This is the best time of the year for Colin Pascoe – the dawn of a new AFL season.
Sure, the footy’s back, but Colin loves the way the banter ramps up in his Telelink sport and AFL tipping group every March.
Telelink groups can meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly, with up to 10 members and a facilitator from all parts of Australia linked via a conference call.
The sports group is one of dozens fostered by Vision Australia for people with blindness and low vision on a wide range of topics – from cooking to politics and languages to crossword puzzles and trivia.
Colin, 73, is almost totally blind but the mad keen Geelong supporter says he still gets a buzz kicking around the ins, the outs, the plays that counted and the big AFL issues with his Telelink mates.
He says Telelink is a great way for people with a common interest to get together without the logistical complications of physically meeting.
“The sports group can get a bit willing sometimes. You can get passionate about your side, and it can get a bit argumentative, but it’s all in good fun,” he says.
“I just love sport. I enjoy the contest. I still imagine that I can see it. And I love the friendship and the enjoyment of sport in the group.”
He recommends Telelink to everyone. “It doesn’t have to be sport, but it’s a great way of meeting other people, and it’s great company. I’ve developed some pretty close bonds,” he says.
Colin says he lost much of his sight aged three following an adverse reaction to a sulphur-based medication. It was a young mate at the Royal Victorian Institute of the Blind’s school that made him a Geelong diehard.
“I was sick in bed with the flu, and there was another boy there with the flu. He barracked for Geelong and I said to him that I’d barrack for Geelong too, and I’ve never stopped,” he says.
He played cricket and junior football in his youth but hasn’t been to an Aussie rules match since the early ‘80s, as his remaining sight slipped away.
As a Geelong fan, he says he enjoyed Geelong’s 1963 grand final win and the 2007 flag that broke the club’s 44-year premiership drought, but he rates the excitement of the drawn 1962 preliminary final against Carlton as his favourite match – even though an umpiring decision against Geelong’s star full forward, Doug Wade, cost the Cats the chance to win.
Wade took a mark 25 metres from goal late in the final quarter but his opponent got a free kick because Wade held his shorts briefly during the do-or-die marking duel. It was a tough call.
“That great incident will stick in my mind forever,” Colin says wistfully.
The teams were level when the siren blew but Geelong lost the replay match the following week by five points.
Colin’s favourite AFL player is a newcomer – midfielder Sam Menagola, who played the first of his eight AFL matches late last season, averaging 24 possessions a match and kicking six goals in total. “I like his style so far,” he says.
And he reckons his beloved Cats are looking good to make the grand final this year.
”I think it might be out of Greater Western Sydney and Geelong,” he says.
For more information about Telelink, go to the Telelink page on the Vision Australia website here, phone Vision Australia on 1300 847 466 or email here for further details.