Our 15 Minutes of Fame at The Gabba

Well what a truly exciting and surreal experience James and I had today at the Gabba.  His AFL Under 10's Footy Team were playing their match with another Brisbane team (Sandgate) at the half time match of the Brisbane Lions vs the Adelaide Crows.  I grew up and have lived in Brisbane all my life with the exception of one year in Perth, two years in Sydney and two years in Melbourne and the rest has been in Brisbane.  I have driven past the almighty Gabba many many many times in my life however have never actually been there so it was a first for me and a first for James.  Sienna opted to go to Granny's place for the day which worked out better for her and us since I didn't really know the drill once we got there and what I would do with her.

Most of the team caught the train in to Roma Street Station and then got the free shuttle bus to the Gabba.  We hung around outside the Gabba for about 40 mins or so meeting a couple of our team members and all the other Auskick kids and groups that had been invited to participate in today's activities.  We eventually were all given our wrist bands to wear and you needed a Yellow one which said FOP which I think was for "Football Official Parent" but don't quote me on that one.  The Red band was authorization to go onto the field and if you lost this you would not gain access even if you were with your team mates.  So two very important things and then I also got a "MEDIA" pass and had to wear that when I went onto the field with my camera and I also got the very glamorous white coat which if you aren't too old I could have been mistaken for Professor Sumner Miller or as my friend so kindly text me "you could sell strawberry ice creams at the Brisbane EKKA' in that white coat.  I thought that was extremely funny if you've ever been to the EKKA in the old days.  Now back to our wonderful GABBA experience.

We watched the first quarter of the game in the stands and then we headed down to the change rooms where the boys got dressed in the Lions shorts, jersey, and socks and then we were eventually escorted to the tunnel entrance to the game which was still playing.  Once the whistle blew we all had to run across the middle of the field (the kids had to wave to the crowd as they came out) and then had to set myself up to take photos of the kids.  The whole 15 mins was what I called Fast and Furious and mind blowing at the same time.  I just set my camera on continuous and kept shooting.  I used my white knight 70-200 mm f2.8 which is what I use for our normal Saturday games however I could have actually used the 24-70 mm f2.8 because most of the time I had it on 70mm so I could get quite a bit in.  It was hard to know given I had never been in that position before and didn't know where I would be to the players but I just kept clicking away.  I have heaps of blurred shots as well but a few keepers.  Generally when I take photos at our games on Saturday I'm sitting down on the sidelines and taking photos rather than running walking, squatting, standing, zooming in and out but it was great experience and lots of fun.  Here's a few pictures of our wonderful Gabba experience and one that James and I will never forget as he has been so excited about it.  I have been told it's been 7 years since our club has been on the field in Brisbane Lions Jerseys so it's truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Below - that's me taking a photo in a huge window on the side of the building that had a reflection of me taking the photo......how else am I to get photographed as well!! Actually I was very excited when I saw the big reflections it was so cool and our group was just waiting there for further instructions from officials.

The kids all dressed in their official "Lions" footy gear

And another one with the Lions ROAR from the team

Below - the guy in the grey shirt was giving instructions to two of our officials about the plan

Below - James is the one jumping in the air

Below - James is on the far right adjusting his mouth guard - lucky for him he was wearing it because he got wacked in the teeth and it was probably the first real bump he's had in a year.

James sitting on the pull down seat so you can have your photo taken with the team (aka the large poster)