Ever wondered what it is like to be a young teenager trying to balance semi-professional senior football, study and/or work? Dan delves into the journey and current lives of three teen EFL prospects, this week taking a look at Vermont’s Charlie Young.
The life of a young, local senior footballer can be rigorous.
For them, it is not just a matter of pursuing one dream like many teenagers do once they leave the sheltered environment of secondary school. Instead, they have to work almost twice as hard, pushing their bodies to the limit at training and backing this up with study or a job.
This is without mentioning the fact that they themselves are the youngest members of their respective senior line-ups.
As we saw last week, sacrifices and commitment are paramount for a teenager balancing semi-professional footy and find a career.
During his under 18 year, Matt Lee made the tough decision in saying no to representative side Eastern Ranges to focus on his VCE studies.
A year later, his commitment to the cause in maintaining his University workload while playing Division 1 football meant he had no time to get a part-time job. For Matt, the average week was three nights of training, 20 hours of Uni and on top of that, gameday.
He managed to do this successfully, playing nine matches for Balwyn in Division 1 and performing well in his studies. To his credit, Matt played three games for VFL side Port Melbourne as well.
Another youngster who balanced study and footy with flying colours was Vermont ‘Young gun’ Charlie Young, making his senior debut this year as an 18-year old.
It is an interesting journey that led to Charlie joining the Eagles. He began his junior career at Oakleigh Dragons until he left to Mt Waverley Falcons in U15s. Unfortunately, Mt Waverley folded after two seasons, leaving Charlie without a team.
Fortunately for Charlie, he moved from Ashwood Secondary to Box Hill Senior Secondary College after Year 9 to further his footballing development. Here, he became friends with Lachie Jackson – a close mate of my own – who convinced Charlie to come down to his club, Vermont.
It is a fair conclusion to make that if Charlie had not made the move to BHSSC, he may never have pulled on a senior guernsey for the Vermont Football Club.
Charlie was selected for TAC Cup side Oakleigh Chargers during Year 12, playing four matches for the representative side, but overall was disappointed with his efforts. He also received an offer from VFL side Port Melbourne at the end of last year, which he declined.
“I was just completely burnt out after a disappointing season at Oakleigh. After juggling Vermont footy and Year 12 I wanted a year with my mates with the possibility of playing some senior footy with Verm,” Charlie said.
He got the best of both worlds, playing half the season with the U19’s and half the season with the seniors.
“The senior coach Steve Cochrane met me after an early U19s session and asked me to balance a night of senior training, which eventuated in me playing in the practice games,” he said.
“I didn’t know how I stacked up to the ‘big boys’, but I played solidly in both games which spiked the confidence.”
After this chat with the coach, Charlie saw his intensity at training step up a gear, motivated by the prospect of playing senior footy.
“Half of them didn’t know my name early on,” he said with a laugh. “So I thought if they at least knew me as a hard trainer, then that was a start”.
His end to the season in the seniors was thoroughly impressive for a youngster playing Division 1 footy, with a captivating performance in the Eagles’ second last final.
I was lucky enough to be in the rooms after that Vermont side sang the song, as Steve Cochrane congratulated Charlie – who had played just about the game of his life.
Each and every person in the room stood applauding Charlie the smiling assassin – who as always had a cheeky grin on his face.
Recently, Charlie has knocked back the eager invitations of two other VFL clubs.
“It was a more difficult decision for the upcoming pre-season. I based it off the fact that I’m not quite there yet and that another season of senior experience will develop me as a player,” he said.
Like Matt, Charlie managed to have a fruitful football year while studying full time. Charlie is undertaking a diploma in Building and Construction at RMIT, as a stepping stone to a Bachelor in the same field.
“I kinda buggered my ATAR up,” he joked. “It was a full on year at Uni though, that’s for sure.”
Charlie’s footballing journey truly is evidence that hard work and enthusiasm can go a hell of a long way.
