This is the 25th anniversary of the United States Australian Football League. Over the next couple of weeks, I will post some of my memories of my time playing for the Phoenix Scorpions, now the Arizona Hawks.
Clubs today are primarily Americans, with a few Aussies wanting one last kick. In the early days most clubs were founded by Aussies who found each other in a bar and somehow dragged a few Yanks onto the field. The Phoenix Scorpions on the other hand had to drag a lot of Americans on to the field, only having a half dozen Aussies to get the ball rolling.
Most of us who came out for the Scorpions were Americans who remember when ESPN actually had a shortage of programming and televised the then VFL games on tape delay in the early 80s. This meant our roster was made up of players in our 30s and early 40s. We thought at the time this looked like a great game to play. Why we still thought this was a good idea 15 years later we never did figure out.
The Scorpions were not the most successful club in the California Australian Football League. In fact we only avoided the wooden spoon in 2000 because of a CAFL rule that gave a team one point for not having to forfeit. We may have lacked speed, skill and talent, but we managed to a show up with enough players every game. This was better than the LA Crows who managed to forfeit a home game with the Santa Cruz Roos.
The 2000 Scorpions were not the most successful team on the field. Off the field, we did have some of the best clubmen in the competition. Clubmen do everything from getting the fields ready to play, officiating, and organizing club activities. The high point may have been the World Metro Footy Invitational Tournament, better known as the Free Beer Tournament.
Footyfried 