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The University of Utah Athletics
Why U Play: Ben Lennon
10/10/2019 5:48 PM | Football
Growing Up
I grew up with two older sisters and my mom and dad in a place called Melbourne, Victoria, which is in southern Australia. It is a big footballing state.
I got my start when I played in the AFL, which is our national sport. I played four years of that and then I got cut. I then spent 12 months in a punting academy to try and learn the rules of the game, the craft of kicking the ball in a spiral and then I was doing university to get my credits to come over here.
I always thought I wanted to play professionally somewhere. Growing up, my goal was to play in the AFL. I did that and it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to.
I got drafted pretty early and I guess I didn't really live up to the expectations. I had fun though and I learned a lot of life skills and met a lot of good people. I got the chance to play in front of 100,000 people.
My last year, we won the equivalent of the Super Bowl, so that was really awesome. Even now, I've got two or three best mates that I played with and lived with for four years, so I look back now with really good memories.
Having someone like my older sister that plays professional golf helped me a lot through that situation. I would ask her questions and she would help me out with stuff, so that was pretty cool and pretty handy. We talk a lot. Being away from home, she spends a lot of time away from home too so it is cool to FaceTime and see where she is at in her life. We like to help each other out.
I grew up with two older sisters and my mom and dad in a place called Melbourne, Victoria, which is in southern Australia. It is a big footballing state.
I got my start when I played in the AFL, which is our national sport. I played four years of that and then I got cut. I then spent 12 months in a punting academy to try and learn the rules of the game, the craft of kicking the ball in a spiral and then I was doing university to get my credits to come over here.
I always thought I wanted to play professionally somewhere. Growing up, my goal was to play in the AFL. I did that and it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to.
I got drafted pretty early and I guess I didn't really live up to the expectations. I had fun though and I learned a lot of life skills and met a lot of good people. I got the chance to play in front of 100,000 people.
My last year, we won the equivalent of the Super Bowl, so that was really awesome. Even now, I've got two or three best mates that I played with and lived with for four years, so I look back now with really good memories.
Having someone like my older sister that plays professional golf helped me a lot through that situation. I would ask her questions and she would help me out with stuff, so that was pretty cool and pretty handy. We talk a lot. Being away from home, she spends a lot of time away from home too so it is cool to FaceTime and see where she is at in her life. We like to help each other out.
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