{"id":8844,"date":"2022-03-01T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T23:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themooraboolnews.com.au\/?p=8844"},"modified":"2024-02-01T22:11:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T11:11:30","slug":"taking-a-punt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking a punt"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n

A local man has won a full college scholarship in the USA, playing American football for the college team as a punter.<\/p>\n

21-year-old Jack Burgess grew up playing Aussie rules for Bacchus Marsh, but switched codes to American football last year \u2013 and Weber State University in Utah has picked him up to play for their team, the Weber State Wildcats.<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess said he\u2019d had an interest in American football for years, but it wasn\u2019t until he heard about a program called Prokick that he realised he could make it at college level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out about the Prokick program, they were set up by two guys called Nathan Chapman and John Smith. It\u2019s pretty much an academy-type program where they train you up and teach you the fundamentals of American football punting\u2026there\u2019s a lot of spiral-type kicks that they kick a lot more than we do [in Aussie rules],\u201d he told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colleges come to Prokick with a sort of criteria they want filled, what they want out of a punter. Prokick assess that and match people in the program to those criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day he accepted the offer of a full scholarship playing with Weber State\u2019s football team was \u201chectic\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan Chapman messaged me and said, \u2018Hey mate, are you free now?\u2019. He told me that the head coach at Weber State wanted to chat, I had a 15-minute chat with the coach, and he offered me the scholarship right there and then.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit out of nowhere, usually guys have a bit of time to prepare for a call or think things over, they might talk with the coach ten times before they get an offer \u2013 but mine was pretty instant, it was kind of 0 to 100.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess said he was on the way to breakfast when he got the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was about to leave with mum and my sister. I told them to go without me and I\u2019d see them in a bit\u2026when I got to the caf\u00e9 I told them, they were very emotional, very happy. Mum started crying her eyes out, it was probably a sight to be seen in the caf\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack\u2019s mum, Maria, said that while it was daunting having her son decide to move across the other side of the world, it would be an exciting journey for him.<\/p>\n

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link<\/p>\n

https:\/\/issuu.com\/themooraboolnews\/docs\/mn_2022-03-01\/3<\/a><\/p>\n

in the 1 March 2022 edition
\nOR
\npick up a paper around your town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lachlan Ellis A local man has won a full college scholarship in the USA, playing American football for the college team as a punter. 21-year-old Jack Burgess grew up playing Aussie rules for Bacchus Marsh, but switched codes to American football last year \u2013 and Weber State University in Utah has picked him up […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":24376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[7409,6855,7410,7411,7412,7413,7414,7415,7416,7417],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-american-football","tag-bacchus-marsh-cobras","tag-jack-burgess","tag-john-smith","tag-nathan-chapman","tag-prokick","tag-usa-college-scholarship","tag-utah","tag-weber-state-university","tag-wildcats"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a punt - The Moorabool News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking a punt - The Moorabool News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lachlan Ellis A local man has won a full college scholarship in the USA, playing American football for the college team as a punter. 21-year-old Jack Burgess grew up playing Aussie rules for Bacchus Marsh, but switched codes to American football last year \u2013 and Weber State University in Utah has picked him up [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Moorabool News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-28T23:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-01T11:11:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/03\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"963\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lachlan Ellis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lachlan Ellis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lachlan Ellis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bfbc5a1c6baaf34dd181f21c64f18302\"},\"headline\":\"Taking a punt\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-28T23:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-01T11:11:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":443,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/28\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"American football\",\"Bacchus Marsh Cobras\",\"Jack Burgess\",\"John Smith\",\"Nathan Chapman\",\"Prokick\",\"USA college scholarship\",\"Utah\",\"Weber State University\",\"Wildcats\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/\",\"name\":\"Taking a punt - The Moorabool News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/28\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-28T23:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-01T11:11:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/28\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/28\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":963},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/sport\\\/taking-a-punt\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Taking a punt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Moorabool News\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Moorabool News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/28\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/MooraboolNews-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/28\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/MooraboolNews-logo.png\",\"width\":1089,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"The Moorabool News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bfbc5a1c6baaf34dd181f21c64f18302\",\"name\":\"Lachlan Ellis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b8766ff6263c9ffb6ec80f89efea9b7a992bc23f7fd86445d569b0e6b510f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b8766ff6263c9ffb6ec80f89efea9b7a992bc23f7fd86445d569b0e6b510f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b8766ff6263c9ffb6ec80f89efea9b7a992bc23f7fd86445d569b0e6b510f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lachlan Ellis\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/themooraboolnews\\\/author\\\/lachlanellis\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking a punt - The Moorabool News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking a punt - The Moorabool News","og_description":"By Lachlan Ellis A local man has won a full college scholarship in the USA, playing American football for the college team as a punter. 21-year-old Jack Burgess grew up playing Aussie rules for Bacchus Marsh, but switched codes to American football last year \u2013 and Weber State University in Utah has picked him up [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/","og_site_name":"The Moorabool News","article_published_time":"2022-02-28T23:00:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-01T11:11:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":963,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/03\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lachlan Ellis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lachlan Ellis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/"},"author":{"name":"Lachlan Ellis","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#\/schema\/person\/bfbc5a1c6baaf34dd181f21c64f18302"},"headline":"Taking a punt","datePublished":"2022-02-28T23:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-01T11:11:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/"},"wordCount":443,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/03\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg","keywords":["American football","Bacchus Marsh Cobras","Jack Burgess","John Smith","Nathan Chapman","Prokick","USA college scholarship","Utah","Weber State University","Wildcats"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/","name":"Taking a punt - The Moorabool News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/03\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-28T23:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-01T11:11:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/03\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/03\/IMG_7817-640x963-1.jpg","width":640,"height":963},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/sport\/taking-a-punt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking a punt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/","name":"The Moorabool News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#organization","name":"The Moorabool News","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2024\/01\/MooraboolNews-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2024\/01\/MooraboolNews-logo.png","width":1089,"height":400,"caption":"The Moorabool News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/#\/schema\/person\/bfbc5a1c6baaf34dd181f21c64f18302","name":"Lachlan Ellis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b8766ff6263c9ffb6ec80f89efea9b7a992bc23f7fd86445d569b0e6b510f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b8766ff6263c9ffb6ec80f89efea9b7a992bc23f7fd86445d569b0e6b510f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b8766ff6263c9ffb6ec80f89efea9b7a992bc23f7fd86445d569b0e6b510f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lachlan Ellis"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/author\/lachlanellis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8844"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/themooraboolnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=8844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}