“I don’t get it. He only took up AFL at uni. And I’m to believe he’s pretty much a pro? He’s not even that sporty.”
Playing a team sport as an adult is a wonderful thing. It can keep you fit, and foster enduring friendships.
One sport that is constantly growing in popularity is AFL. It is very fun to play, and AFL posts are popping up all over the country. Even in traditional rugby league heartlands.
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of the sport is the streamlined pathway for newbies. It has become increasingly apparent that anyone who takes up the sport as an adult will be immediately fast-tracked to the level colloquially known as “basically the level just below the AFL.”
Normally, to reach a semi-professional proficiency in a sport takes years and years of blood, sweat, tears and high quality coaching. So it is easy to understand why these people would opt for the much simpler path that Aussie Rules offers.
We caught up with Sydney University student Paul Mertens (25), a relative newcomer to the sport who absolutely loves the game.
“Do we take it serious? You bet. This isn’t some local comp. In fact, it’s not far off what you’d see on TV. I played a bit of soccer and tennis and that at school. Went ok. Never in the top school teams or anything like that. But yeah took up Aussie Rules for giggles a few years ago because a few of my mates were giving it a crack. Turns out I’m pretty good. We lost the granny last year but I reckon it’s ours this year.”
Paul has also discovered some rather pleasant side-effects of his rapid rise to near-stardom.
"Yeah geez the chicks don't exactly complain when I tell them that I'm basically nearly an AFL player. You can see their eyes light up. But I don't do it for the accolades or fans or anything like that. It's just a fun sport and a top group of blokes."
A recent report commissioned by Senator Bridget McKenzie, the Minister for Sport, has in fact now found that literally 100% of adult AFL players have achieved the sort of rapid rise experienced by Paul and reached "basically the level just below the AFL".
The next question is obviously whether any of these guys can take the next step and play AFL at the top level. This is where the report makes slightly less encouraging reading. A disappointing 0% of people who self-described as "basically the level just below AFL" have ever made the step up to the AFL itself.
We are hoping a trailblazer is just around the corner.
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