BIG STEP TO NFL DREAM

GOLD Coast Stingrays product Misiona “Mizzi” Aiolupotea-Pei has taken a step closer to the National Football League by landing a scholarship at a leading American university.

The hulking 21-year-old will feature on US television today as part of the big collegiate national signing ceremony when Washington State University will confirm his contract.

“It’s something similar to the NFL national draft,” his father Alex said.

Aiolupotea-Pei has spent three years at Riverside Junior College in Los Angeles and will graduate in July.

Then it is on to the bigger stage of college football and from there the chance of living his NFL dream.

That would complete a journey from New Zealand, where he was born, to the Gold Coast, where he arrived with Samoan-born parents Alex and Amanda with dreams of stardom in the National Rugby League.

Aiolupotea-Pei linked with renowned league nursery Keebra Park High School but was injured and overlooked by coaches there.

“After a while one of my mates told me to go have a run at gridiron and I fell in love with it,” he said.

Aiolupotea-Pei is a big unit and played as such as a defensive end when he took his first steps in gridiron with the Gold Coast Stingrays.

He stands at 191cm and tips the scales at 113kg. He was selected in The Outback, Australia’s under-19 team.