Sudan to Subiaco
- Details
- Written by Ben Cameron
BALGA teenager David Madut will this year combine tafe studies, colts football and a Subiaco Football Club ambassadorial role.
A member of the Lions’ colts squad, Madut is the first recipient of the Subiaco Football Club’s Multicultural Ambassador Scholarship, in which he will aid the club in delivering its community based programs, while in turn receiving guidance and career opportunities advice from the club.
After being born in Sudan, Madut was raised in Uganda and moved to Melbourne at age 11 where he joined the Edmund Rice Program, a program aimed at helping kids integrate into a new culture through community sport.
It was in this program that a young Madut showed his sporting prowess, however, it was with the round ball games of basketball and soccer.
“Before I played AFL my other sports were basketball and soccer, soccer which I had played since I was quite young so that’s probably my first sport,” Madut said.
“When I came to Australia I got involved in basketball playing with the school, playing with community teams before getting introduced to footy at St Paul’s College in year 10.
“It was very competitive, which is the type of sport I like, I’m a competitive person and since then I’ve been getting involved in AFL in more organized areas playing for schools and clubs and since then I’ve been playing football as my first choice sport.”
When David’s mother decided it would be best for him to relocate west to complete his studies he began to play for Kingsway football club.
In a stellar 2011 season for Kingsway Madut was the colt’s runner-up best and fairest and earned and invite down to Subiaco colt’s pre-season training.
A meeting that colts coach Steven Armstrong remembers well.
“I was happy to see a big boy looking nice and athletic come down to training,” Armstrong said.
“The way he is built, he’s got a bit of muscle on him and is very strong in the way he moves just from having a basketball background and soccer background you can see there is a bit of talent there.
“He’s been a really good voice out there on the training track, we had a couple of intra-club scratch matches in November and December and big David was the voice you heard out on the field.
“David directs and expects something of his teammates even though he’s only known them a couple of months. As far as leadership qualities go, he’s not afraid to say what he thinks and it’s all for the betterment of the team.
The 18-year-old is not afraid to say what he thinks off the field either, declaring his ambitions of self-improvement and playing in the AFL.
“My aspirations are to improve myself and get myself drafted into the AFL,” he said.
“I was pretty proud to receive this scholarship because it’s an opportunity most people don’t get… I was very grateful that it was me chosen for the scholarship and I grabbed it with both hands and I’m going to use the scholarship to its full extent.
“I’m looking forward to giving it my all and getting the best out of myself.”
Ben Cameron is a reporter of Subiaco Football Club. Follow him on twitter @bencameron23. This story was not subject to the approval of the West Australian Football League or its clubs.
