When an increasing number of U.S. college football coaches need a punter, they're turning to an unlikely country for help.
Prokick Australia, a sports academy in Melbourne, has been transforming Australian Rules football players into punters for the American game.
"The college game has now brought, where the natural part of our game is, which is the Aussie Rules drop punt, they've brought that into the college system. We have a lot of our guys get asked to do what we do now naturally,” said Prokick owner Nathan Chapman.
Chapman started the academy 13 years ago after he tried unsuccessfully to transition from an AFL player to an NFL punter.
Prokick Australia owner Nathan Chapman /CGTN Photo
"I came back home and thought, alright I can't keep going back, I always had to take time off from work so I was falling behind financially in my own world and though I know I can add something in this game,” said Chapman.
“I'd made plenty of contacts over in the U.S. and really called on those networks and suggested, 'Hey, listen, if I teach other guys, and there's plenty of guys here who can kick, if I teach them and get them to a level that you will want to see them, will you pick the phone up and take a call?' And they said yes, and I thought, well let's go, and that's it."
His program has an astounding 95 percent success rate of placing Aussie athletes on U.S. college teams with scholarships. Three of his athletes are currently playing in the NFL.
"There are plenty of coaches who don't take our phone call and don't end up with something or can't believe that it can be as good as they are seeing in the U.S. But we are fine, that's fine, we just put them in the same conference and make them play against them,” said Chapman.
Ben Griffiths, 27, decided to change sports after a more than eight-year career with the AFL's Richmond Tigers.
Former AFL player Ben Griffiths /VCG Photo
"The opportunity that comes with being able to play in college and being able to study at the same time was really a big drawcard,” he said.
Griffiths plans to attend the University of Southern California on a full athletic scholarship.
"Really, this is an educational program under the ruse of kicking a football. The football gets the publicity, why we do it is we want guys educated,” Chapman said.