Eastlake's Kolya Cook, left, and Tuggeranong's Michal Marek will take part in an under-16 multicultural camp in Melbourne. Photo: Graham Tidy
A game in New Zealand, draft camps in the US and enough Irish recruits to form a St Patrick's Day parade - who said AFL is just an Australian game?
Two Canberra teenagers will benefit from the AFL's aim for diversification, invited to attend an under-16 multicultural camp in Melbourne running from Friday to Sunday.
Eastlake's Kolya Cook and Tuggeranong's Michal Marek were among the 50 kids selected for the camp, to be run by Brisbane triple premiership player Chris Johnson.
Young up-and-comers from Greek, Thai, Fijian, Slovakian, Filipino and West Indian backgrounds will undergo testing and training at North Melbourne's new state-of-the-art facility, watch an AFL game and play in a selection game for a spot in a world squad of 20. The world team will play in the under-16 national championships in Sydney in July.
Last season, 14 per cent of AFL players had backgrounds from 39 countries, including Harry O'Brien (Brazil), Karmichael Hunt (New Zealand), David Rodan (Fiji) and Majak Daw (Sudan).
Cook's mother was born in Cambodia and he initially played soccer after the family moved to South Korea for work. But as soon as he returned to Australia, there was only one sport he wanted to play.
He felt the game was starting to creep around the globe.
''The New Zealand game [between Sydney and St Kilda in Wellington] shows it is expanding,'' Cook said. ''There was the US draft combine earlier this year, it's definitely expanding, it's branching out.''
The tall, lean duo have the height of future ruckmen or key position players, but the pair both play on the wing.
They have played on each other only once, when Marek's 192-centimetre frame allowed him to dominate in the air.
Marek has the trademark blond hair and blue eyes anyone who has been to Prague will recognise. Both his parents were born in the Czech Republic and came to Australia when they were young.
Marek encountered footy at a shopping mall when he was a kid and he was looking forward to the chance of picking Johnson's brain. ''I reckon it's a great opportunity to talk to him and ask questions, see how he got into the game. Any advice he could give us would be greatly appreciated,'' Marek said.
Meanwhile, the Queanbeyan Tigers will lose Alex Jesaulenko medallist Kaine Stevens for one game after the young gun was picked for a NEAFL under-22 side to take an SANFL team in Adelaide on May 11.
He is one of seven Canberra footballers picked, along with Jordan Harper and Jack Baker (Belconnen), Brent Macleod (Tuggeranong), Hayden Armstrong (Eastlake) and Aaron Vandenberg (Ainslie).
Only Belconnen won't lose its young stars for its NEAFL eastern conference round-eight clashes as it has a bye.
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