US athletes Mark Cisco (21 years of age, 207cm), Jason Holmes (23, 203cm) and Patrick Mitchell (23, 201cm) have spent the last fortnight in Sydney learning the game and training with the QBE Sydney Swans Academy under head coach Paul Roos.
The three athletes, who all played college basketball in the US, were identified at the AFL International Combine in Los Angeles in April, which was attended by former Swan and AFL International Talent Co-ordinator, Tadhg Kennelly.
Speaking at the trio’s Thursday training session with the Swans Academy, Kennelly said the three players’ size and athleticism was what appealed to the Swans following the combine.
“AFL clubs are starting to realise that we have a shortage of big men,” Kennelly said.
“In the AFL’s history, they’ve only ever tested 50 players over 200cm in 18 years of testing.
“There are hundreds of thousands of over 200cm kids in America that play basketball whose career of playing in the in NBA has been shattered, and that’s why it’s only a trickle at the moment of a big, big pond in America.
“We come knocking and say that there is an opportunity to come (to Australia) and we’ve got people in America who are looking and they’re looking for talent that can translate.”
Holmes, who hails from Illinois, said he was interested in playing AFL since he trialled at the Combine in April.
“We got a few emails and at first we were trying to learn what this is and we went to the Combine in LA and we just became more interested every day,” he said.
“We’re excited to be out here and we’re excited that the Swans have given us the opportunity to pursue something new and we’re all athletes and we like competing, so this is right up our alley.”
For Cisco, from Chester, New Jersey, it was the competitiveness and physicality of AFL that caught his attention.
“Watching the YouTube videos really inspired me and I saw a lot of cool things, so I thought I’d give it a shot and it was an opportunity to come to Australia,” he said.
“Just seeing people just literally jump on each other’s shoulders to catch the ball really stood out to me.
“Watching that, I wanted to be the guy jumping on the shoulders, but I came to realise that I’d be the one they were jumping on.
“The fact that that even goes on in the sport is something that is really exciting and is really mind blowing and makes me want to get into it and see how that goes.”
The AFL International Rookie Draft, which follows the National and Rookie Drafts, allows each AFL club to list one international player on their list for the following season.
After providing Cisco, Holmes and Mitchell the opportunity to train in Sydney for two weeks, Kennelly said the Swans were in a good position to add one of the athletes to their rookie list for the 2014 season.
“The Swans have taken the initiative and said ‘Let’s go’ and we brought them up and will try them for a few weeks and make a decision out of it,” he said.
“When the two weeks are up, from next Tuesday, other AFL clubs are going to come on board and see if there is a possibility of taking them.
“(The Swans) have made all the front running and the Swans are obviously the ones who have taken the initiative and said that we want to get them over here.”
Jason Holmes, Mark Cisco and Patrick Mitchell at Lakeside Oval today
After observing the athletes both at the US combine and in training with the Swans Academy, Kennelly said he was confident the American trio all had the potential to be rookie-listed by an AFL team.
“If you see the genuine size of the American boys and with basketball, the transition is easy enough,” he said.
“One of the things people always say to me is “Well, they haven’t kicked a ball”, but I never kicked a ball and Mike Pyke never kicked a ball and it’s a good thing in a way because you don’t have any bad habits and you’re dealing with a blank canvas.”
