Chas Messman
ASU Student Journalist

Australian baseball team gets a taste of American high school football

November 12, 2019 by Chas Messman, Arizona State University


The Australian baseball players are on the left side of the student section in the grey shirts. (Photo credit: Chas Messman)

Chas Messman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chaparral football for AZPreps365.com

Football is the most popular sport in the United States. Baseball is America’s National Pastime. Around the world, football and baseball are associated with the red, white and blue.

On the other hand, Australia is not heavily associated with either. Sports such as cricket, Australian-rules-football, and soccer are much more popular in the Land Down Under. While the other sports are more popular in Australia, there are passionate followers and athletes trying to make it in American football and baseball. One such group is the NxtGen Baseball team.

This Australian baseball team was in Arizona to play in a baseball tournament in hope of getting recruited by American colleges. While the team was in Arizona, they attended Chaparral High School’s homecoming football game against Boulder Creek on Oct. 4 to get a taste of American high school life.

“It has been amazing here,” Thomas Newbold, a NxtGen player, said. “This high school is so crazy.”

People all around the world love sports. They bring people together in a way that nothing else does. The way that people across the world show their passion is different.

Student sections are a big part of what makes high school football in America special. Chaparral’s student section, the Birdcage, is one of the best around and their school spirit is second to none.

One Chaparral student, Kayla Rotella, describes the Birdcage as a place where “we all come together in a giant mosh pit and cheer on the Firebirds.”

During the game the Australians were right in the Birdcage’s mosh pit. They cheered, jeered, and danced with all the Chaparral students from pregame to the final buzzer.

“It is a lot more hype here, and there’s a lot more people at the stadium [in the U.S.],” said Newbold. “Back home there is just less people, but here it is just way more wild.”

By coming over to the United States, the Australian teenagers not only were exposed to collegiate coaches, but also exposed to a new culture.

“I think it is awesome,” said Chaparral athletic director Dan Bode. “They don’t really have football in Australia and our Birdcage is one of the most spirited spectator sections in high school football, in my opinion. By getting to see a football game between two good teams and getting to experience the excitement of homecoming and the fireworks, it gives them an opportunity to see a different side of the Americana.”

By standing right with the Birdcage during the game, the NxtGen players and the Chaparral students got a chance to interact and talk with other students of the same age, but from different corners of the globe.

“When you put them in an environment like that it gives them the chance to talk like regular kids,” Bode said. “I am sure in the stands they did comparisons and asked each other questions like, ‘What is a cheerleader?’"

This was a very memorable experience, where the NxtGen baseball players and the Chaparral students were given the chance to be exposed to another culture and broaden their world view.