In the next Your Footy Family stories we share the tale of Shannon Busch who formed her own Swans family.
I fell in love with AFL in the late 80s - it was the end of the Capper era. Who could forget those shorts? At 7 or 8 years old, they left a lasting impression! It's one of the reasons AFL caught my eye, but not the only reason.
No one in my family followed AFL, they were all NRL tragics, so I spent the next few years teaching myself the rules by watching games on TV - working out the scoring, the positions, the umpiring!
I couldn't afford to sign up as a member back then, but I had the merchandise to prove how fanatical I was. I loved my 1996 Final 8 T-shirt.
In '99 I finally joined as a member. Together with a couple of friends I had discovered also loved AFL as much as I did, we went to fan days, Barassi's BBQs (the fun we had at those!) and as many home games as we could manage.
We loved the players, especially Jude and Goodes who were the same age as us. Nick Davis was a hit, too.
We had formed a makeshift Swannies family! Three friends who loved nothing more than watching AFL - the fact that there were very fit, very good looking players was beside the point.
In '04 I found out I was pregnant. Cue the membership form for the as yet unborn child - name, DOB, gender all TBA - and a call from a very confused membership department. In January '05 I was able to contact them back - the newest Swans member had been born, 18 days early and with a set of lungs that would do any cheering fan proud.
It was on omen - new Swan in the family at the beginning of the year, followed by the first premiership as Sydney and the first in 72 years for the club. My son and I, along with my friend and my mother, were there to see it. Our Swans family grew that day - every Swans fan there that day was our brother, sister, aunt or uncle!
(The photo included is of my son at the '05 GF.)
Club Swans was a favourite hangout during the season for away games, and we enjoyed the banter with the best MC we've know, Mr Craig Davis (we figured out why we liked Nick so much, we got a lot of his personality from his dad). He made us feel like part of his family while we were there and, as fate would have it, I would get to know Nick and his family better in years to come.
By profession, I am a Gymnastics coach. Nick and his lovely wife started bringing their daughter to gym classes. Over the years, we've met at fan days and around the traps at coaching clinics and events. It's nice to feel connected to the players and the club in more than just a fan-in-the-stands way, to be able to say hi, to talk about things outside of footy, to feel like you're part of the Swans family.
My son started playing footy as soon as he could. He plays for the love of it, he hopes to one day play for the Swans, even if it's only one game! He's now old enough to try out for the Academy and even though he didn't get through this time, he'll try again and again because he loves his footy and he loves his team.
Through his love of footy, we've also come to know another son of the Swans - Tim Schmidt. He has proven an excellent coach and a great support over the last couple of years and he embodies what it is to be part of the swans family - generous of time and a font of advice.
For the last 6 years, we've had the same family sit behind us at home games. Though we live on opposite sides of the city, their daughter and my son have become firm friends. They have grown up together - from being able to share a seat because they were so small to trying to outdo each other in the yelling stakes!
My Swans family now includes a very special group of people, some of whom I've never met in person. They are the online family - members of the Swans community in various groups (most especially the "Sydney Swans - Onwards to Victory" group on Facebook). During the season we chat about all things swans, and in the off season we chat about all things swans. We are swans family and support each other through the ups and downs, both on and off the field. We have come together over births, marriages and deaths in our group and it has brought us closer.
Last year my son got his 10 years certificate of membership. In a few years, we'll hit a milestone together - he'll get his 14 years and I'll get my 20 years. This celebration of our milestones with our extended Swannies family makes us feel valued and we know that we are part of a family, not just a club.
Our family may be small, but we're passionate and loyal.
Our Swannies family, however, is huge! It extends from one side of the city to the other, from one side of the country to the other, from one side of the world to the other, and it gets bigger every day.
