From Sudan to Sydney

By JARROD POTTER
ONE of the rising star players for the St John’s Football Club, Emmanuel Jakwot, took the field for the World XVIII in the recent under-16 AFL national championships in Sydney.
Jakwot, 17, from Hampton Park, is a recent convert to Australian rules, having played mostly basketball and soccer as a junior.
After moving to Australia with his family in 2004 when he was nine, Jakwot played other sports before finding football. His has been a quick rise through the ranks, going from playing reserves to seniors for St John’s in Division 1 of the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
“I played basketball with my cousins and switched from soccer as back in Sudan, soccer was the main sport,” Jakwot said.
“Footy – I didn’t understand the rules, but it looked alright.”
“I played for Trinity for two games or so and afterwards Jonesy (St John’s coach Matt Jones) got me to play for St John’s.
“I played pretty much my first senior football game in the second game of the season, which was pretty interesting as the game was very fast.”
Jakwot prefers to play in the ruck and at centre-half-forward, his 188cm and a vertical leap to envy standing as good reasons to put him in these key roles.
His coach sent a tape of Jakwot to AFL Victoria’s multicultural selectors and a few weeks later, Jakwot was playing for the world.
“My coach, Mr Jones, tapes every game and he showed that to the multicultural staff and then they sent everybody on the team messages and they said I was selected.
“The carnival went for two weeks – we went alright, we won our first game, which was pretty good, but we ended up losing to WA North West by four goals and to the South Pacific by eight goals.”
Jakwot said the championships were a great experience for him and being able to play with footballers his own age was great for his development in the sport.
“The under-16 championship was pretty good as it was a great learning experience for me and playing with players my own age, I was able to learn as much as I can and see the level I am at,” Jakwot said.
“It’s pretty interesting to see where other players my age are at and to improve as much as I can.”