Freddie spent five weeks in Australia to compete in a competition to experience the atmosphere of real Aussie Football.
He spent his first week in Brisbane where he got the chance to train Aussie Football with the PNG boys.
Teamed up with sixteen other boys from six pacific countries they were named the South Pacific Nations team.
The South Pacific team moved down to Melbourne where they did more training and had a friendly match the World team.
From Melbourne the team then moved to Sydney where they took part in the competition.
They played three matches in the competition and managed to win one match but lost the other two.
According to Mr Una this was the first time ever each of their boys have ever played in an Aussie Football competition but they did manage to do well and really gain more courage and experience out of it.
“It was our first time experience but we did well, we managed to beat the World team which consists of players from USA, Canada, Japan and Africa, we should have won our match against the Queensland team which took part in the competition but was dropped because of silly mistakes we had, “he said.
He said the stint in down under had helped him learn more about the game.
“For me, I really had a great experience to see different styles and tactics of playing Aussie Football.”
Upon seeing and going through experiences Freddie said that it really inspires him to come back and train more.
“I see that the Aussie Footballers in Australia are really fit and fast and I hope to be like them someday but to do that I must step up my pace of training and discipline myself,” he said.
Now that I have returned home I will continue my trainings and help other players to train more and also I will help RAMSI to set up clinics for schools who are interested to play Aussie Football.
Freddie at most thanked RAMSI Coordinator Graeme Wilson for his encouragements.
“I really thank Mr Graeme Wilson for his help and encouragement; because of him is where I end up today,” he said.
Mr Graeme said AFL organizers were impressed with Freddie’s performance and they are seriously considering inviting him back to Australia this time for a longer period of time.
By Carlos Aruafu
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
