President’s Newsletter March 2015

The season proper is drawing closer and the Södermalm players are sweating out every Sunday evening (and most likely other nights as well, going for runs on their own initiative, isn’t that right guys?)  as the pre season preparations are in full swing.
Today, Saturday the 21st March 2015 is only 5 weeks out from Södermalms first official game. That’s right you read that correctly only 5 weeks! It was hoped that pre-season would have moved outdoors for tomorrows training session but we have been thwarted by the weather. So for the time being the pre season training will continue as before:
Sundays @ 17.00, Globala gymnasiet, near Honrstull Tunnelbana station.
Contacts: Mick Larsson – 076 279 96 14 or Kaj Karlsson – 073 073 26 25
This in turn brings a close to the always well received off season social events.
The club will round off March with the Annual Registration night.
WHAT: Södermalm AFC Registration Night
WHEN: Friday 27th March, 7pm (19:00)
WHERE: O Connels Pub in Gamla Stan. http://www.oconnells.se/
 This is great opportunity for players, both past and present as well as our valued social membership group to meet all our new recruits as they get their picture taken with Bluey. As per usual the rumour mill is reporting all sorts of information about Bluey Svenssons attire for the evening. Even thought it is most likely that Bluey will show up with full playing kit the club would prefer it if attendees come in at least a button up shirt and preferably a club tie.
Club Ties and Stubby holders will be on sale for the night and if you forget to bring cash any purchases can be made by bank transfer to the clubs BankGiro.
Please contact the club if you are planning on attending as we have booked a preliminary number of 20. Current members have already received an email about this and a reply YES or NO is required as the club will need to adjust the number of booked seats at the venue.
Memberships for 2015.
NO changes to membership prices this year.
Full Playing member: 1000kr
Student/Unemployed Playing member: 500kr
Social member: 350
Payments are preferred via the clubs BankGiro accout number. However, in an effort to simplify payment of membership fees this year the club will be accepting SWISH transfers to the Presidents Mobile number.
Joel Burnell: 0738 341 357
As an extra incentive, anyone who has paid their membership before or on registration night will receive a free stubby holder OR club tie.
Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday the 27th March.
Go Blues!

Södermalm Curling Championship

After the hugely successful fishing trip the Söder social season continues on ice. Yes, it’s that time of year again when we hit the ice rink for the Södermalm Curling Championship.

It takes place on Thursday the 19th of March between 5-7 pm at Sundbybergs curlinghall. Equipment and instructor will be provided so all you need to bring is a bit of balance and a track suit. There is room for up to 10 people and the price is 100kr/person, the club is sponsoring the rest. E-mail the club if you’re interested. First come best dressed.

The curling hall is just a 10 min. walk from Duvbo T-bane station on the blue line.

Check out this action packed video from one of the previous championships!

The Zohan takes out the Bowling Championship!

Johan “The Zohan” Dahlberg took down a strong field of contenders in the Söder Bowling Championship of 2015 with a score of 135! This marked Johan’s first winter major victory, after previously contending the pool and chess championships . Johan was ecstatic after his big win “I can’t believe it”, he said, “It was the 2nd lowest winning score ever behind Larry’s 124 in 2009”. The Zohan’s name now goes down in history on the Söder Honour Roll, found on this very website at http://www.sodermalmafc.se/honour-roll/. 2nd place was taken by Rappa with 128 and Brissles came in 3rd with 126.

We spare a thought for Matt Barton, who rolled 177 in the 1st round practice and joins Ivan Rexed (2009) as men who rolled the highest score for the day, but not in the Championship round.

Söder 2014 Pool Championship report

A total of 16 players chalked-up for their chance to win the 2nd Söder Winter Major Championship of 2014/2015 on Friday 5th December. The players were drawn into 4 groups of 4 with a seeded player in each group. Group 1 was a fruit salad consisting of Pinapples, Pear, Larry Lime and Benny Banana with the seeded Banana (The Condo) coming out on top. Pear had a shot on the 8-ball to proceed into the quarter finals, but couldn’t nail it, and that opened the door for Pinapples (Fergo) to slip into the quarters.

Group 2 was the group of death, with both eventual finalists coming from here. Barton, Brissles, Hulk and The Kaj had an even tussle Continue reading

Murf wins hearts at 2014 Söder Chess Championship

The big news story from the Söder 2014 Chess Championship held in early November was the Cinderella-like tale of John “Murf” Murphy, who against all the odds stormed into the final and came to within a few moves of taking the 2014 Championship. Although he didn’t win the title, he did win the hearts of all the onlookers… Murf (pictured left in the blue cap) admitted that an email earlier in the week from former coach Stephens had inspired him to achieve greater heights during the Söder social championships during this off-season.

The draw for Group A and B took place early in the evening and saw Group A feature: Max, iGuts, Brissles, Dyldo & Condo. Group B contained: Larry, Murf, Rappa, Tanka, Jordo.

The first group game of the evening spiced up Group A with Max taking down Brissles on the clock. Max proceeded to steamroll through Group A, never losing a group match. The fight for the 2nd spot and a place in the semis from Group A was between Dyldo and Brissles, with iGuts sniffing around as a late chance if results fell his way. Condo unexpectedly Continue reading

Junior Curling

The Söder and Bromma juniors started their social season the other week with curling at Sundbybergs Curlinghall. Both parents and kids turned up and after a short introduction the rocks were flying across the lanes! As always when the footy players take up curling we see some innovative styles. Leo invented the running start and Oliver the backwards sweep, two new techniques that are sure to take off in the curling community. After a few hard fought games it was time to relax with a bit of fika while planning the season of 2015. See you again in January for the next event.

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Timbi Poon is back… for the World Championship

Former Södermalm AFC player Timbi Poon (2010-11,   8 games, 15 goals, 2010 Pool Champion) is back in Scandinavia! Why might you ask? He is representing Australia in the Floorball (Innebandy) World Championships in Gothenburg 5th-14th December. Click http://www.wfc2014.com for details and information on how to get tickets.

Brissles was lucky enough to catch up with Timbi (pictured right) who confirmed that Continue reading

Larry brews Gold!

Fifteen thirsty blues travellers ventured to the annual Söder chess championship on 7th November with more than just chess on their minds… it was also the 1st ever Söder AFC Brewing Championship!

The competition saw 3 brewers (Larry, Jordo and Brissles) enter a total of 5 beers. Larry entered 1 beer, whilst the other two brewers each had two entries (to the dismay of Larry).

Everybody in attendance was a judge of the beer contest and a 3-2-1 voting system was enacted.

After all the votes were tallied, there was a clear winner of the 2014 Gold Medal – O’Larrys Brewery (Master Brewer Larry Hagberg) with their LIPA.

“A traditional Liljeholmen IPA (LIPA, pictured above) fermented over 5 days using Continue reading

Södermalm Awards Night

Around 30 players, spouses and friends turned up for the 8th annual Söder Awards Night.  After a dinner featuring the culinary sensations of O’Learys the evening continued with the traditional medal presentation. The big winner this season Mick Larsson took another scalp by winning the Jordo Shield as Best and Fairest Söder player. Dylan, aka Ronnie Wearmouth, finally broke the curse of being the eternal runner up and brought home the Best and Fairest Australian. Jonas Raninen received the club man award, Martin the coach’s award, Jigga the most consistent player and Tanka goal kicker of the year. Unfortunately SBS was running a documentary on migratory birds the same night so several of the winners were absent.
Bobby Love graced us with one of his rare appearances and announced that he is hanging up the bib and ending his Netball career. He also said that he is contemplating strapping on the boots again. “But only with Jordo as coach” he said. “He never gives me more than 2 minutes on the field and with my fitness that’s just about what I can muster”. Another great awards night that didn’t end until we got kicked out by the O’Learys bar staff, perhaps for the last time?

For those ill-fated who couldn’t make it, you can view the medal presentation on the Söder home page under ‘Honour Roll’

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Jordo dominated the fishing competition

The former champion from 2011 put everyone to shame in this year’s fishing competition. He got off to a flying start by landing a 61 cm / 2.1 kg gös in Gnesta. Next stop for the J-train was the coast outside Helsingborg where he recorded a 1.9 kg torsk. This is a new species for the club although we are still waiting for the log book from the charter boat in order to confirm that the catch was completed in Swedish territorial waters. Larry got on the bard with a 50 cm gädda but apart from that it has been quiet on the fishing front. Several contenders Continue reading

2014 Södermalm Blues Awards night

After the pain of losing slowly fades away we look forward to the start of the social season. We’ll start off by celebrating all those great performances and achivements that this season, for most the time, have brought us in the 2014 Södermalm Blues Awards night. Please book the following date for the premier event of the

Date: Friday 14th of November at 19.00 (drinks from 18ish)
Place: O’Learys, Lijeholmen
Dress code: Club tie, club bow tie or Bluey costume

Don’t forget to bring your wife/girlfriend/better half/registered partner/ unregistered partner or other beloved family members to this event (the fathers in the club better start looking for a babysitter)

If you don’t have a club tie, contact a member of the board (ties will also be sold at the awards night).

More info will be posted so check your mailboxes as we move closer to November!

Registration night on Friday!

Registration night is being held at our club sponsor O’Learys Liljeholmen on the 21st of March. The booking is from 6 pm and dinner will start at 7 pm. Bluey Svensson has confirmed his attendance and will be giving out wise words and Celtic handshakes. Rumor has it that coach Bull and captain Dildo are going to say a few motivating words. And you might hear the club president say a few words as well. You don’t want to miss any of it!

Dress code: Club tie!

Make sure you let the club know if you’re coming. RSVP to the club e-mail.

A brand new board, and bowling champ!

2014 – the year of the Blues started last Sunday with the Söder AGM. Twelve interested souls turned up at O’Learys to elect a board and discuss the season. Since all board positions were up for grabs we’re happy to announce a completely new board: President – The Kaj, VP – Theo, secretary – Jonas and treasurer – Iron Guts.

The meeting was followed by the annual bowling competition and for the first time in Söder history we had a junior competition as well as a senior.  After the usual practice round it was time for the championship round. Dylan got off to an early lead with 142 and looked like a strong contender as previous winners couldn’t deliver. Larry peaked too early, Bull overthrew his shots and Brissles possibly suffered from too much practice. However, the late finisher James smashed all competition with a whopping 196, the second highest winning score in the history of the bowling competition.  Congratulations to James! We’re just awaiting clearance from the Söder bowling committee regarding the use of one’s own personal bowling ball.

Bowling champ!