Eddie Hocking Stars in West End Slowdown XVI
Our West End Slowdown returned to Gliderol Stadium on Sunday, and was the place to be for Father’s Day
With gates opening at 11:00am, early arrivals were not short of entertainment, with children’s activities around the grounds, roving mascots and a special Father’s Day photo booth! Plus, with thanks to our naming rights sponsor West End, the first 100 Dads through the gates received either a small cooler bag or cap as our way of saying Happy Father’s Day!
We also had two special guests with Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis O’Brien performing our Welcome to Country, and Oscar Bridges, who just wrapped with the Adelaide Cast of The Sound of Music, performing our National Anthem.
This year, we introduced an exciting new team format that we are incredibly proud of, with the SA Legends versus the Indigenous All Stars. More than just a game of football, the 2016 West End Slowdown became a celebration of the contribution of SA and the Indigenous population to Australian Rules Football.
To the game itself and Andrew Jarman entertained the crowd as usual in his long skins, full sleeve and head band! Shaun Tait proved his talents extend beyond the cricket pitch, kicking 2 goals and crowd favourite Tony Modra wound back the clock, kicking 4 goals. Even Claude the Crow got involved!!
Scores were relatively close throughout the day, until the SA Legends kicked away to a 3 goal lead by three-quarter time. However, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Kyam Maher and legendary Crow Andrew McLeod led the Indigenous All Stars to a 3 point victory!
However it was the magic from small forward Eddie Hocking that was the highlight of the day, who ended the day with 3 goals to his name and the Slowdown Medal around his neck, prompting a chorus of ‘Eddie!’ around the ground, a sound Crows fans would be used to!
Thankfully, with the weather was on our side this year, we attracted a crowd of approximately 6,000 people to Gliderol Stadium Glenelg, and also had a peak of 110,000 viewers of the match telecast on Channel 7.This is up from just over 70,000 last year!
Most importantly, this year’s West End Slowdown raised around $140,000. This money will go towards our ongoing support services for seriously ill children and their families, including our Little Heroes Care program and the continuing developments with our new Centre for Robotics and Innovation.
Little Heroes Foundation would like to thank our dedicated staff, sponsors, players, volunteers, and our Little Heroes families. Without your continued support, our West End Slowdown would not be the event that it is today.
Below is a selection of photos from the day! You can view a full photo gallery here, courtesy of Chris Kelly!
Our 2016 West End Slowdown Sponsors…
