Big league: ex-Great Northern Football League player Andrew Stokes takes punt in US

The Great Northern Football League has been the springboard for another career in football — albeit with a difference. Former Railways player Andrew Stokes confirmed he had been granted a full scholarship to play football for the University of South Florida for four years, and was planning to head to the US in January. Originally from WA’s Mid West, he could be playing in front of crowds dozens of times bigger than the population of his home town, Morawa. But He said moving to Geraldton, Perth and then Melbourne, for country football, WAFL and then the ProKick American football program, had prepared him for life at a college a few kilometres from the centre of Tampa — and crowd sizes to match. “I’ve got mates going to colleges where home game (crowds) are 110,000,” Stokes said. “It’s definitely the (AFL) grand final crowd, if anything,” he said. On the chance he makes the NFL, an average of over 15 million people could watch him play on TV. Stokes said he would be focusing on education while there. “It’s a very small percentage (of) punters (who) get picked up in the NFL,” he said. He said he would take a course in a sports-related field. “Going to college over there, you get a degree for free,” he said. “You’re not just going to play football. They want you to have a degree and life skills.” He said the plan was to “get through college and enjoy that moment and that experience, and see what happens after that”. Stokes said he wanted to thank friends and family back home. “They know who they are,” he said. “They’ve just supported me in everything I’ve done whether it’s coming to Perth to play football or now this, massive thanks.” He said he also caught up with his GNFL coaches whenever he got back to Geraldton. “When I’m back there, I always try to catch up for a beer,” he said. “My first two seasons of playing senior footy at Railways we won the premiership back-to-back. “It doesn’t really get too much better than that.” GNFL vice-president Heather Brett said Stokes had shown desire, playing on country week teams and going through the East Fremantle development program in the Mid West. “(He) showed great commitment in everything he did,” she said.