2018 USAFL Division IV champions
The Dockers title defense is underway in the 2019 season!
Both the men’s and women’s teams have confirmed their full schedules for the 2019 season. The schedules are listed on the Men’s Fixture and Women’s Fixture pages, respectively.
On Friday, November 16th, Dockers friends and family gathered for the Awards Gala to close out the team’s successful first season. Congratulations to the award winners for the Dockers’ 2018 championship season!
The Rookie of the Year award goes to the best first-year player. Several new players were eligible, and Dockers coach Bryn Hansen faced a difficult decision to pick just one player. The 2018 award goes to John O’Connor.
The Clubman of the Year award goes annually to the person who has contributed the most to the overall life of club, and has best exemplified the Docker spirit. The 2018 award goes to Matthew Byrne.
The Coach’s Award, selected by Dockers coach Bryn Hansen, goes to the player who has demonstrated the best team spirit and set the best example to their teammates. The 2018 Coach’s award goes to Kit Drury.
The Women’s Best and Fairest Award goes to the player from the Dockers’ women’s team, the Baltimore-Washington Lady Eagles, who has played the best and has best demonstrated the spirit of fair play. The 2018 award goes to Kristin Poti.
Before the top award of the night, club president Ian Payne presented a special award for team spirit and service to the club. The award went to players who have always gone above and beyond in their generosity and enthusiasm on and off the field. But since these two are best mates and we always see them together, the board had no choice but to give the special award to both Kit Drury and Mark “Ski” Salansky. Thank you both for everything you do for the club!
The final award of the night, as per Australian sporting tradition, is the Men’s Team Best and Fairest Award, to the player who has contributed most on the field while exemplifying true Docker spirit. At the end of each match, the two match umpires select and rank the best three players that day. At the postseason awards gala, the votes are publicly counted, round by round – three points for first, two for second, and one for third. The player with the highest point total wins the Best and Fairest award. After the final tally, the 2018 winner was… Dockers President Ian Payne.
Congratulations to Ian and all the 2018 winners, and thanks to all the Dockers players, friends, and family for a successful 2018 awards gala!
What an intro to Coach’s Corner this month. While the bruises are still purple and the body sore from our weekend in Racine WI at the USAFL National Tournament, the smile has not yet faded. We went to Racine to win our division and after a hard-fought win against Seattle (combined with Las Vegas and Arizona) in the grand final we did just that.
I am very proud of all those who put the boots on for Baltimore this year as we went about establishing ourselves both on and off the field. It has been a steep learning curve for myself in a coaching role, no less so than those who have had a run around playing “footy” with us for the first time ever this year.
The Dockers had a solid training regime coming into the Nationals competition and I believe this helped us achieve our goal for 2018. The additional numbers we had helped us train in the style we wanted to play- to hold possession and to lock the ball into our offensive half as much as possible. Game style football training (practice) is where I believe we need to direct our focus to continue to develop as a club and achieve higher goals moving forward. We trained hard in the final month and it really did show on the field. Skills and fitness will obviously be a steady diet for the Aussie footy player but where we can really develop the nuances of the game is with game style training.
In the first game of Nationals 2018, Baltimore were a little slow out of the blocks. This was against Seattle, our Nationals nemesis. Whilst not outplayed, missed scoring shots and a lack of focus had the Dockers with their backs against the wall. The second half was a very different story however and Baltimore were very unlucky after sustained pressure to lose by 4 points.
This was the last game they lost and from then on Baltimore played “Our Style of Footy”. This oft repeated mantra (cue Ian Payne and myself) related to the type of football we wanted to play and what that meant if we played that style- i.e. we would play clean, tough, fast moving football. We would be having fun on the field and all this together will lead to victory. Essentially this is the style we want play and what we want to be known for in the future.
This determined play style led to the team hoisting the DIV IV Cup and celebrating the tough victory at Nationals.
This really is an amazing achievement for a new club. This has been made possible due to the massive amounts of hard work put in behind the scenes by the Dockers board members. I thank you for all your efforts. I also thank all those that came down and had a run and for those that helped throughout the year. Thank you to those that flew back from Aus to put the boots on for us again, you know who you are.
It has been a great year for the Baltimore Dockers and I believe this success will continue if we can stay together and continue having fun as a team (and as always at the end of my coach’s corner, KEEP COMING TO TRAINING!)
See you all at the end of year windup.
Brynno
The Baltimore Dockers men’s team has won the USAFL Division 4 national championship!
The Dockers defeated the Arizona Outlaws in the Division 4 Grand Final, by a score of 31-22.
Stay tuned to this site for more updates!
The Dockers’ two games today will be shown LIVE, with commentary, on Go Live Sports Cast. You can watch the games TODAY (Saturday, October 13th) at noon and 3 PM on Field 2, at this link:
The Dockers men’s team schedule for the USAFL Nationals Championships has been announced!
Baltimore Dockers
Seattle Grizzlies B
Baltimore Dockers
Atlanta Kookaburras
This Saturday, the Dockers men’s team played their final games of the 2018 regular season in Philadelphia. In the USAFL’s traditional format, three teams gather in one city for a round-robin format in which each team plays the other two. The Dockers’ opponents were the New York Magpies and the Philadelphia Hawks.
The Dockers brought sixteen players, a mix of veterans and first-gamers, to face two of the largest and best-organized teams in the Eastern Australian Football League. Although the Dockers eventually lost both games, they played proudly throughout.
Game 1 started as a back-and-forth contest between the Dockers and Magpies, before the New York pulled ahead with three goals late in the first half. In the second half, the Dockers’ back line played with their trademark intensity and skill, holding the experienced Magpies without a goal.
Baltimore Dockers
1.3.9
New York Magpies
4.4.28
Game 2 was a low-scoring defensive battle throughout the first half, with the halftime score level at 9-9. But as the game wore on, Philadelphia’s superior numbers made the difference, as the Hawks scored eight unanswered goals plus two behinds for a final score of 59-9.
Philadelphia Hawks
9.5.59
Baltimore Dockers
1.3.9
And so the Baltimore Dockers men’s team closes out its first-ever regular season of operations after playing an incredible 17 matches, finishing with a record of 5 wins and 12 losses. Their next appearance will be the weekend of October 13, 2018 at the United States Australian Football League (USAFL) National Championships in Racine, Wisconsin. Matchups for championship weekend will be announced next week.
The Dockers’ doubleheader against the Chicago Swans and the DC Eagles, scheduled for Saturday, September 15 in Washington has been CANCELLED due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Florence.
The Dockers’ men’s team plays its next game on Saturday, September 22nd at noon against our rivals, the Philadelphia Hawks.
The Hurricanes maintain their undefeated record through all of world history.
Seriously, everyone stay safe, especially our mates from the North Carolina Tigers, who are directly in the path of the storm.
Follow the progress of the storm from the advisories of the National Hurricane Center.
The Dockers men’s team won a thrilling game against the Philadelphia Hawks today, using a fourth-quarter comeback to win by a score of 33-32.
Baltimore Dockers
3.15.33
Philadelphia Hawks
4.8.32
The Dockers were down 30-19 at the end of the third quarter, but came back to score 14 points while holding the Hawks to just two behinds. The defense withstood intense pressure from the Hawks’ forwards in the last two minutes to hold on for the first win over Philadelphia in club history.
The entire game was played in driving rain at Baltimore’s Patterson Park. Thanks to the Hawks for their fierce competition on the field and their camaraderie off the field, thanks to the umpires, and especially thanks to the fans who turned out in heavy rain to cheer on your team!
At the same time, our women’s team, the Baltimore/Washington Lady Eagles, split two games on the road in New York. The Lady Eagles lost to San Francisco 56-0, but defeated New York 16-0.
New York Magpies Women
0.0.0
DC Eagles Women
2.4.16
San Francisco
Iron Maidens
8.8.56
DC Eagles Women
0.0.0
The Dockers’ next men’s game is next Saturday, September 15th, in Washington, DC against the Chicago Swans, while the women’s team prepares for USAFL Nationals.
Baltimore Dockers
Chicago Swans
Your Baltimore Dockers take the field for their final home game of the 2018 season, this Saturday, September 8th. The opponent is the Philadelphia Hawks, who prevailed in two close games earlier this year.
Baltimore Dockers
Philadelphia Hawks
The Dockers will play at 1 PM in a new location: at Baltimore’s historic Patterson Park, near the famous neighborhoods of Fells Point and Canton. The game will take place on Fields 8 and 9, east of Linwood Avenue between Eastern Avenue and Pratt Street:
Join the team and supporters there! The first bounce is at 1 PM, rain or shine. The game will be followed by a traditional Dockers afterparty at our sponsor, Nobles Bar and Grill in Federal Hill. All players and supporters from both teams are welcome!
Location
Fields 8 and 9, Patterson Park, Baltimore MD (map)
Schedule
1:00 PM – Men’s Game
6:00 PM – celebration at Nobles (map)
Last week, Coach Bryn and a few senior players met to discuss what it means to play for the Dockers. During this meeting, they selected Nick Sisca to Captain the men’s team on the field for the 2018 season. Nick leads by example both on and off the field between trainings, competition, and managing the Dockers’ football operations.
We are excited for his leadership in the Dockers’ inaugural national title campaign, so everyone get around our new captain Sisca!