I love Friday the 13th. Well I did until that fateful day in March which will forever be remembered as the day that Covid-19 hit home in the hardest of ways. 

I was due to attend a friends Wedding (as a guest for a change), shoot events at the Grand Prix and also fit in some NPL.

As word came through that the Grand Prix was cancelled. This would begin a tsunami that has totally changed the shape of 2020 for me and I imagine most people in the events and creative industries. Have you ever had that moment when you suddenly felt like the rug has been pulled from beneath you? Well, for me this was that moment.

During the first 10 days of isolation I somehow managed to shoot the W-League Final as well as a attend a hastily re-arranged wedding with five people. While I shot with a long lens from the edge of station pier as I would have been the sixth person.

So, here we are three months into the new ‘normal’ and I have been trying to find a purpose in my everyday and professional life. 

After a fair bit of sole searching FOOTBALL IS. Isolation was born. I soon worked out that my reasons for spending time doing this project was a kind of isolation therapy for myself and also as a way of staying connected to one of the communities I deal with a lot. So for me it was important to ask the question:- How did it feel when lockdown began and what do you think this has done for your wellbeing and mental health?

You are probably familiar with the social media posts of Sports people training in isolation and keeping themselves occupied during this period. As I embarked on this project it was difficult to get some of these stunning images out of my head. 

They say shoot what you know. Well, this has never been truer then now. When you don’t have work you can make two choices wait for it to come to you or go out and make it. I played with a few ideas but none of them excited me until I came up with the idea to gather up stories from within the Football community.  I was wondering how everyone was coping.

So, I set myself the task to speak to a variety of people involved in the Football scene in Victoria to see what impact the lockdown has had on them. The people I have spoken to come from a range of clubs and all have a connection with some aspect of NPL Victoria (men and women) and State Leagues.

Life before lockdown

On March the 13th this was the state of the play, NPL was entering round 6, the FFA Cup was in the process of completing round 3. The NIKE FC Cup, as well as the NPLW, NPL 2 & 3 and State League competitions were a week away from kick off. Everything was set for a great winter of sport and other than a few concerns no one really had an idea that the competition was about to enter a sudden hibernation. 

So, where to start?

Unlike your professional athlete those choosing to ply their trade ‘off broadway’ often need to hold down a full or part-time job, study and do some coaching. Either way a typical day is different depending on who you speak to and don’t forget they have family, partners and other responsibilities to balance while being involved in this crazy sport. 

Ultimately for the players, officials, volunteers and club administrations the week is focused on the day to day operations of the Football club. Everyone’s pre-covid experience is different and it’s work taking note of that a typical day looked like for some of the people involved. Prior to lockdown life was busy. Here is a snapshot of what was happening in the lives of some of the people I spoke to. For Heidelberg United’s Josh Wilkins life prior to lockdown was a mix of

‘ I’m doing my Masters at VU studying exercise physiology. I have placement at the moment so from 8am to the afternoon, I’d either have training from 5-8pm, or Uni from 5-9 at Footscray. A lot of the time was pretty busy. The only day off was one of the days on the weekend and that would be either Saturday or Sunday depending on when we played.’

Prior to lockdown Steph Galea from Heidelberg United’s women’s team had a very strict regimen which involved work from 9-5pm, training of the u16’s girls team at 5:30 and then training with the Senior Girls from 7:30pm - 9:30pm. She would then go home have dinner and repeat it again the next day. These experiences are just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on your relationship with the game your experience is different. 

It’s no different for Referee Adam Bavcar who also has a family involvement with the sport through his brother Nick who plays at Werribee City. Football is not too far away from everyday life. Adams recollection of a typical day demonstrates how busy life was 

‘My typical day usually involves going to school. I’m a secondary school teacher down at Lalor SC. I teach both PE and Science. So it involved me spending most of my day outdoor and getting that balance with indoor as well. 

Then after school you’ve got the commitment of going to training every week and preparing for your games on the weekend. So, throughout the week balancing the school and referee life was difficult at times because you have to give your best to both professions. But it was a healthy balance as well. A balance I really enjoyed.’

For Hume City’s Matt Lazarides football occupied

‘three days a week including training and a game, I’d wake up 7am drive to Cooolaroo station, go to work from 8:30 - 5pm, leave work, take a train back to the station. Go to the station for 6:30-8:30pm, have dinner. Get home at 9:30pm. So it was a full day.’

Life before lockdown for Alessandro Arbizzani was the inevitable mix and work.

‘I would get up go to work, spend my whole day in an office in South Yarra. During the weekends I would go and usually assess referees as I am a Football Assessor and then I’d usually y go to the pub which is one of my favourite destinations, go out for brunch with he wife over the weekend.’

I spoke with Mark Sultana, the relatively new President of Caroline Spring George Cross FC (CSGC). As a club CSGC were approaching 2020 with great optimism and have their eyes firmly set on promotion back into the NPL.  Mark explained

‘That the new facilities at City Vista and the ‘support of Ed Gauchi through his company seachange in making sure that we were staffed well and had a product to offer to the public in term of food, drink and service.’

The appointment of coach Eric Vassiliadis has seen the club ‘work very diligently to attract the right footballer so we had a very good chance of getting promoted this year. 

So if you take a step back to early Jan/Feb we were pretty much flying as a football club. It’s been the first time for a while that we have been united from juniors all the way through to seniors. Obviously, our junior were not able to be at Chapman reserve so they were training at different venues.’

The thing we have discovered in 2020 is that there is no point making plans. You need to be adaptable and accept change. The on off nature of not only sport but everything else in our lives means you need to enjoy the simple pleasures and embrace any opportunity when it comes. The prospect of the first lockdown loomed large for everyone. There is a distinct difference in everyone’s lives. The next chapter of FOOTBALL IS. Isolation looks at the impact on everyone and how they have dealt with it.