{"id":3924,"date":"2017-10-19T09:43:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T22:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/?p=3924"},"modified":"2017-10-19T09:43:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T22:43:58","slug":"a-fun-sized-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/?p=3924","title":{"rendered":"A Fun-Sized Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>During the recent Sydney International Open, we were joined by Sin\u00e9ad Fogarty who filmed proceedings and interviewed a number of players. She has posted the following article and video on the Hatch@Macleay website&#8230;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_34847\"  width=\"480\" height=\"270\"  data-origwidth=\"480\" data-origheight=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b-TOVG18e9U?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=1&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Sin\u00e9ad Fogarty meets the football players leaving it all on the table.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Roars of victory and cries of vanquish volley across the kelly green pitch, as the spirit of Maradona and Messi surge towards an atomic orange soccer ball. Players clad in royal purple puncture past a gutter-dwelling defense. A gasp, then a goal.<\/p>\n<p>Yet instead of a stadium, we\u2019re at the back of a gaming store. The pitch is just a few paces long, while the soccer ball mimics a marble. A skittle-like scatter of jerseys hover around several playing tables. Subbuteo is the fanging football you know and love, fun-sized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of chess, on the run, with snooker. So it\u2019s tactical, but it\u2019s technical, and it requires a lot of fine motor skill,\u201d says Steve Dettre, from the Northern Falcons Table Football Club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe flicking, positioning and the tactics are different from football, but there\u2019s still enough of a connection for the football freaks to love the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Giuseppe Tardiota is one such football freak. A lifelong soccer superfan and hobby-painter, he has been a leading member of the Brisbane Table Football Club for the past five years. A focal point of tournaments around the country are his team of 11 hand-painted figurines. Each are meticulously detailed, down to a manicured moustache.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3925\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3925\" style=\"width: 217px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/subbuteo-box.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/subbuteo-box-217x300.png\" alt=\"click to enlarge\" width=\"217\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3925\" srcset=\"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/subbuteo-box-217x300.png 217w, http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/subbuteo-box-624x861.png 624w, http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/subbuteo-box.png 643w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 217px) 100vw, 217px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3925\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cI used to paint Warhammer 40,000, a tabletop miniature wargame, and then I began painting the miniatures for Subbuteo,\u201d said Mr Tardiota.<\/p>\n<p>High-school art teacher Adrian Elmer also mixes creativity with competitiveness, joining Subbuteo Parramatta four years ago after painting the figurines since he was a kid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI run Subbuteo club at my school, and this year we had nearly 50 kids join in. In first term they try it out and practice, before we play a tournament,\u201d said Mr Elmer.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Dettre agrees it\u2019s a great activity for young people as it helps develop fine motor skill as well as sportsmanship: \u201cIt\u2019s a bit different from playing a computer game because you\u2019re actually facing the other person \u2013 you\u2019ve got to learn to lose, be a gracious winner, and accept the referee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Across Australia there are 11 clubs hosting more than 100 active players, many of whom hope to bend it like Benji Batten. President of the Australian Table Football Association, Benji enthuses the fun and vibrant community, and the friendships, are the best thing about the sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we\u2019re on the tables playing, it\u2019s a little bit competitive. But off the pitch, we\u2019re all just great friends \u2013 there\u2019s a real social aspect to it,\u201d said Mr Batten, from the Melbourne Table Football Club.<\/p>\n<p>Finger football aficionado Bernard Lim travelled all the way from Singapore for the Sydney International Open held on September 24. Representing the Singapore Lions Subbuteo Club, Mr Lim is aiming to reignite the passion for the game in his home country, which was very popular during his childhood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started playing when I was a little kid but by the 90s the sport kind of died. In the last five to six years we have been trying to start a revival by getting together old friends, to help restart the whole energy and scene again,\u201d said Mr Lim.<\/p>\n<p>As the final seconds of the match tumble forward, flicks are ferried or desperately thwarted. As the siren sounds, the figurines are bundled into briefcases, before the players rest their weary hands \u2026 around a well-deserved bevvie. <\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Story, video and graphics by Sin\u00e9ad Fogarty<\/p>\n<p>the original article can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/hatch.macleay.net\/video-a-fun-sized-premier-league\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/hatch.macleay.net\/video-a-fun-sized-premier-league\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the recent Sydney International Open, we were joined by Sin\u00e9ad Fogarty who filmed proceedings and interviewed a number of players. She has posted the following article and video on the Hatch@Macleay website&#8230; Sin\u00e9ad Fogarty meets the football players leaving it all on the table. Roars of victory and cries of vanquish volley across the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3924"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3928,"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3924\/revisions\/3928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/subbuteoaustralia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}