Sullivan stars with 7 in Finesse Built Slowdown
Our Finesse Built Slowdown returned again in 2017, this time venturing into new territory at Norwood Oval! Fans who braved the cold to support our Little Heroes and cheer on our teams were treated to a great game between the Slowdown All Stars and SANFL Legends! The day raised significant funds for our Little Heroes Care program, thanks to the support of our corporate sponsors, staff and dedicated team of volunteers.
From 11:00am, Triple M, Games 2 U, In2Cricket and our roaming mascots kept the crowds entertained with plenty of pre-game activities, before Inclusive Sport SA and the Adelaide Footy League C7 Division (for footballers with an integration difficulty) played a curtain raiser game. In Slowdown itself, twin brothers from the program Jesse and Luke Goodman joined the footy legends on the field (an experience we’re sure they will never forget!) with Luke kicking five goals for the Slowdown All Stars!
Singing the National Anthem on the day was the very talented Alex De Porteous—co-presenter of SceneTV and a big supporter of Little Heroes Foundation! Rachael Leahcar also took to the stage and performed two songs after our curtain raiser match.
Due to the weather, we unfortunately had to cancel our annual skydivers. However, our amazing ambassador Nathan Van Berlo was quick to save the day, delivering the Slowdown cup to Little Hero Izzy!
Izzy was just like any other 4 year old girl – happy, bright and excited to be starting kindy. In February 2017, after falling unwell and experiencing fevers and facial swelling, Izzy was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). As part of a sporty family, Izzy was honoured to be asked to collect the cup at the Finesse Built Slowdown, but the honour was all ours! A big thank you to Nathan for being a part of this special moment (and for celebrating his first Father’s Day with us!)
Now to the game! This year we introduced an exiting new concept, putting former legends of our local league, the SANFL Legends, against champions of the AFL in the Slowdown All Stars! Tony Modra (All Stars) and Andrew Jarman (Legends) were our captains for the day, coached by SA football royalty Graham Cornes and Mark Mickan. Zac Beckwith – son of the director of Finesse Built Matt Beckwith, who pulled on the boots for our Slowdown All Stars – kicked things off with the coin toss! The first quarter saw Mods’ All Stars kicking with the breeze! Jars was up to his usual antics (probably reportable by today’s standards!) and by the first break, the All Stars has kicked away to a 28 point lead.
Andrew Sullivan from Sullivan Consulting (a regular supporter of Little Heroes Foundation) played out of the goal square and promised to donate $300 for every goal he kicked. The players clearly got the memo, and Andrew finished the day with a best-on-ground 7 goals, winning him the Slowdown Medal! In the end, the experience of the Slowdown All Stars prevailed, winning by 12 points!
Little Heroes Foundation would like to especially thank:
• Our staff and dedicated volunteers. Without you, these events cannot happen. Rain, hail or shine, we know we can always rely on our volunteers to put in so much effort for our events, and this year’s Finesse Built Slowdown was no exception!
• Our Little Heroes families. Many of you have children undergoing intensive treatments and very rarely have the time to spend together as a family between hospital visits. A very big thank you to all that braved the conditions to cheer on our teams. Today is all about supporting you during these tough times and seeing you all enjoying the day reminds us why we do what we do.
• Our sponsors. Whether its donating products for our families/volunteers to enjoy, your services to save us event running costs, your support in helping promote the event, or simply a donation towards our Little Heroes Care program, thank you for supporting our game in 2017. We hope to see many of you supporting our game again in 2018!
Below is a selection of photos from the day! You can view a full photo gallery here, courtesy of Adam Butler from 80kms Photography, and John Hall from Halls Cranes.