Looking to capatilse on the interest
‘‘I think I will be watching a lot of videos analysing Kenyons and their oppositions play and defence patterns.’’ Shaye Morris
From playing gridiron video games to the coaching staff of an American college football team is a dream come true for a Waikato man.
Former Cambridge High School student Shaye Morris received confirmation of his application to join the coaching staff of one of America’s Ivy League schools, Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
Founded in 1824, Kenyon is the oldest private colleges in Ohio. Graduates included statesmen such as the 19th US President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Morris’ interest in the allAmerican game known as gridiron, was sparked by an online computer game he played when serving as a rifleman in the New Zealand Army.
During his two tours of duty as part of the multi-national peace keeping force, which included US troops in East Timor, the opportunity came to ‘‘play the game for real’’.
He became hooked and went onto organising tournaments among the armed service teams.
Returning home he joined a team playing in Hamilton, extending into the coaching role, and is the head coach for the Hamilton Hawks.
Wanting to further his skills as a coach, he spent two weeks in front of his computer and emailed 330 schools across the US looking for a position.
‘‘Out of all those applications, I only heard back from 30, but a positive response came back from Kenyon College, I was over the moon,’’ he said.
Because of his limited experience, Morris will not be paid while he is there, and will have to self-fund his living expenses.
Last season’s record of six wins and four losses for Kenyon wasn’t good enough for the finals, but Morris is hoping for better results in the coming season.
Morris is looking forward to being in Ohio for the commencement of training camp, and in his role as an assistant coach will be involved with the day-to-day training activities for the 60-70 player squad.
‘‘I think I will be watching a lot of videos analysing Kenyons and their oppositions play and defence patterns.’’
At the end of the season, Morris hopes to use his experience to further the growing interest in the game in New Zealand.