By RUSSELL BENNETT
“HOW I feel right now is that I’m running head-first into a dark room and I just don’t care what happens because if I give it 100 per cent I’m not leaving anything behind.”
What former Bunyip, ROC and Pakenham footballer Dane Roy has achieved in the past year is nothing short of astonishing.
The 200-centimetre ruckman was playing with his mates at Richmond Centrals in the VAFA last year when he was first introduced to the idea of punting by an assistant coach.
This is the same player who was discouraged from kicking at all during his time in the TAC Cup and VFL because “ruckmen can’t kick”.
But the 27-year-old Roy knew he could hoof it a country mile, and his victory in last year’s Carlton Draught Barrel Time competition at the MCG on grand final day is proof of that.
His 73-metre kick comfortably surpassed the best efforts of the likes of Kain Baskaya (64 metres) and Hayden Burgiel (61 metres) throughout the competition.
Since that day, Roy’s sporting journey has been the whirlwind of all whirlwinds. He landed a scholarship in the Prokick Australia Academy run by former Aussie NFL punter Nathan Chapman and today (Wedesday) he is jetting off to begin his US College career as a punter for the University of Houston.
“I wasn’t sure about College,” he told the Gazette from his parents’ home in Berwick just days before he left for the States.
“I just dismissed it and didn’t do anything about it because it costs a bit of money to sign up for ProKick and you’ve got to be sure that it’s what you really want to do.
“I didn’t really have the money to do it because I bought a place in Oakleigh and that’s where my money was going. The bank didn’t want dreams – it wanted money.”
But part of his prize for winning the Barrel Time competition was a scholarship to Prokick – lighting the fire for a new-found dream that could set him up for life.
“I thought I could be a chance to win it (Barrel Time), but I never actually thought I would because that’s just a ridiculous thought to have,” Roy, also a former Berwick Cougars baseballer, said.
“When I did win it, then I decided to take the Prokick opportunity seriously.”
After starting with Prokick, Roy went to the United States last year to take a look at the college football environment up close.
To say he didn’t know much about the sport until that stage is an understatement. He didn’t know how many points a touchdown was worth until recently, and the only significant exposure he’d really had to the NFL was through the Madden NFL video game that his partner Chiara bought him for Christmas.
She’s headed to Houston as well to work as a nurse.
Roy still can’t believe that he – a 27-year-old former Peters ice cream salesman from Oakleigh – is embarking on the journey of a lifetime.
His involvement with Prokick led directly to his chance to play for the University of Houston Cougars as a punter in front of 70,000 screaming fans in the first game of the new season against Oklahoma at the Texans’ NFL stadium.
But after kicking a Sherrin in front of 100,000 people at the MCG on grand final day, that should be nothing, right?
Hardly. He’s never played any type of organised gridiron, but he’s hell-bent on not letting this chance go.
“People have asked me – what if I have a really good year? Will I go to the NFL?” Roy said.
“Making it to the NFL would be plan A, but I want my college degree. That’s the whole reason for going over there.
“I want to get my degree because I want to come back to Australia and get an actual job. I’ve just had a lot of fill-in, bit-part jobs up until now.”
But Roy is dreaming big.
“When you see an opportunity this big, you’d be dumb – you’d hate yourself and you’d have so many regrets – if you didn’t take it,” he said.
“It’s a nightmare of mine that I’m 40-years-old, speaking to my kids and they ask me why I didn’t go over there and I don’t have an answer.
“I’m not having that. I’m going to tell them to grab their opportunities in life and do everything they can to make their life better.”
