As we scoot around town covering the local football and netball each weekend, something has caught our eye.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It is a tradition that could easily have been swallowed up in the carnage of modern life, but one that remains intact.
It is the band of mascots that most clubs still have running out with their senior players each week.
While the role of water boy is the path many young supporters now take to be part of the inner sanctum, the mascot is still a common sight.
It took me back to the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s.
There of course were no water boys back then, a quick drink of cordial at half-time and some oranges at three-quarter time was the only sustenance for players in those days.
So the chance to run out with the senior team as a mascot was a huge thrill.
Our family's club was Tower Hill and rain, hail or shine we'd be there to watch them play (a story for another day).
But to quote today's terminology, it was not just about watching, it was an interactive experience.
And it wasn't just the chance to be a mascot that awaited.
Before and after the game and any time the game paused for longer than a minute, there were kids on the oval as far as the eye could see.
They had footballs of all descriptions - plastic ones, leather ones with part of the bladder hanging out and some so rain-soaked they were as hard as a chunk of bluestone.
The kids were kicking these footballs in all directions, some kicking goals from the boundary, some in an extended wrestle and a six-person pile-on and some having a crack at the classic kick-to-kick.
And you could always find somewhere among the chaos, that one kid in his own world, commentating his own match of the day.
And everyone was dressed for the occasion, it was either your local or VFL team jumper.
It was woollen, scratchy and heavy, with a collar and a buttoned V at the front.
It didn't have a sponsor's badge, just maybe a badge with the VFL logo.
On the back would be a sewn on or ironed on number, which was always a homemade job.
If you were taking on mascot duties for the day, chances are you would have had the full kit on: shorts, socks and boots.
Even these items were of their time.
Like the jumper, the socks were heavy and woollen.
The boots were normally at least at your ankles, often higher and had long sprigs.
All the old school dads made sure we had long sprigs in during the wet weather, even though we weren't actually playing.
The old blokes hated moulded sole boots, they reckoned you couldn't keep your feet in them.
And so it was that they would always ask, even as when we were adults playing senior footy, have you got your long stops on.
And the shorts were basic, the odd kid might have ones with the VFL logo down the side, but most were plain.
If you were lucky you might have one set for home games, in Tower Hill's case blue, and one for away games, always white.
The old-timers referred to footy shorts as "nicks."
So between the winter-soaked grounds and the long stops, we would come home after a Saturday at the footy with mud and blood splattered all over us.
What a time it was.
