Story I made

[FisherSaints]

This is a story I made a little while ago. It isn't finished



Jack Mitchell and the Draft Camp
                      
My name is Jack Mitchell and I'm 14 years old. I play VIC U14 for the Mildura Magpies. My favorite football team is Geelong. My favorite players are Joel Selwood and Jimmy Bartel. My dad, John barracks for Sydney and my mum, Shelly, my  brother, Luke and my older sister, Jazz all go for 
Hawthorn. I go to Mildura Secondary College. The Mildura Magpies have only lost one game and are on top of the Victoria U14 league ladder. This week we are playing 2nd place, Geelong Giants. They have the best ruckman/forward in the competition. 


As we pulled up to Skilled Stadium I thought of playing here in the AFL for Geelong. As soon as the whistle blew for the start of the quarter our ruckman, Richard, tapped the ball down to me. I kicked the ball to our leading half-forward, Tom Hunter. He marked it and kicked the Sherrin straight through the middle of the goalposts. Nothing much happened for the rest of the quarter except  for when Johno picked up the ball from a contest on the wing and took 2 bounces and kicked truly from 30m out. At quarter time we were leading by 20 points. At the start of the next quarter the Geelong Giants were unstoppable. They kicked 5 goals to lead by 6 points. Our coach told me to play forward so as I went down there I saw Sam with the ball about to bomb the it down. I wouldn't be able to get to the pack that had already formed so I sprinted to the goal square and the ball flew over the pack so I simply soccered the ball through. So at half time scores were level. I started on the bench just to get a breather. But when I came on we were winning by 2 goals. We slowed down the tempo of the game until they got a goal. Then we went in attack mode and Tom and Sam got us a goal each. At 3 quarter time we were winning by 17 points. At the start of the final term it was goal for goal and then they got 2 goals, but then the siren went and we had won by 5 points! 


 With only 3 more matches we were on top of the ladder by 12 points and it would be almost impossible for us not to be minor premiers! We had 2 training sessions this week including the beep test. My best beep test score is 16.7 and I get around 14.5 most of the time. Johno is the fastest in the team and his average is 16.5! We also practiced our kicking skills, marking and contested football. We are playing 12th on the ladder, Dandenong Dragons. We have not lost to them since I started playing. I sometimes play in the forward pocket against them and once I kicked 5 goals on one of their players.


 I'm excited because we go on our team building camp after the finals. We go on this camp every year from U9. We usually go to Sydney but this year we are going to somewhere near Bendigo. 


This week we have a home game at Red Cliff Oval. Our team love the ground because it suits our game style. I'm captain this week as I am most weeks because I share the job with Johno but he doesn't like the pressure and responsibility of being captain. He is only captain when I'm not at the game. I went up for the toss and the other captain chose  heads and it was tails so I chose to go with the wind. The Dragons kicked the first 2 scores, a goal and a behind but then Fletcher finished off 2 brilliant team goals. Then suddenly Jim was running and he heard a snap in his leg. He was stretchered off and  got taken in a ambulance to hospital. We think he broke his leg but we don't know for sure. At quarter time you could feel the sadness in the huddle. Jim was a great player and he would be gone and missed for a while. As we went out to our positions I said to Richard,
"Long and straight, long and straight."
Richard delivered a brilliant tap to Sam who hand passed it to me and I ran closer to the goals before kicking the ball through the big sticks for a goal!
“Great goal” Sam shouted over the noise of the crowd
After that they had no chance of catching us with Tom and Fletcher kicking 5 goals each and Sam and I kicking 3 and 4 goals respectively. We ended up winning by 82 points. Now we had to play 8th, Werribee and 6th, Swan Hill Hawks.


I had to miss our match against Werribee because my shoulder was hurting and my doctor told me to miss a match. It stopped hurting at the match but I still couldn't play. We ended up winning by 35 points in a high scoring game. Tom kicked another 5 goals and is leading the league goal kicking comp by 3 goals.         The prize is $200 and Tom should win it if he can kick 3 goals. 


At the start of the 1st term Max's opponent elbowed him in the cheek and Max had to come off with the blood rule. Max's opponent got reported and will most likely miss his team's finals campaign. Tom was on fire from the word ‘go’ kicking 4 goals in the 1st quarter and another 2 in the first few minutes of the 2nd. He stopped for a while and then kicked 1 goal at the end of the 3rd quarter. Our coach told us just to bomb it down to Tom and Fletcher. As the quarter started our team were ready to give it our best shot and end the home and away season on a high. Tom and Fletcher kicked another goal each. Tom kicked 2 more goals including 1 on the siren after taking a HUGE hanger! Tom kicked 10 goals  and won the league goal kicking comp. “We're the the minor premiers!" I exclaimed .



It was finals time and Tom was on fire which is always a good thing. Tom was ready to win with his huge bags of goals. Our coach told us to kick to Tom and Fletcher when they are on the lead. We were playing the Geelong Giants and in the 1st term started we were on top of the inside 50s and clearances. It was 4 goals to 2 at quarter time with Fletcher getting 2 goals, with Tom and Johno getting 1 each. Tom, Fletcher, Sam and I got 1 more goal before half time. At half time we were leading by 4 goals and looked far more fit then the Giants. But the Giants kept on fighting and got within a goal before we kicked 3  straight goals. From there they couldn't catch us with Fletcher kicking his 5th goal and Tom kicking his 4th. We now got straight into the Grand Final!


I went to watch Luke play football and his team lost by 2 points. He kicked 4 goals. Today is the league best & fairest. Everyone thinks I will win it. I think Sam will win our team best & fairest. In the last round Zack (the ruckman/forward from the Swan Hill Hawks)  and I were equal on 20 votes. The announcer calls out the votes 
“1 vote,  Zack F Swan Hill Hawks, 2 votes, Jack M Mildura Magpies, 3 votes, Tom M Mildura Magpies.” “Well done to Jack Mitchell, Mildura Magpies, the 2011 U14 VIC league 
best & fairest, 2nd is Zack Flower, Swan Hill Hawks and 3rd is Tom MacDonald, Mildura Magpies.”
 I couldn't believe it. I had just won the U14 VIC league best & fairest and $500! People were coming over and congratulating me. 


For the Grand Final we're playing the Frankston Flames at the MCG. I couldn't wait because Geelong were playing in the AFL Grand Final the day before we played. I went to the Grand Final Parade and Skilled Stadium for a clinic. I got to meet Joel Selwood, Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson and Cameron Ling! I nearly took a specky on a little kid but he moved away when I was on his shoulders. Geelong won by 22 points in the Grand Final today and Joel Selwood won the Norm Smith medal! He had 32 disposals, 7 tackles, 6 clearances and 9 inside 50s.


 I have only been to the MCG 3 times but they've been great days when I have. Once I played Auskick on the ground and the other times were games. The games were Geelong playing Sydney and the Grand Final, Hawthorn and Geelong. Geelong won against Sydney but lost playing against  Hawthorn. The 1st quarter started and it was goal for goal but then the Flames got 2 more goals to lead by 14 points. There were a lot of fumbles as we got use to the pressure of playing on the MCG.Then we got 3 goals back to lead by 6 points. At quarter time we were leading by 11 points. We got 4 goals then they got 3 scores, 2 goals and a behind. The Flames got 4 quick goals lead by 4 points. At half time Frankston were winning by a goal. To start the 3rd term I went forward and kicked 3 goals in as many minutes. The Flames had no run in their legs but were somehow only losing by 16 points. At 3 quarter time I was told to start on the bench and then go back into the midfield. I got half a dozen disposals. Then I went out to the wing where Sam hand balled into space and I ran onto it and kicked the Sherrin through the goals from 35m on a slight angle. At that point the siren sounded and we ran around wild because we had won the VIC U14 Grand Final. Then came the best on ground presentation. I got the best on ground medallion and 
a premiership medallion to go with my league best & fairest!


At the camp we went to in Bendigo we did some adventure things like bush walking, natural rock wall climbing, fishing, motorbike riding, yabbying and buggying. I loved the bushwalking when we did a 17km hike up a mountain. We did the buggying on a track in a paddock and I drove around with Tom.


My family and I went camping to Broken Hill with Tom's family. We have a caravan and we love to get away in it each summer holiday. I like to train with Luke and Tom while we're away by going for jogs. We also kick a footy at long range targets.


When we got home I checked the mail and there was a letter for me. I opened it and there was lots of things about a AFL camp held at the MCG and I was invited! On the last 3 days of the camp all different recruiters and coaches would come for a skills test. The information would be for AFL clubs so they could keep their eyes on young prospects. Then selectors would pick teams for the U15 AFL league. We would travel all over Australia to play teams like Alice Springs, Cairns and Kalgoorlie.


 I started packing my bags almost straight away. As the days got closer I trained much harder and slept more. Finally the day came and I went with my dad to pick up Tom, who was invited to come as well. We got there 15 minutes before registrations started so we could walk around the 'G'. We were the first to register and we got given a name tag. We were also told were we would be sleeping. I was with Tom, Zack and Sam. I got given a schedule for what we were doing over the 4 days. Today we were doing kicking, tackling and marking. Then tomorrow we split into 5 groups forwards, ruckman, midfielders, defenders and utilities. We could swap round after 1 hour.


I went to marking first and we learnt the technique of a mark. Then we did some leads and hangers. The marking coach said I had good clean hands when I marked the ball. He also said I rarely fumbled. Then we played a marking game where we had to mark it and try take a hanger. I took a hanger on Sam.


The kicking was fun. We practiced set shots from 35m out and then the coach kicked a goal from 60m out. I kicked from 40m out and got a goal. Then we did some kick-ins when different types of zones were in place. Then I went to tackling and we learnt how to tackle properly. We also played Tackles. 


I woke up and went down to the restaurant to have breakfast. Then we went onto the ground. We split into groups. I went to midfielders first and we played a clearance game. Then we played a tackling game. After that I went to forwards and crumbed the key position players. I kicked 3 goals from near the pocket and then the announcer said for every to stand in a line. He gave each of us a number between 1 and 4 and told us that we would be playing mini matches against the other teams. I was with Johno as well as some other other people who I didn't know. Their names were Robert, Thomas, Alex, Lachlan, another Lachlan, Matt, Mitchell, Luke, Nathan, Simon, Ryan, Chris, Brad, Joel and Jim. We played Tom's team first and I was named captain and playing in the centre. We won by 2 points after Tom missed a shot from 40m out on the siren. We lost our next match then won our last match to sit in 2nd place. We played 1st, Sam's team for the premiership and came a draw so we played them again and won.


It was the 1st day of the skills test today. We're doing endurance so we did the beep test and I got my best score  17.8. Then we did a 5km  X Country run. I came 35th out of 88 people. After the run we had free time so I went and talked to the Geelong coach Chris Scott. Jimmy Bartel was there talking to people so I went up to him and had a chat. I also talked to Luke Hodge and Jazz was so excited when I rang her. Geelong asked if I would like to be drafted by them and I said yes straight away. Other clubs like Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and St Kilda all said they wouldn't mind having me on their team. Tomorrow the selectors will organize the picks for the U15 AFL league. Geelong Thunder have the first 2 picks, pick 9 and pick 6.


It was the end of day 3 for the skills test and our family and friends were slowly making their way into the Melbourne Convention Centre for the draft. At this time all over Australia at least 400 boys were sitting in different rooms waiting to see where they've been picked. This would determine where they'll play in the U15 AFL league. In the VIC part of the league Geelong and Melbourne together have 5 of the top 10 picks. 
“Pick 1, Geelong Thunder,Jack Mitchell, Pick 2, Geelong Thunder,Zack Fowler, Pick 3, Newcastle Nuggets, Sam Gibson,” the announcer said.
Melbourne picked up Tom at pick 5. We got a few more good players and then just picked up whoever would fit our tactics. Our selectors picked up a midfielder who would be used as a tagger. We got a defensive forward as well as a big defender. 


3 days after the draft all of the Geelong team went to Skilled Stadium for a team meeting. I met people from Darwin, Perth, Port Augusta and many more towns in between. We have a super fast kid from Townsville. No one could catch him when we played a game. We voted on the captain for Geelong Thunder and Zack got it.  I got vice-captain after only missing out by 5 votes. We got told the positions we would play at and I was ruck rover. Zack was our ruckman and the fast kid, Ben, is playing centre. The midfielders and ruckman did some work on roving the ball while the forwards and defenders did 1-on-1 contests. We train every Wednesday and every 2nd Friday. We set up our 16 man zone for opposition kick-ins. Ben or I had to take the kick-ins and kick it to our tallest players, Callum, Lachie or Zack. 


Our first training session was today and we did a basic skills test and we would get a mark out of 80. I got 69/80 and the best score was Ben with 74/80! We practiced the drop punt, weighted kick and the torpedo.


Our 1st game was against the Melbourne Spiders. I told Callum, who was playing on Tom, to stay right next to him all the time. We were winning easily by 34 points at 3 quarter time and finished ended up winning by 40 points. Callum restricted Tom to 2 goals. I had 27 disposals while Zack kicked 4 goals and had 25 hitouts.


We won our next 3 games by a cumulative margin of 93 points before losing to the Cairns Crows by 18 points. We're 2nd on the ladder behind Cairns. Tom is 3rd in the goalkicking comp while Zack is 5th. Ben is leading the club in clearances, tackles and contested possessions. I'm winning in  disposals, handballs and assists. We had 3 training sessions this week as we only had 1 last week. Some players were having a 1 week break for our game against Alice Springs. We narrowly won by a goal in a low scoring game. Ben wasn't playing and neither was Callum. The season continued on with not much happening and at the start of round 16 we were on top of the ladder. Zack has kicked 63 goals so far this season and Ben and I have had 421 and 426 disposals respectively. 


Paul Chapman kicked 6 goals and Jimmy Bartel had 36 disposals as we bet Richmond by 24 points at Skilled Stadium. Tom and I went to the game and then stayed at my uncle's place. Geelong are 4th on the ladder at the moment and are on a 5 game winning streak. When we got home we played AFL Live on my PS3. I played as Geelong and Tom played as Richmond. Richmond surprisingly won after a 9 goal haul from Jack Riewoldt and 26 disposals from Dustin Martin. 


In the U15 AFL league we lost 3 of the last 6 games and finished the home and away season in 3rd place.   
We played the Crows at Cazaly Stadium. I did some schoolwork in the plane and in the bus. When we got to the stadium we went to the rooms and talked about our game plans before going out onto the ground and doing stretches and warm ups. The Crows finished 2nd and were very defensive. Their average score against was 57 points and hadn't had a score kicked against them above 90.


Zack won the tap and Ben picked up the loose ball. He kicked sidewards to  Daniel who ran to the wing and kicked. Daniel's kick was intercepted by Cairns' star half back, Timothy, who then ran off his opponent and took a bounce before delivering perfectly to a Cairns player. He marked and lined up for a set shot but his kick drifted out to the left. Callum marked and kicked to Zack who was leading on the 50m arc. Zack kicked to me and I then spotted Lachie 25m out, 5m away from his opponent. He juggled the mark and then kicked truly. The Crows kicked 3 goals in the 1st quarter to our 4. Matthew played out the next 3 quarters as centre and had 36 disposals in those quarters including 16 in the 3rd term. We won by 2 points and are in the preliminary final! 


We played Canberra and kicked the first 6 goals of the match were winning 10 minutes into the last term but the Cannons kicked the last 4 goals so they ended up winning by 3 points. For next year our coach told our team we can go to the U/16 International Cup to watch.

3 years later 

I got a email from our coach, Pat saying he needed our best player to play in the TAC Cup for Vic Country. He said I wasn't guaranteed a spot in the side but it was worth a try so I packed my bags and went to the 



Today I got an envelope saying I can go to AFL Draft Camp. It said it was only 3 weeks away. I had been 

[roo boys!]

TBH, I couldn't be bothered reading the whole thing right now, but looks like you put a lot of effort into it!

[Maca24]

TBH, I couldn't be bothered reading the whole thing right now, but looks like you put a lot of effort into it!

I read the first 2 sentences  :P

[bomberboy0618]

Why is there half sentences in the last paragraph?

[Cicjose]

because he hasn't finished

[8-6 Suited]