By Daniel Batten
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, starting with Balwyn and Upper Ferntree Gully’s Matt Lee.
As young, naïve children, thousands of us across the country dream of making it to the big stage; the AFL.
We worshiped our footballing heroes as if they were Gods, with each miraculous moment appearing to be a miracle in its own right.
Unfortunately, it is only the fortunate few who reach these lofty heights, with the majority of us going on to do much more mediocre and uninteresting things with our lives.
For the less skilled, it is realised early on that football isn’t their forte. This was the case for myself in Under 12’s, when the reality sunk in that spending half of each game sitting on the pine in suburban footy was probably not going to attract the attention of AFL clubs.
For others (unlike myself) with footballing talent, playing senior suburban football is a more achievable goal, but it is not without its sacrifices. There is a level of commitment required, and while it is not as significant as the expectations of those in the big leagues, it is commitment nonetheless.
This is even more of a predicament for emerging teenage footballers entering the senior system. Most are fresh out of high school – wide eyed ‘kids’ who are looking to study, do a trade or work full time, due to the unlikeliness of making a living off their footballing ability.
Some begin playing senior football when they are still in the high school system, juggling deadlines with trying to play at the highest level of footy they possibly can.
This is without acknowledging the obvious step up from playing Junior and Under 19’s football – physically meeting the demands, being mentally willing yourself to push yourself and the social aspect; fitting in amongst a bunch of blokes older than you.
These factors – along with the required talent to play at this level – stand in the way of teenagers playing senior football. Yet, there are some that can pull it off.
One of these young men is Matt Lee, who hails from Upper Ferntree Football Club. Here, his father, Andy, was a club champion in his own right, playing over 300 games for the club.
Matt’s time at Upper Ferntree Gully began in U10’s, beginning what would be a long-spanning career for the red and blue. In his junior years his talent showed in spades, earning a number of representative honours.
“Throughout this time I was involved with the EFL representative side in both U14’s and U15’s and was fortunate enough to be selected in the Victorian Schoolboys teams in U12 and twice in U15’s,” Matt said.
Going to the same school as Matt until year 9, he was always a heavily built lad. In fact, his physique in Year 7 is probably better than mine at the minute – but that’s probably saying more about myself than him.
I remember early days of school footy seeing opposition sides try to tackle him and fail miserably, such was his impressive strength.
From Vermont Secondary College, Matt moved to the prestigious halls of Haileybury College, where his footballing skills continued to develop, describing the school as “amazing” for his footy and schooling journey.
In his eyes, his private school journey helped excel his footy, realised by his eventuate EFL senior debut for the club he had been born into, Upper Ferntree Gully, at the young age of 16.
“It was a pretty special moment debuting and being able to run around in the main game I’ve been watching since I was born,” he said.
It is for this reason that Matt found the social side and ‘fitting in’ amongst the senior group at UFTG far easier than most, taking it all in his stride.
“It wasn’t too bad fitting in for me personally because I knew everyone and everyone knew me because of my Dad,” he said.
However in Year 12, Matt’s football journey took a slight halt. Wishing to focus on his VCE studies at Haileybury, Matt made the tough decision in not playing for TAC Cup side Eastern Ranges during his U18s year, opting to play school footy with his mates instead.
“I studied very hard throughout school, particularly Year 12, and this basically took a front seat over footy in Year 12,” he said.
“I loved playing with some of my closest mates on the weekend who I studied hard with during the week, so the balance worked out really nicely.”
This sacrifice ended up paying handsome dividends for Matt, who achieved his desired ATAR score and got into his course of choice. Matt is currently studying International Business at Monash University.
Putting his foot off the gas last year did his football no detriment, being recruited by EFL powerhouse Balwyn Tigers for season 2016. He managed nine games for the Tigers this year.
“I was aspiring to play the best level possible. I did a pre-season at VFL side Port Melbourne at the back end of last year but was unfortunately the last one cut, so I took myself to Balwyn and was fortunate enough to play some good footy there,” he said.
From here, he managed to be re-selected for Port Melbourne, playing three games in the VFL in 2016. This is all while being at Monash University 20 hours a week.
“Monash is fairly demanding so this year was pretty tough to balance three nights a week of training with full time Uni. Mum and Dad were a big support financially helping me as I didn’t have the time to get a part time job,” he said.
Matt’s case shows that the balance of pursuing a career and playing footy at the highest level possible is difficult, but it can be done.
