Club focus- come along and join us

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Petter Eek

In Sweden, sports and club atmospheres have played a significant role in enhancing men’s health, both physically and mentally. Our club in particular has long been known for its active lifestyle, with a culture that emphasizes the importance of physical activity and community engagement and a focus on men’s health.

The Södermalm Sports club, in particular thru popular activities like Cycling, Curling, Cricket, and running, offer a structured and supportive environment where men can improve their physical and mental fitness while building social connections. Regular participation in sports helps reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, which are common health concerns for men globally.

By engaging in physical activities, Our members maintain better cardiovascular health, muscle, as well as overall endurance. Beyond the physical benefits, sports clubs provide a valuable space for fostering mental well-being. Physical activity is known to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, which is crucial in addressing the mental health challenges faced by many men right here in Stockholm.

*Team södermalm completing 5th annual Gotland 360 cycling event sept 8*

Furthermore, Our social aspect of the Södermalm sports club creates a strong sense of community. This sense of belonging is essential for men’s mental health, as it encourages open communication and emotional support. Being part of our social club provides men with an opportunity to share experiences, challenges, and victories, both on and off the field. This camaraderie helps combat social isolation, which can be detrimental to mental health specially now as we head into the darker months of the year.

Our club atmosphere plays a vital role in promoting men’s health by offering a balanced approach that combines physical fitness with mental and social well-being. The integration of regular physical activity with a supportive social network creates a holistic foundation for healthier, happier lives.

Please contact the club if you would like to join in on some fun elevating experiences and to develop a new network of friends right here in the hear of Stockholm.

*photo from a social cricket match* *this summer*

Jordo takes home the Bowling trophy in 2024

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Blue Baller

Once again the 2024 Blue Ribbon Bowling event was held at Lucky Bowling on Sveavägen 118. A near record 15 players turned out. Defending champion Sean ‘Kungen’ Hargreaves was back despite having recently recovered from debilitating knee surgery whilst previous winner Condor was out sunning his flower in the Wild West of Australia and Kingsley was planting seeds in Nepal… The scene was set and the mob grabbed one or 2 cold ones before devouring the club sponsored Lucky burgers and chips. Somewhat prematurely, Jordo cracked one through the covers and immediately everyone made their way quickly to the bowling lanes…..

The scoring was free and fast just like Loges on the cricket field and many made it past the 100 mark. The far right lane was made up of Jordo, Big Bla and Jimmy O’brien and there were some high scores in the first round. It felt like we already had the finalists congregated. In the far left lane, Macca, Laser Larry and John Cullen were struggling with gutter throws, toilet visits and general poor play. In lane 2, Tesla was paired with the newbies Alastair and Abba Fernando. Alastair was still drinking the bar dry when the bowling started so they were constantly playing catch-up. Guru was floating around so it was difficult to know what lane he was assigned to however his greatest concern was beating Abba F.

The second game proved once again to be the high point. Jordo open like Condos arse with 3 strikes and from that point it was WA dust between him and the rest of the field however he pulled Big Bla and OB1 along with him and all 3 comfortably passed the 150 mark. And in the far left lane Lazer Larry (previous champ), Kelly Cullen and Macca were in a cat fight for last place. Loges was screaming like a hyena and 3M was scanning the talent on offer.

In the end, it was Jordo that won the night and he got his 4cl shot of tequila. 3M got a free beer for being best dressed and Kungen for being a good bloke and ManU supporter. Big Blue Austin handed over the trophy to Jordo but it was a bit of a tug of war as the protest he had left in had not been fully determined.

Well done one. Well done all. A great night to kick off the year.

Jordo won with 202 and will have his name inscribed on the trophy. Strangely, the 2022 winner was not present on the trophy but that maybe due to the rank cheating that went on that year…

A great evening was had by all participants, We warmly welcome the new members, Alastair, Fernado and big Dave the Victorian, to the club.

after the post match awards and drinks people made their home at a respective time.

We hope to see you all our next club event in March!

By Alex Tesdorf

2023 Söder social Tennis Open

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Jordo

Sunday, 27th of August at the Good to Great Collector Bank Area, Danderyd, was the setting for this year’s annual and always, hotly-contested, Söder tennis championship. With the weather, traditionally, proving to be pretty inclement in the last few days of August here in Stockholm, the championship was held indoors which proved to be not only a magnificent setting but a classy one too, and boy, was there some classy tennis action on the 3 side-by-side courts as the morning turned to afternoon! A lot of ‘ringers’ turned up to play which always makes for top competition.

Hot favourites and eventual winners, Jimmy and Big Blå were brought back down to earth in the first round of fixtures losing 6 – 3 to Ned the lover of Led and Danny Perillo. Meanwhile, centre court action saw the South Africa duo of Loges and Big H blowing a 4 – 2 lead to the late additions to the tennis ‘tournie’ of DK and Murphy, who powered through from behind to come out tops 6 – 4. This momentum gained by this cool and composed pairing saw them see off their next two sets of opponents to qualify automatically for the final, which was again to be staged on centre court. They would be heading into this final with an ‘undefeated tag’ – heavy lies the crown proved to ring true come finals time!

Other highlights from the first three rounds of pool fixtures saw a few tie breaks which always makes for exciting and at times, some desperate tennis and attempts with some of the Söder boys throwing their bodies around the courts. What was pleasing was that not too much colourful language nor raw emotions were thrown around but would tennis be tennis without a racquet or two being thrown at least once? Keeping with this theme, there was some racquet throwing on court 1 in the final round of pool fixtures – no names mentioned but one of the opponents happens to hail from WA, who got aced, so a lot of antagonising had taken place back and forth.

2023 FINALIST

Immediately after club president Jordo and Söders tennis guru, A Brent Smith, went down in a gut-wrenchingly tight tie break to BIG Blå and Jimmy, a play off on centre court took place with WA’s Big Bronza “Condy” and the lucid left-hander Triple M-Macca joining the fray but got pretty much blown away by the tennis trend-setters of the day. Crowd favourites DK and Murph had the boys howling encouragement and plenty verbals but this attempt could not help derail the ‘Blue Train’ with both Jimmy O and Sam full steam ahead from their serves, net play, general tactics and believe it or not, fitness! final score 6-0, 6-4.

See you at our next social event! The 2023 Södermalm Golf handicap – Sep 23

Author Sean Logan

2023 winner Jimmy O and Big Blå

5th Annual Camping weekend Success!

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Jordo

The Clubs 5th Annual Dads and kids Camping long weekend took place at the Klämmingen lake in Sunny Gnesta.

Again The Mayor of G town B.Condon provided some great weather and late evening BBQ ribs to match! As the drizzle cleared up in the first hours upon arrival people began to pitch the tents! and enjoy the late summer weather over the course of the weekend.

With the temperature soaring above 20 degrees the kids were hopping from the 5 metre hop platform all day long late into the evening. The club welcomed Matt Hodgson and kids as first time club camper. He turned up in Style in his vintage 1950’s Red SAAB classic car which created a buzz amongst all the campers, he also manage to land a 40cm Pike with his Boy Oscar.

The chess board was alight all day, to late into the evening with Grand master Elias K giving everyone a tickle up! especially Murf who he played blind folded.

On the Saturday arvo it was annual Kids v’s Dads cricket. the kids are finally coming of age with the bat and ball posting 148 runs on the board. the dads though it might not be enough. Starting the chase strongly the dads were off the a flyer! however a late breakthrough and a middle order collapse saw the kids in total control! brilliant bowling and masterclass catching brought them back into the contest.

Piney almost went for another Quacker but escaped narrowly escaped! to wag the tail but alas the dads could only post 135 going down by 13 runs! the kids celebrated hard ! with a late evening swim in the lake.

By Sunday the fun was all over and many wished it could have been longer. We all started the pack up around lunch and manged to slip away before the Rain came back.

Another successful camping weekend with 6 dads and 11 kids. We hope more can get along next year and we look forward to the cricket rematch against the kids!!!

feel free to get in contact with the club about more info on camping! 20230729

SAFC Golf Handicap 2021

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Blue Baller

The sun was shining. Nerves nowhere to be seen. People dressed in pants. Some short pants. The grass glistening with the ice shavings of an early autumn, lagom mys, kinda day.

Who were we? Jordo doing his best Jesper Parnevik impersonation. All I can say is; plaits. Bruffy playing the Ned Kelly, or maybe Ben Cousins? Such is life tattooed across his soul. McDonalds McManus, bringing it for all the lefties. Big Blue, tracksuit free, “I haven’t played in 8 years” as he smashes another down the fairway. Tesla wearing a shirt that screamed “TESLA I DON’T FIT YOU”. Irish John the silent assassin, flying under the radar until the introspection became too much. Andrew “I walk a lot like Donald Trump” Smith. Needs more than a Thai massage for that. Kingsley looking very sporty, taking a leaf out of Big Blues book, mysbyxor all the way. And there was Condo. Can you be fashionably late on a Sunday morning? Church at a guess.

There was some good golf. There was some bad golf. And there was some really bad golf. Mulligans flowing like wine, bogeys the new par.

Jordo and Bruffy led out the first group in the golf cart. Golf cart! What are you 45? Oh yeah… McManus rounded off the first group. Never has a threesome had so much loneliness. Yeah. See you at the green. Cool. Blue, Tesla and John made up the second group. Condo, Guru and Kings bringing up the rear. Typical.

After a couple of calm opening holes, the third group decided they were being put under pressure, yes pressure, by the group behind them. Balls were raining down on Irish John and Big Blue. Risking life and limb was not part of the days description. And the group exerting the pressure? A group of 75 year old people with vaginas. “No, it WAS stressful! They asked when our tee-off time was!!” Yeah. Sit down. After some colourful exchanges that you wouldn’t necessarily hear around the Christmas table, the third group was allowed to playthrough the two groups in front of them. Lives were saved. This rushing may have cost Smith and Kingsley dearly at the end of the day. Condo was a mere bystander. All day.

But what a front nine. The silence. The grass. The sun. The birds. The freeway. The trucks. All those cars. Calming. After a quick “this could put you in the Emergency Room” toasted ham and cheese thing, it was off to the other side of the road for the back nine. The groups were changed round slightly, Condo playing the loner behind the golf cart in Group one, Blue joining forces with Smith and Kings, with Man or Machine McManus bringing the pain with Tesla and Irish John.

The 17^th hole saw it all come together. 9 men (using that term loosely) all teeing off. The bravery of risking the wrath of the Saggy Boob Brigade was remarkable. Badges would have been given out posthumously if necessary. Fortunately, that was not necessary. Needless to say, because of this unspoken pressure, no one hit the fairway. Apparently, people could just keep hitting until they hit one they liked. Smith had three. Counted the third. That’s finance for you.

The 18^th was emotional. There is no other word that might encapsulate the enormity of the occasion. The moment. The pressure. I mean the pressure! Closest to the pin won a meal from the Thai food truck. There has not been such a sense of destiny since Steve Bradbury did nothing and won gold. Could it be? Is it really true? Closest to the pin? BRUFFY!!! The stars aligned, the gods spoke, the winds moulded. It was beautiful.

After that, could the day get any better? Yes. It could. Big Blue won The Jacket. See you next year slow coaches.

Pool Night

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Grave Danger

So 2018 came and went and the Södermalm Blues event planning committee were behind in their events… So our pool night was on January 25, 2019. A cold evening but Nick, a member of the committee, was feeling the heat as it was his first planned event for the club. So he made sure it started off right with a few beers at the local watering hole, The Roo and Elk.

A few Little Creatures where drank with maybe the one off of Bundaberg Ginger Beers (it was a cold evening).

So as more and more of the participants came in even more messages came saying that they would be 10 mins late (no finger pointing). Once enough of us had shown up we made or way to the pool hall that Nick had conveniently chose because one it was close to the Roo and two it was even closer to his apartment. [maybe some foreshadowing] But his planning was on point, the rules where outlined in detail. Some of them being new even to myself.

Once we made it to the pool hall in Swedish fashion, booking of tables on a Friday night was a no go. We had to wait for a table to be available and win the lottery to see if we would get another close by, which we did. Nick I think at this point was relieved. He had printed out 4 copies of the tournament brackets because he knew that one or two would be fubar by the end of the night and they were. Thanks, Nick!

So the games were starting up and brackets were getting smaller. As the games were being played people started ordering food and once one person ordered falukorv stroganoff it seemed like everyone ordered it.

So after fueling up on some Swedish delicacies the games continued and the time for playing it safe was over. Trick shots started some more successful than others.

Nearing the end of the tournament there were fewer players and more hecklers. Nerves were high and there was at least one person who sank the eight ball prematurely.

Backstreetboy match – Matt B vs Matt C

Those extra bracket prints came in handy. After all the games where played the final game was about to begin. (Matt B vs Worldwar Tom Z)

And the person who came out on top was Matt B.

After the final game was played shots were had and a mandatory photo was taken.

Chess & Homebrew Championships 2017

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Jordo

Last Friday saw the Södermalm AFC 10th annual chess/home brew gala evening!

It was 3rd club social event for the winter season with a strong turn out of 14 participants keen to try their hand at chess or merely along for the beer tasting.

With 2 groups formed with 7 players each off we went…. Group 1 was the group of death with 3 strong favourites Lars, Johnny (7 time winner) and murf (current champion and wearing the yellow jersey) all tussling for top 2 positions and semi final berth.

Murf toppling Jonny Briscoe was what some called an early upset. However murf simply stated ” that was no upset ! no one beats me anymore, i’m the best player Söder has ever seen”.

Bonecrusher, former club downlow champ who has flown from brisbane for the nights festivities forced a miracle stalemate with Lars, Lars also had stalemate against murf, forcing a play off match against Johnny for the 2nd place spot in the semi final which Johnny ended up winning. Murf finished top with 5.5 wins

In group 2 it was a straight forward affair with jordo who cruised to victory in all 6 contests finishing top of the group with 6 points. JR, Chris price and Joel burnell were evenly placed for 2nd place prior to the last group match Joel v price!.

In a thrilling match Joel narrowly beat Chris price to snatch the 2nd place and qualify for the semi-final.

Then followed the home brew tasting interval.

There were 7 entries to the home brew competition from 4 brewers. Check our the photos!

With a wide range of styles and colours of beers, every beer received votes. Voting was a 3,2,1 vote by all 14 jurors.

The final results were as followed.

Black stiffy IPA 7.5% was a clear favourite winning with 23 votes

Brew by Jordo and Lars it had smooth characteristics with a taste of chocolate and hints of coffee and hazelnut.

2nd was Doolz “AA” Pale Ale.

3rd was Brissles’ “Flatliner” Raspberry Weissbier.

Back to the chess semi finals.

Johnny beat jordo in a close exciting game. Jordo ran out of time against the 7 time champion with 30 seconds on johhnnys clock. Denying Jordo his first finals berth.

In the other semi final. All the big talk and alcohol caught up with murf. Not realising his own alcohol intake he made several rookie mistake saw him go from winning to losing by giving up his queen and castle mid game allowing a sober Joel to waltz into his 3rd final.

Then controversy struck. Time had past and we had to vacate the hired hall. The final was to be staged at Lars flat.

The crowd flowed over to Lars’ to watch the final with a few of the kegs on offer from the brewers including the winning brew!…. but in a final that had lost momentum Joel somehow cornered Johnny into a position of submission winning his first final and becoming only the fourth winner in 10 years of the club chess championship!

A great night was had by all who attended.

Also a congratulations to Nick law who beat murf in the pool final on the 7th November.

Next event is the club 10 pin bowling end of January.