Melbourne star Sam Weideman’s backyard cricket competition is taking the internet by storm
Football is number one for Melbourne forward Sam Weideman – but an annual cricket tournament he runs with a group of mates is a close second.
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Melbourne key forward Sam Weideman isn’t just working on building his stats on the football field.
The 23-year-old, who will form a formidable forward duo with incoming Demon Ben Brown in 2021, is the standout performer and lead statistician of backyard cricket competition Vermont BYC, which has taken social media by storm with its content that mixes seriousness with hilarity.
A key player for the Pioneers, Weideman’s weekends during the AFL off-season are generally spent entering stats into his eight-year-vault, with all 12 competitors (including this writer) eagerly awaiting the updates post-match.
“It’s something I hold dear to me,” Weideman said with a laugh.
“Usually after a game it takes me about an hour-and-a-half to log the stats, which I’m not exactly proud of, but it’s good fun.
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“I’ve got every stat imaginable for each player and I’ve gone in-depth with it, got an excel spreadsheet.
“(I) work hard in pre-season during the week and have a bit of a hit and fun on the weekend with everyone. It’s a bit of an outlet.”
The competition that began in a friend’s backyard a decade ago now has more than 1100 followers on Twitter, including several Vermont BYC superfans in Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes, Western Bulldogs midfielder Lachie Hunter, middle-distance Olympian Luke Matthews and journalists Mark Stevens and Mitch Cleary.
Much of that thanks goes to Badgers brick wall and Vermont BYC media manager, Ben Gibson.
Gibson, who moonlights as a content producer at Melbourne FC, is the architect behind the videos and the array of camera angles that rival Fox Cricket.
“It started with our review camera – we captured a lot of great vision just naturally and then I thought ‘people have to see this’,” Gibson said.
“All of a sudden thousands of people who don’t know who we are decided that following us on their weekend was a good way to spend their time.”
Vermont BYC haven't missed a weekend of an Australian summer for eight years - meeting in a Melbourne's inner east on the regular!
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) December 20, 2020
This is how they are #MadeOfPlay 👠pic.twitter.com/ST2eguNO0D
A game for the ages.#BYC pic.twitter.com/UyI7Q58uC0
— BYC (@vermont_byc) December 16, 2018
Gibson agrees that Weideman is the most decorated Vermont BYC player but his eyes light up when another Pioneers bowler enters the attack.
“I don’t like facing Sam Weideman, he bowls quite sharp, and I do enjoy facing Dan Batten,” Gibson said.
There is plenty of drama on and off the field at the council owned arena known as ‘Jacko’s Park’, with the Ashes series between the Badgers and Pioneers being the main spectacle – taken far more seriously than the unsuccessful BYCX league in 2019.
“There’s always some massive moments when the series is on the line – there’s been some iconic balls, some blokes getting hit in areas they would rather not get hit … a lot of things happen that probably can’t be referenced (in this article) as well,” he said.
A Boxing Day BYC exhibition match pitting the Badgers and Pioneers will be broadcast on @vermont_byc on Twitter.
Bordering on ridiculous considering all players are nearing the age of 25, the tradition is expected to continue for years to come.
“For the sake of a lot of the girlfriends I hope it wraps up soon but I just can’t see that happening,” he said.
“I look forward to the day that my grandkids come and watch me on Boxing Day and hopefully I’m still making runs.”
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