College football has been infiltrated with punters from Australia over the last decade. However, a new report claims that a large number of the kicking specialists from Down Under are in the United States on fraudulent terms.
It is a problem that could be more widespread than we think!
Yami Virgin of Fox SA, Puro San Antonio recently released the findings of her seven-month investigation into “troubling allegations of doctored documents and ineligible players” which suggests “there may also be immigration fraud being committed.” The company ‘Prokick’ is at the center of this controversy.
If you have watched college football in the last five years, you are likely familiar with the Aussie takeover that has permeated the sport. A large number of Australian punters and kickers, up to 32 years old, have become increasingly prevalent on rosters across the country. Some of them transition to American football after a semi-pro or professional career in Aussie rules football. Some of them pick up a football for the first time after working in an office or working a trade.
However, according to Virgin and Fox San Antonio, not all of them are authorized to compete.
AUSSIE PUNTER CONTROVERSY IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL?
Prokick Australia serves as the middle man for Aussie punters and kickers. They work with the company to learn the American game and the company helps to find them a place to play college football.
Prokick Australia, established in 2007, serves as a premier institution dedicated to the training, mentorship, and successful transition of Australian athletes into the collegiate and professional ranks of American football, particularly within the College/NFL sphere.
— Prokick
The issue with some (not all) of these specialists stems from eligibility and transcripts, or rather, a lack thereof. They, through Prokick, either exhausted some of their collegiate eligibility in Australia and tried to pretend like that never happened or fudged their grades to make them eligible in the United States.
He had started working with Prokick, and they were these coaches that I was talking to who were under the impression that he had four years to play. He had never been to college, and I said, that’s not what I discovered when I was recruiting him, he had three years to play.
— Anonymous college football coach, via FOX SA
Ken Gamble, Chairman of IFW International, worked with Fox San Antonio to verify the academic records of several Australian athletes who received scholarships to play college football. The eligibility concern is legit.
These students that we’ve investigated have attended university full-time, and we don’t believe that it was disclosed. If there has been a misrepresentation of their educational standards, then this is not only a violation of the NCAA eligibility rules, but it’s also fraud in their visa documents.
— Ken Gamble, via FOX SA
One athlete’s transcript from his previous Australian school showed failing grades. The transcript he (through Prokick) submitted to the NCAA showed much higher grades. It is a real problem.
There was a kid that actually outed himself. They sat down. He sat down with his advisor and said, “Oh, you need to take these classes and these classes.” And then he was like, “no, no, I already took that in university.” And they said, “What?” They did some research. And they said, “You’ve already gone to uni? You’ve got, you know, two weeks to pack your bags and get out of here.”
— Aussie trainer and recruiting expert, via FOX SA
It should be noted that fault does not lie with the athletes, but with the companies who represent them. Colleges and universities who accept the athletes without proper verification are also to blame for this problem, but the NCAA notes that it is hard to verify documents from halfway across the world.
Prokick Australia has not responded to Yami Virgin and Fox San Antonio’s request for comment.