When assessing Australian culture, sports are a massive part of it. On the Gold Coast, vast communities of sports fans follow some fantastic sporting organizations. People also watch international offerings, with the NFL being a preference for American football lovers. One of the most significant leagues has an academy where aspiring professionals on the Gold Coast can join.
The NFL Academy opened last year.
The academy, which opened in September last year and is the first of its kind in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, highlights the league’s desire to find more Australian talent. A nation of rugby lovers and Aussie rules fans, there are certainly some similarities between rugby and American football. As such, it’s entirely understandable why an increasing number of Australian sports fans are discovering the delights of the NFL.
The NFL Academy is there to tap into the growing popularity of the sport down under, with the league continuing to invest in more pathways for global talent. For fans in Australia who select their fantasy picks and conduct extensive research on any big games before NFL betting, they could soon be witnessing even more fellow citizens playing for some of the competition’s most prestigious franchises. However, it’s a ruthless sport where many aspiring professionals fail.
However, for the most talented players, the NFL Academy, which is based at A.B. Paterson College in southeast Queensland, offers the perfect combination of full-time education alongside intensive training in American football. Also, under the guidance of some of the sport’s most respected coaches, this significant initiative could see even more players from this part of the world make the step up to the NFL.
Players like Jordan Mailata are an inspiration.
After all, while the NFL’s new academy is in its infancy, there is hope that the league will uncover the next Jordan Mailata. Mailata, a player who won the Super Bowl last season and is an alumnus of the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) program, is one of the finest players in his position and is also an ambassador for the NFL Academy in Australia, given his remarkable journey to the very top of the sport.
Likewise, some other top Australian players are currently playing in the NFL, including Michael Dickson (Seattle Seahawks), Cameron Johnston (Pittsburgh Steelers), Daniel Faalele (Baltimore Ravens), Tory Taylor (Chicago Bears), and Arryn Siposs (Philadelphia Eagles).
As such, while it’s a challenging sport to succeed in, Australians are already impacting one of the biggest sporting competitions. It therefore makes a lot of sense for the hierarchy at the NFL to branch further out and tap into a sports-mad nation that already has a small but strong sample size of top football talent who are playing their trade in the professional football sphere.
The UK already has something similar.
In the UK, the NFL has introduced a similar academy package, with the first global NFL Academy for the league offering football-based support for athletes in Europe and Africa. Since it came to the fore, more than 40 alumni have secured scholarships, with these 12—to 18-year-olds realizing their potential under this world-class coaching program. From there, many transitioned to the college football scene, with 19 athletes taking part in Division 1 college programs.
A tried and tested formula, the opening of the NFL Academy on the Gold Coast could produce the same type of results. One thing’s for sure: the Gold Coast’s football fans will undoubtedly be witnessing even more Australian stars on the NFL field in the future.
