KASPER HALLAM
AGE: 18 OCCUPATION: Year 12 at
Rosny College SPORT: Soccer
HEROES: Tim Cahill, Aaron Mooy, Lionel Messi
IT took a global pandemic to put the brakes on speedy soccer star Kasper Hallam.
The pacy winger was hitting his best form at local club South Hobart, having scored a brace in the Summer Cup final, before COVID-19 threw the season into turmoil.
“I was in the best form I’d ever been in my life. I was getting really amped up and then we went into that lockdown — it throws you off a bit,” he said.
“It sucks not training with your teammates, but you can work on things you don’t do in team sessions.
“You can still go down to a local soccer ground and work on your first touch, your dribbling, your finishing and your weaker foot. It has been tough but that motivation to keep going has to be intrinsic.”
The COVID slowdown delayed the local season and has put on hold ambitions to look to a mainland club or possible US scholarship … for now.
Hallam kept busy throughout with his Year 12 studies and while the soccer dropped off, his job in pizza delivery picked up.
“I managed to keep that through COVID and it probably got a bit busier. It felt like it was a little more hectic,” he said.
He stepped up in class from South East United to the NPL’s South Hobart last season, chasing his soccer dream, which he hopes might one day land him in the green and gold.
“I’d love to play in the ALeague some day and obviously to play in the national team would be the ultimate end goal,” he said.