Haileybury College student and Keysborough resident Jack Hutchins has been named in the All-Australian under 15 football team.By Paul Pickering
HAILEYBURY College athletic prodigy Jack Hutchins faces an agonising yet enviable dilemma.
The 188-centimetre 15-year-old is an elite freestyle swimmer – having competed in the National Swimming Championships as a member of the Haileybury Waterlions – and has just been named in the All-Australian under 15 Australian rules football team.
While the year 10 student knows the time will come when he must decide between his two sporting passions, he is keen to delay that ultimatum for as long as possible.
Hutchins’ performances in last month’s AFL under 16 Championships in Sydney helped his Vic Metro side to an undefeated run through the carnival.
On returning home, he had just one night’s rest before fronting up for the Waterlions at the Victorian Short Course Open Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on 28 and 29 July.
An exhausted Hutchins said he was below his best during the short course championships, where he swam bravely but failed to qualify for a final.
“I’ve been trying to do both (swimming and football) as much as I can, and swimming keeps me so fit for footy, but I was so tired when I came back,” Hutchins said.
While Haileybury’s head of football Andrew Lynch is wary of placing pressure on his gun youngster, he is clearly excited by the Hutchins’ potential.
“He’s tall and has very good body size, and he’s aerobically fit and very strong because of his swimming,” Lynch said.
Hutchins’ size has allowed him to endure the rigours of a full season in Haileybury’s open firsts side, where he has blossomed under the instruction of Lynch and former St Kilda champion Stewart Loewe.
“It’s been a real learning curve,” Hutchins says of his promotion to the senior ranks.
When questioned as to the areas of his game that need improvement, Hutchins says “everything” – an ominous declaration for his young opponents.
Lynch says Hutchins’ maturity and discipline will ensure he continues to advance his game.
While he has played most of his footy as a running backman and on-baller, Hutchins’ emerging physical attributes dictate that he could be anything by the time his body develops.
Hutchins is yet to decide whether he will play TAC Cup football next year, but it surely won’t be long before the Dandenong Stingrays and Sandringham Dragons come knocking at the door of his Keysborough home.
“I’m not sure yet whether to swim or play footy and I’m dreading the decision,” he said.
For now, though, the laconic teenager is content to indulge both passions.
“I’m just happy to keep playing footy and see where it goes,” he said.
