Jimmy Bartel Story

Career

Although Jimmy began his junior football days in Bell Park before leaving for St. Joseph’s College, he went on to get selected for the Geelong Falcons team for the TAC Cup. While playing in the Under-18 AFL Championships, Jimmy garnered widespread recognition and accolades for his skill and on-field talent.

In his second year playing for the Geelong Falcons, Jimmy was appointed as the captain of the team and went on to lead it and won the TAC Cup Team of the Year for the 2nd season straight. In 2001, Jimmy became eligible for the AFL draft and was drafted by the Geelong Football Club.

In 2002, Jimmy made his debut at the 2002 AFL premiership season and went on to represent his team in 11 of the 22 senior games in the year. Even after being relegated to the VFL team for the second half of the season, he went on to help the Geelong reserve team win the 2002 VFL Premiership. This was the club’s first major championship victory since 1982.

In 2003, Jimmy featured in only 13 senior games for the 2003 AFL season. In 2004, Jimmy played two games in the 2004 AFL season for the Geelong Cats and was again relegated to the VFL where he was coached intensely in improving certain skills. In the 2005 AFL season, Jimmy displayed great form as a midfielder and helped the Geelong side to reach the semi-finals of the season-ending series, where they were finally defeated by Sydney with 3 points.

In the 2007 AFL season, Jimmy maintained his excellent form and was ranked amongst the Top 10 for total tackles (122), total disposals (632), total handballs (291) and tackles per game (5.3). In 2009, Jimmy played his professional 150th game against Adelaide which co-incidentally later also made it his 100th career wins as well. He helped Geelong finish 2nd on the ranking for the season.

In 2010, Jimmy continued his brilliant performance with around 630 possessions as well as 110 tackles by the end of the season for the 4th consecutive year. This helped Geelong star in the 2nd place again on national listing. In 2011, Jimmy starred in his 200th game against Adelaide in the season’s Round 21 and went on to perform brilliantly with more than 500 possessions in the whole season.

In the 2012 AFL season, Jimmy played most of the games with a stress fracture in the foot and helped Geelong finish 6th. In 2013, despite having changed his position from Midfield/Forward to Backline, Jimmy displayed immense talent and scored more than 550 possessions by the end of the season.

In the 2014 AFL season, Jimmy played his 250th game against Adelaide in Round 1 and went on score his best-ever four goals. In the 2015 AFL season, Jimmy played only 11 out of the total 23 season games due to a torn ligament. However, his lack of performance owing to the torn ligament in the left knee, Geelong finished 10 in the rankings and did not qualify for the finals.

In 2006, Jimmy went on to play his 300th game in Round 19 and went on to score one goal with 25 possessions which helped Geelong win with 25 points against Western Bulldogs. Jimmy announced his plans for retirement after the end of the 2016 AFL season.

Personal Life

Apart from his professional football career, Jimmy is also active with the social welfare department of the Geelong Football Club. He has been a student of Social Work at the Deakin University and is currently pursuing a degree in business and law. Currently, Jimmy lives in Newtown, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria.

Jimmy’s cousin Josh Bartel is a famous professional Canadian Football League punter who plays for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In February of 2014, Jimmy married Nadia Coppolino in Bellarine Peninsula. She used to work as an account manager for ACP magazines and Pacific magazines. Today, Nadia runs her popular fashion blog, Chronicles of Nadia. The couple has a son, Aston James, who was born in November of 2015.

Awards

Jimmy Bartel is the winner of the: