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The 2011 Women's International Cup of Australian Football was a roller coaster of emotions.  What better way to end my playing career with the Freedom than the first women's International Cup? I was expecting the feelings of elation that come with seeing a dream come true.  And I knew that I would also be feeling the sadness of knowing that this was a farewell tour. 

How We Got Here

When we established the first women's competition outside of Australia in 2003, Leigh Swansborough and I had a vision of women from across the globe participating in such an event.

Cairns seemed to loosen the Freedom ladies up. After stepping off the plane and getting our gear into the hotel rooms, we headed to the field to play our hosts the Cairns AFL Womens team. As you read from Nikki’s report it was a tough loss. But, we played well and we kept improving as the clock ticked on.

Game 2 was like taking our first couple of steps. We played an even tougher team than the Sydney Shamrocks, called the Cairns Bombers, but after some adjustments by the coaches and some post-game/pre-game pep talks, we certainly began to capitalize on our strengths and exploit the weaknesses of our Aussie counterparts.

As with most things in life, one must crawl before walking. Game 1 of the tour was a testimony to this. The first quarter was quite staggering, and the Sydney Women’s football team (the Shamrocks) not only gave us a wonderful introduction to how footy is truly played [where the sport originated], but they also broke many of the preconceived notions about what it takes to be a quality footballer.

Dan Sarbacker

How many years have you been playing Footy?

9

This is not your first trip to Australia representing your country. What you are looking forward to on this trip?

Now that we have had a chance to catch our breath during our breakneck tour. We would like you to get to know our captains.

Jenny “Sarbs” Sarbacker

How is it you came across Footy?

I went to watch my brother, Dan, play this “weird new sport” once and then next thing I knew he volunteered me to play with a team in the national tournament in 2005. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Tell us a little about yourself?

The American Airline companies sure can take a page out of their book. Mark and crew were so nice. They fed us well and even serve fudgecicles! All of our flights so far have been smooth sailing and always the flight staff is super nice... unlike some airlines back home. We wont name any names. We highly recommend Qantas.

Friday night happenings: Earlier you may have read about our bus tour around Sydney and our personal Tour of The Sydney Swans training facility, by head coach Paul Roos. (Oh by the way we would like to rub it in that we got to touch their premiership cup and have our photo taken with it) But, we still weren’t done for the day. The SWFL hosted a Trivia night that was great fun. They were all in costume. You have to hand it to them, there were some clever costumes. Apparently we got 3rd. Well done ladies!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be posting tomorrow. Due to the site being down! It has nothing to do with the fact we are just having too much fun! So please stay tuned therre is sooooo much to tell!

For those wanting to read about our game in Sydney here is a link that was posted in the Sydney Herald: http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/you-must-be-yankin-our-chain/200...

Wow, we made it through customs! but we are two girls short! Looks like we will be seeing them tomorrow! Good luck ladies! We can’t wait to see you when you get here.