Panthers Super Game Day - Local Schools Day

It was the perfect weekend for football as the Panthers took on the Tigers in a Super Sunday Game Day thriller.  Though the boys went down by 6 points, it was a day of fun, footy and family entertainment.

The atmosphere of Hickinbotham Oval was fantastic from the opening bounce to final siren. Being so close to the game, you could hear the smack of every tackle, handball and kick. The crowd was loud and animated and the game was exciting to the very end with scores close at every break. In the dying minutes of the fourth, the crowd was tense as each team was desperate to score and each fan desperate to out cheer their rivals and spur their team on to victory. They held their breath as the ball was bombed long into the fifty, were on the edge of their seats at every contest and on their feet to an orchestra of car horns with every goal scored.

Aside from the game, the sidelines were overrun by butterflies, spidermen and tattooed footy legends of tomorrow as the kids put the face painters through their paces. They explored a Sea Rescue Boat, jumped on the Bouncy Castle and were spell bound as a hovercraft skimmed across the oval before the game. At every break, the crowd streamed onto the oval to create their own magic in front of goal, lay their own tackles and race along the boundary line. While the game played, the grassed family area provided the perfect environment to sit and watch the match or join in the many games of Marks Up that took place around the oval.

And of course, what is a day at the footy without a barbeque serving sausages and bread, steak sangas or a pie or pasty from Vili’s and a nice cold beer or can of Solo.

In the end, the Bays took home the points, but everyone walked away from a great family afternoon with a smile and the hope that next week, the Panthers will get over the line against the Bloods. 

Katherine Baldwin

Flinders University Student