Aussies dominate one position in US college football. Some Americans are trying to stop them

Hundreds of young Australians who have switched football codes and countries to chase a dream of making it in the NFL in the United States are at the centre of legal action that claims they were given unfair advantage over their American rivals.

The case also demonstrates a growing resentment in the US over the dominance of Aussie punters in college football competitions over the past decade.

Nathan Chapman (left) oversees a Prokick clinic in Melbourne. His company trains athletes to make it in the American college system.Credit: Joe Armao

Australians now account for almost half of all punting positions at the 134 colleges included in the top division, with most receiving full scholarships to study at some of the most prestigious universities in the US.

In January, two Australians with AFL pedigree faced off in the final of the college football championships between Ohio State University and Notre Dame. Joe McGuire, son of former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, was victorious for Ohio over James Rendell, the son of the late Fitzroy player and renowned recruiter Matt Rendell.

Despite spending just moments on the field each game, the expatriate punters in college games play before crowds of up to 100,000 and television audiences that can exceed 10 million, while also competing for a lucrative NFL contract.

However, the American organisation responsible for enforcing eligibility rules for student athletes has been accused of “stifling opportunities for scholarships and roster positions for US punters”, according to a class action launched last month.

Joe McGuire punting for Ohio State University in January.Credit: Sports Illustrated via Getty Images

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has also been blamed for establishing entry criteria that unfairly benefit Australian athletes, some of whom are more than a decade older than their US counterparts.

“Because of the NCAA’s lenient football eligibility guidelines on age and professional experience, many college football programs instead recruit older, physically mature Australian punters,” say court documents filed in the District Court of North Carolina on February 28.

James Rendell punting for Notre Dame last year.Credit: Getty Images

“The number of affected US punters is likely in the hundreds or thousands across multiple recruiting classes, who have been or will be unfairly impacted.”

The class action, which was launched by the disgruntled father of an aspiring American punter, claims the eligibility criteria breaches the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and also contravenes antitrust and unfair trade practices laws.

There is no suggestion or link between any of the athletes named in this story and the US legal action, or the allegations of misconduct in enhancing academic performance or misrepresenting eligibility.

Melbourne-based firm Prokick Australia, which was founded in 2007 by former Brisbane and Hawthorn AFL player Nathan Chapman, is repeatedly referred to in the civil court claim over its coaching and recruitment of punters to the US college system.

According to class action documents, athletes represented by Prokick Australia received $54 million in scholarships, which was a “disproportionate allocation of resources to international athletes”.

“Prokick Australia reports having facilitated at least 270 Australian punters receiving NCAA football scholarships and displacing a significant number of US student-athletes,” the documents allege.

Prokick Australia claims on its website to have secured full scholarships for 97 per cent of recruits accepted into American universities.

However, over the past month, the company has also been the subject of a series of negative media reports in the US.

An investigation by San Antonio television station KABB Fox News 29 accused Prokick of misrepresenting the academic records of some aspiring Australian punters to secure college scholarships or student visas, which violated NCAA rules.

Australian private investigator Ken Gamble assisted the investigation by KABB Fox News 29.

Gamble provided documents to this masthead, which reveal three athletes represented by Prokick Australia were previously enrolled in courses at Melbourne’s Deakin University, which could have jeopardised their eligibility to play college football in the US over five years.

Other documents obtained by this masthead reveal two sets of academic records from an Australian school for the same student, but with different grades.

The documents, according to Gamble, raised concerns about the Prokick Australia program.

“Our investigation has uncovered cases where transcripts were allegedly altered to enhance academic performance or misrepresent eligibility,” Gamble said. “In some instances, athletes who had already attended university in Australia were knowingly placed in US colleges under false pretences.

“These revelations call into question the integrity of the program and the broader implications for both the young athletes involved and the institutions that trusted in their eligibility.”

Chapman denied the allegations raised in the class action and US media reports. He insisted his company had “consistently provided the NCAA with honest and correct information and will continue to do so”.

He said he was aware of two cases where inaccurate information was provided to the athletic association, which he attributed to human error, but said his company self-reported on both occasions.

Chapman, who in 2004 was signed as a free agent by the Green Bay Packers in the NFL, claimed his business was the subject of a vendetta by a group of unnamed individuals, who had provided information to the media, hired private investigators and contacted the FBI to conduct background checks.

He also denied his company had exploited the eligibility rules.

“The claim that the NCAA guidelines are ‘inequitable’ misrepresents the situation,” Chapman said. “The NCAA’s mission statement does not discriminate based on age, nationality, gender, race or ethnicity. Competition is the lifeblood of sport, and what we advocate for is fair opportunity for all.

“Our success rate is a testament to the quality of athletes we develop and the relationships we have built with US college programs over many years.”

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