The sky may have been dark and the rain was constant, but none of that mattered for these football masters.
The Victorian Country Masters Carnival was held at Kialla Recreation Reserve on Saturday afternoon and teams from across the state journeyed to Shepparton to compete in the tournament.
The competition consisted of eight teams of footballers aged 35 or over, with each side having two games (made up of two 20-minute halves).
The top two ranked sides then played off in a grand final before — like all good football carnivals — participants and their friends and family wandered over to the pub for a night of celebration.
Although Shepparton failed to produce the goods weather-wise, Goulburn Valley Giants league delegate and carnival co-ordinator Jason Aspland said the event was a raging success.
“The gloomy weather didn’t affect the attitudes, that is for sure,” he said.
“I thought at first when (the weather) was going to be like that, we would have a lot that wouldn’t turn up, but everyone turned up and everyone had fun.
“The social side of it was amazing.
“Some teams were a little bit short on numbers and all they had to do was turn around and say, ‘Hey, anyone wanna play a game?’
“They would have 10 hands go up.
“The spirit of football (was on show) and that’s why we play masters.”
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GV Giants’ Matt Walker scans the field for teammates. Photo by Megan FisherImage 2 of 7
GV Giants’ Steve Tate boots a long bomb. Photo by Megan FisherImage 3 of 7
GV Giants’ Ash Tweedie on the run. Photo by Megan FisherImage 4 of 7
GV Giants’ Steve Pigatto receives a handball while under pressure. Photo by Megan FisherImage 5 of 7
GV Giants’ Matt Walker looks to evade his opponents. Photo by Megan FisherImage 6 of 7
GV Giants’ Jason Rogers looks to smother while on the mark. Photo by Megan FisherImage 7 of 7
GV Giants’ Jim Potter gets the ball to his boot. Photo by Megan FisherShepparton’s side in the tournament was the Goulburn Valley Giants. Although the home team lost its two group-stage matches (against the Moorabool Valley Crocs and Gisborne Bulldogs), Aspland said the results were only a small focus of the day.
“The GV Giants had good numbers and were there to support the other teams if they were short,” he said.
“Our own team was really good, but we didn’t have a lot of luck on the day with wins ourselves, but we had a lot of fun as a group.
“We were hoping to get 50-100 people back to the Peppermill Inn; when I got there — because I was cleaning up at the ground — there would have been 200 people at the Peppermill.
“It was exactly what we hoped it would be.
“We had quite a lot stay in Shepparton overnight, so financially for the town, it was a good thing to have.”
An event as large as the carnival couldn’t have happened without the help of volunteers both on and off the field.
Aspland wanted to thank many people, but he believed one man was arguably the star of the show.
“One umpire in particular deserves a mention in the paper and that was Troy Watts,” he said.
“He umpired eight out of the nine games.
“He stayed out in the rain, game after game and it was amazing.”
Aspland said that, given the strong support from clubs and players who attended, the masters football carnival will be here to stay in Shepparton for the foreseeable future.
The carnival co-ordinator said he hoped the event would continue to grow stronger with each passing year.