Australian Rules Football: NCAA Coaches search for punters down under

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As an increasing number of US college football coaches need punters, they're turning to an unlikely country for help. And an Australian academy is finding success filling their requests, with a group of gifted athletes who never previously played the sport. Greg Navarro explains.

The saying that looks can be deceiving definitely applies to this field because what looks like a football training session on a US college campus certainly doesn't sound like one. This practice is taking place about 15,000 kilometres away in a Melbourne suburb. And the guys under the pads have never actually played an official US football game.

BEN GRIFFITHS FORMER AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL PLAYER "I think the first time I was exposed to it was at my nanna's house. I watched a game, I think the New York Giants were playing, didn't really understand it then."

Most of these athletes have grown up playing Australian Rules Football or AFL, a fast-paced game that includes a lot of kicking. After a successful AFL career, Nathan Chapman tried to transfer his kicking skills to the NFL. He came home without a contract but the experience gave him an idea.

NATHAN CHAPMAN PROKICK AUSTRALIA OWNER "I'd made plenty of contacts in my time in the US, and really called on those networks and suggested, hey listen, if I teach other guys here, and there is 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."

13 years later, Chapman's idea, Prokick Australia, has an astounding 95% success rate of placing Australian punters with US college teams with full scholarships and three of his graduates, including Michael Dickson, are punters in the NFL.

NATHAN CHAPMAN TEACHING AUSTRALIANS TO PLAY AMERICAN FOOTBALL "The college games now have 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've got a lot of our guys asked to do what we do naturally."

GREG NAVARRO MELBOURNE "To put this into perspective, the odds of making it to the NFL are estimated to be about 1 in more than 40,000 and that's for people who grew up playing the sport."

Yet Georgina Hayes' son Blake also a Prokick graduate is the starting punter for the University of Illinois.

GEORGINA BLAKE MOTHER "Our boys grew up kicking a football. The Americans grew up throwing a baseball. I'm still amazed this is what he wants to do, and this is what he is doing, and he is doing it well."

After more than 8 seasons with the Richmond Tigers, 27-year-old Ben Griffiths decided to try a new sport.

BEN GRIFFITHS TRAINING TO SWITCH FOOTBALL FORMATS "The opportunity that comes with being able to play in college, and being able to study at the same time, was really really a big draw card."

Griffiths plans to attend the University of Southern California on a full athletic scholarship.

NATHAN CHAPMAN PROKICK AUSTRALIA OWNER "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."

And the reputation of Chapman's program means that some US college football coaches are now willing to offer scholarships to his athletes without making the trip to actually see them kick in person. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Melbourne.