proceeded to take over – realistically, Boston dominated the last three quarters of the game, however, the Redbacks discovered that Perry at fullback was an unstoppable force. He completely neutralized Boston’s talented full forward and punched away anything remotely threatening (and there was plenty). When the ball went to ground or was not marked by Perry, he effectively delivered to the half back line or to the centre players to mount a counterattack to ease the pressure. It should be added that Greg Banlowe also did a valiant job in protecting the Redbacks lead. In the third quarter, Mario went down with an injury – Heath filled in valiantly and kicked a much needed goal as opportunities for the Redbacks forwards declined considerably as the game continued. By the final quarter, both teams were exhausted by the up and back game pace and the brutal Florida sun. The Demons mounted an effective and determined comeback, looking more like the team used to playing in the heat, but the Florida defense held them at bay and the difference in scores at three quarter time was too great for Boston to make up. Florida was proud to pull such a huge upset over such a highly ranked team but was also thankful that the game did not last ten more minutes!!!
Notable points: throughout the game, Alister was seen all over the field often pulling down crucial marks against two or three contesting Demons.
Adham Makki had a spectacular debut playing for the Redbacks – this soon to be star 15 year old had numerous possessions and kicked his first Redbacks goal!
Danny Harrison played a very strong three quarters on the wing until cramping up in the 4th quarter (we all knew how he felt)
Florida Boston
5.2. (32) 0.1. (1)
7.3. (45) 1.3. (9)
9.6. (60) 3.7. (25)
9.8. (62) 6.9. (45)
Florida Best:
Perry Vaught
Justin Valley
Alister Wilson
Adham Makki
Florida Goals:
Mario Formosa 2, Simon Morgan, Dustin Jones, Adham Makki, Marc Karver, Danny Harrison, Heath McOrist, Anthony DeLuise, 1
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Florida Redbacks Australian Football Club
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