Come show off your encyclopedic knowledge of useless information at our first ever Trivia Night competition and fundraiser! On Friday, May 31st, join the Steelheads at On Deck starting at 7:00pm as we battle it out for trivia supremacy. As befitting an Australian Rules Football Club, there will be an undercurrent of Australian trivia throughout the evening (though we’ll keep it fair for everyone, Australians and Americans).

There is a $6 entrance fee per person competing. Participants will compete in teams of up to 6, with prizes going to the top team(s). Proceeds from the night will support the club’s trip to Austin, Texas to represent Portland at the 2013 USAFL National Championship Tournament. It’s a big year for the club and our goal is to bring a trophy back home.

RSVP and invite your friends on Facebook.

Bring your friends and family for a fun night of trivia and help the Steelheads win a championship for the Rose City! We’ll see you on Friday!

In the second game of the day the winners from the previous week, the Brewers and the Power, took the field in search of the top spot on the ladder. The Brewers claimed the first goal when Bottles found Martin in the goal square for a tough mark but easy goal. A few minutes later, after some back and forth play, Martin kicked another goal from the sideline after a defensive clearance for the Power went out on the full. The Power fought back with goals from Robert, Patrick, and Kyle, but were plagued by some goalkicking inaccuracy. At halftime the Brewers led 5.0.30 to 3.4.22. In the second half the Brewers pressed their advantage with an early goal from Bottles, and from there kicked another 4 to seal the result. The final score was Brewers 10.3.63 to Power 5.6.36.

Video from the game is available below. The audio cuts out for the first three quarters of the game before coming back, sorry!

Check out the video from the round, showing the entirety of game 1, and the first half of game 2 (no audio this time, sorry):

Round 2 is this Sunday, March 24th, at 3:30pm at Marshall High School.

• Ben Hemphill
• Blake Kingsley
• Brandon Snider
• Jason Snider
• Jerad Klingsporn
• John McPhee
• Lance Brooks
• Lou Alicegary
• Martin Coventry
• Mitch Hooper
• Nathan Weinstock
• Peter Morgan
• Sam Hargrave

• Adam Fox
• AJ Davis
• Bryan Phippen
• Chris Chalk
• Grant Laughlin
• John Gawlista
• Ken Nogiere
• Mike Moberg
• Nate Orrison
• Paul Kovacevic
• Pete Mercurio
• Tyler Cox

• Alec Morrison
• Alistair Brierly
• Ben Parrinello
• Dan Nowell
• Darin Schnoor
• Dave Morgan
• Evan Gremillion
• Jordan Gaylard
• Mike Bennett
• Nick Wirth
• Tim Mann
• Zach Allen

• Jacob Gawlista
• James Begg
• Jordan Fenchel
• Kyle Easton
• Matt Varner
• Patrick Moore
• Paul Francis
• Peter Blundell
• Robert Brierly
• Ryan Gardner
• Scott Johnson
• Will Sandman

PAFL Schedule

With 4 teams this year, we’ll be playing back to back games on every other Sunday. Every team (and thus every player) will play on the same day, there will just be two games. As always you can see our upcoming games and events on our calendar. You can also download a printable calendar here (pdf). All rounds will start at 3:30pm. Here is the 2013 PAFL schedule:

New players are still welcome and encouraged to join us mid-season, come on out and we’ll put you on a team.

As always, we rely on player dues to cover the costs of field rentals, equipment, etc. As in past years, practices are free, but we need everyone to pay their share before playing in games. Membership costs will remain the same as last year. Membership for the season is $70, or $50 for students. We also allow players to pay $10 per game until they’ve paid the full amount, which is especially helpful for new players who want to just try playing in a few games to start. We’re also offering a deal where you can pay $100 for a membership and a club sweatshirt, which is normally $45 separately.

This year we’re also creating a social membership for club supporters who don’t play. It’s $30 and comes with a club t-shirt. We will also be working to set up special discounts for club members at our sponsoring venue where we hold club events (more on that hopefully to come in the near future). You can pay online or bring a check or cash to our practices or games.

We are also offering discounts off of dues to anyone who can recruit new players. If you can recruit one new dues-paying player then we will take $20 off of your membership dues. Two players is $40 off, and if you recruit three then your membership is free.

Schedule

This year we are mixing up the schedule by playing all of our PAFL games in the first half of the season, then turning our attention to 18-a-side games against other clubs. We’ll also have more opportunities than ever before to play against other clubs. We don’t have all of the PAFL fields booked yet due to some complications with Portland Parks and Rec, but I want everyone to at least have the important dates for now. When we have the fields booked, which should be very soon, I will send out a schedule people can print out. For now, all of our games and practices will take place at Marshall High School through the end of March. As always, you can check our website calendar for the most up to date info.

PAFL Games will start on March 10th and will be spaced out every other Sunday until the Grand Final on June 30th. The dates are 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, 4/21, 5/5, 5/19, 6/2, 6/19, and 6/30. Practices will be on Sundays in between.

Later in the summer and fall we have several opportunities to compete in tournaments. Seattle is holding a tournament which is currently scheduled for July 20th featuring some Vancouver teams and Los Angeles. On August 17th we will be holding our Stumptown Throwdown tournament here in Portland. So far Golden Gate, Seattle, and Denver have said they will attend, and we may have more teams coming, including some women’s teams. On September 14th there is going to be a new Western Regional tournament in Sacramento which we will travel to. It sounds like it is going to be well-attended and teams will be divided into divisions like at Nationals so we’ll be playing clubs at our level. Finally, this year Nationals is taking place on October 19th and 20th in Austin, Texas.

PAFL Teams and Format

This year we’re also making some changes to the PAFL format in addition to the schedule. We will intentionally be limiting teams to playing 9-10 a side, and playing on a smaller field (like our games later in the season last year using the rugby goalposts). There’s a few reasons behind this: everyone will have more opportunities to touch the ball during games and be involved in the action, it gives us more flexibility for finding suitable fields, and it’ll give teams a bit more autonomy. Players generally won’t be switching between teams like they did in the past two years, so you’ll just be playing for your team. We’re also going to give PAFL coaches the chance to run some drills for their individual teams at practices sometimes. Between the smaller teams and recruiting some new players, we should also be able to have 4 teams. As a result, we’ll be playing back to back games on PAFL game days, with 20 minute halves. So every team will play every other Sunday.

Overall, our goal is to make it more of a serious and competitive league.

This year our Sunday preseason trainings will commence on February 17th at 3:30pm at the football field for the closed Marshall High School in Portland. The school is located at SE 86th Ave and Bush St, just a few blocks southeast of the intersection of Powell and 82nd, and a few blocks west of I205. Preseason trainings will take place on the 17th, 24th, and March 3rd. It’s a great time for new players to come out and start learning the basic skills of the game as everyone is shaking off the winter rust. On the 3rd we’ll be holding a scrimmage and our annual PAFL Draft to determine the PAFL team rosters.

View Portland Steelheads 2013 Fields in a larger map

Round 1 of the PAFL will then take place on March 10th, also at 3:30 at the Marshall field. This year will see some exciting new changes to the format of the PAFL. We’ll be shrinking the team rosters to play 9 a side, meaning that players will have more opportunities to touch the ball and be involved in the action. Rosters will be more set with fewer team changes, and during our regular practices there will be times when the PAFL teams split out and practice separately under their respective coaches. With smaller rosters, we are planning to add a 4th team, so that we will be playing back to back games every other week. The season will also be more concentrated, running from March through the end of June, instead of being mixed in with our Steelheads games against other clubs. The end result of these changes should be a more exciting and meaningful competition.

Never played Australian football before? We’d be happy to teach you the sport and new players are always welcome at our practices and play in our games along with everyone else, it’s the best way to learn after all. If you have questions about the sport or our club you can email our recruiting coordinators, Jerad and Alistair, at recruiting@portlandfooty.com. Check out our calendar for upcoming events, or sign up for our email list to stay apprised of club activities.

When: Friday, January 25th
Time: Event starts at 7:00pm, music at 9:00
Where: Kells Irish Pub, 112 SW 2nd Ave, Portland

It’ll be a night full of Australian food and culture. There will be a special menu of Australian tucker, as well as Australian beer. A replay of the thrilling 2012 AFL Grand Final between Hawthorn and Sydney will be shown on tv from the start of the night. Starting at 9:00, local jazzy funky rock trio Kenchucky Darvey will take the stage for some live music.

Bring your friends and family and join us in celebrating Australia Day! Stay tuned for more information on the night’s attractions and entertainment.

The Medals:

Best at Nationals (tie): Martin Coventry & Jordan Gaylard
Most Courageous: Scott Johnson
Most Improved: Nick Wirth
PAFL Best & Fairest Runner-Up: Jordan Gaylard
PAFL Best & Fairest: Martin Coventry
Rookie of the Year: AJ Davis
Coaches Award: Brandon Snider
Club Person of the Year: Nick Wirth
Steelheads Best & Fairest Runner-Up: Jacob Gawlista

Trophies:

Hager Trophy for Leading Goal Scorer: Martin Coventry
Best Non-Australian: Jacob Gawlista
Steelheads Best and Fairest: Martin Coventry

Thanks to all of the players and supporters who did their part in making this season a success. 2013 is looking to be a banner year for the club with the 2nd iteration of the Stumptown Throwdown and a trip to Austin, Texas for Nationals. Keep your eyes open for some offseason events.

Go Steelheads 2013!

The awards categories are: Most Improved, Rookie of the Year, Most Courageous, Club Person of the Year, Coaches’ Award, Runner Up PAFL Best & Fairest, PAFL Best & Fairest, Best at Nationals, Scott Hager Leading Goal Scorer, Best Non-Australian, and the Steelheads Best & Fairest.

There will be a special dinner menu for the night (which includes both vegetarian and gluten-free options). The event is a formal, classy affair, so dress to impress!

Following the awards presentations, at 9:00 we will be showing the classic Australian comedy film The Castle. Share some laughs with the rest of the club as we enjoy the film and wind down from a long season. Do note that the Gap becomes 21+ at 9.

Whether you’re a Steelheads player or club supporter, join us in recognizing some standout performances and capping off another successful season.

Later in the day, the Steelheads faced off against the Los Angeles Dragons. The teams had met earlier in the year in San Francisco, with the Dragons narrowly defeating Portland, who went on to win the tournament on percentages. The Steelheads were able to find a trio of extra players, but with Tim and Blake out still were left with only one interchange player. The Dragons were up for the game and dominated the run of play in the first half to enter the break leading by several goals. However in the second half the Steelheads came out with renewed passion and played evenly with LA, trading blow for blow and scoring several goals. Unfortunately the damage had already been done in the first half and the Dragons won despite the Steelheads’ turnaround.

On Sunday the Steeheads were already warming up on the field by the time the sun rose as they prepared for their final game against the Philadelphia Hawks. After a hotly contested opening quarter, the Hawks slowly edged out to a halftime lead. Injuries again took their toll as Scotty copped a broken bone in his left hand. The Steelheads rallied and fought back hard in the second half and kicked a couple of goals. Tim even took the field despite carrying what he would later learn was a broken collarbone. Despite the tough effort, the Hawks prevailed at the final siren. Though in the end they didn’t get the results they wanted, the team played hard in a difficult division against some skilled sides and left nothing on the field. The injury toll didn’t help either, but a big thanks goes out to Scotty, Blake, and Tim, who did everything they could to help the team despite their injuries. Thanks also go to Andrew Daniel, who traveled to Mason to umpire (and was named the Best Umpire in his division for his effort) and assist the team as a runner and managing what interchange was left during their games. The boys finished off the weekend socializing with other clubs first at a local sports bar, and later at the official tournament after-party at an Irish pub in town. A good time was had by all.