By JARROD POTTER
AT only eight-years-old, Gach Nyuon and his family fled war-torn Sudan for a better future in Australia.
He found sport as a hobby at first, but in time Nyuon, now 17, from Springvale, found his way to the Narre North Foxes Junior Football Club and his rapid rise through the football ranks since has been astonishing.
Under the tutelage of his first coach – Peter Hoffman – Nyuon flourished and became one of the South East Juniors’ premier ruckmen even in his first year of competitive football.
“I was a soccer player from 2007-10 and then in year-nine in high school – I had a couple of mates who told me to come down to the club and register for pre-season,” Nyuon said.
“I did and started my first season at Narre North Foxes in 2012.”
Through his first season at Foxes he found his feet and – more importantly for a young ruckman – his amazing leap to gain the attention of the TAC Cup club Dandenong Stingrays and a ticket to the under-16 national championships.
That is ascension to the elite football programs which would be the envy of players everywhere.
The honour of being an AIS-AFL footballer – the peak of junior performance in the country – is flattering, but Nyuon is humble about his talents and just wants to get on the field.
“We won the national championships last year and from that they picked the AIS team,” Nyuon said.
“I don’t really think of it to be honest – I just try to play football.”
He played his first senior match on the weekend as Narre Warren squared off in a practice match against St Bedes/Mentone Tigers and is enjoying the step up in standard.
Stingrays’ duties in the TAC Cup won’t be far off either for the young talent as AFL scouts will start to seek him out and he readily welcomes the next step up.
“Probably just making the AFL – that’s the dream,” Nyuon said.
“Hopefully get some games in the TAC Cup this season and hopefully get some games for Vic Country under-18s in the national carnival – that would be brilliant.
“Making the under-18s AIS again would be great as well.”
Nyuon wanted to thank Hoffman for coaching him, the Dandenong Stingrays and everyone associated with the AIS-AFL program.
