African's rise

Ethiopia

Dec 25 2004

Lindsay Murdoch - The Age

Twelve years ago, Goaner Tutlam was a boy soldier toting an AK47 in Ethiopia's border area with Sudan.

"There was a civil war," he said. "My family had to flee the fighting. They gave me an AK47 to protect them."

Now aged 22, Tutlam finds himself in sweltering Darwin, fighting to disprove sceptics who doubt he can become the first Ethiopian to play senior football with an AFL club.

But the 196-centimetre former basketball player, of whom Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy declared "give the kid a chance" after he trained for six weeks with the Bombers' rookie development club, has a problem he is determined to overcome.

"I really need to put on weight," Tutlam said. "It's hotter here even than Ethiopia. My metabolism is very active. I can't survive (in football) if I lose weight."

He weighs 76 kilograms.

Coaches at Darwin's St Mary's Football Club, where Tutlam will play his first full match on Monday, have ordered 300 kilograms of steak and told him to eat as much as he can.

"I used to eat one meal a day," he said. "I am now trying to eat five times a day. It's hard but I have got to do it."

After his first sessions this week, coaches described Tutlam, who has played basketball since he was 15, as a "freak" athlete with an amazing leap.

He first picked up a football in October but now says he is addicted to the game and kicks and handles a ball every day.

St Mary's assistant coach Darren Flanagan said Tutlam was kicking goals from 45 metres out with both feet at his first training session. "I was very impressed," Flanagan said.

Tutlam came to Australia with an Olympic basketball youth team in 2000. He managed to obtain a visa to stay and is now a resident.

Tutlam was sent to play in the tough Northern Territory Football League by Toby Granger, who founded the international recruitment program, which aims to recruit and develop elite international athletes to play in the AFL.

"Goaner is the full package," Granger said. "He is determined, courageous, highly skilled and has immense athletic ability. He just needs to improve his decision-making as he has never played a full game."

Tutlam says he will work as hard as he can in Darwin for the rest of the NTFL season, which ends in March.

He will line up at full-forward or centre half-forward on Monday in the St Mary's reserves side that will play Southern Districts.

"I know there are many others who will fight to play for the big teams but they will find out I don't give up easily," he said. "I see myself as a forward; I have good hands and a good leap."

Sheedy keen on Ethiopian

Ethiopia

Nov 12 2004

Mark Robinson

www.heraldsun.com.au

KEVIN Sheedy's world exploration for new talent may land him a 22-year-old giant from Ethiopia.

Goaner Tutlan, a refugee who has been in Australia for four years, has been training with Essendon's development squad for the past six weeks and may be named as a rookie in December.

Although he picked up a footy for the first time just six weeks ago, and is desperately shy of skill, it's his athletic ability that has wowed Bombers staff.

A former player in the Ethiopian National Basketball League, Tutlan has broken the club's 20m sprint record, the agility test record and the vertical leap record.

At 196cm and just 76kg, he has taught himself to kick and handball.

"It's really, really hard unless you work hard for it," Tutlan said.

"I just want to give it a go. I just want to start in the seconds and work my way up."

Tutlan has been invited to train with the Bombers leading up to Christmas, with Sheedy contemplating naming him as an international rookie-listed player in December.

Sheedy could not be contacted last night, but Bombers recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro said a decision would be made soon.

"It's exciting, it's unknown, it's untapped," Dodoro said.

For Tutlan, his dream is twofold: to play football and to make money for his family in Gambela, 770km from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

A prominent junior soccer player who took up basketball at 15, Tutlan came to Australia on a youth program prior to the Sydney Olympics and stayed.

He was encouraged to train for football 12 months ago, but passed because of the time commitments.

"I couldn't because I have to support families back home, so I can't do it," he said.

"The whole thing just stopped, but after watching the Grand Final, Port Adelaide and Brisbane, I called my friend Toby and told him I wanted to do it.

"I started six weeks ago.

"I started at Essendon when they started the rookie camp because they want me to fight for rookies."

For an unknown who hasn't played, he is super confident he will make the Bombers' list.

"I'm confident I can do it," he said.

"I've got a soccer background, I kick with both feet from any angle so the skills are not the problem right now.

"I'm not thinking about my skills because it's something I can learn.

"I grew up playing soccer and then when I was 15 I start playing basketball and in two years I was playing in the national league, so I believe I can do it. It doesn't take me long to adapt to something."

Tutlan would be the first Ethiopian on an AFL list, and would follow fellow internationals from Ireland, North America, South Korea, New Zealand and South Africa.

He believes if he can succeed, it would pave the way for fellow Africans.

"This is just not for me, it's for the other black people," he said.

"Once they see me playing it, it's like opening a door and a lot of people pay attention to it. In three or four years there will be a lot of black people playing."

Tutlan was introduced to Essendon 12 months ago, with two other Ethiopians, by a friend, Toby Grainger, and has loved the Bombers since. His favourite player is skipper James Hird and he adores Sheedy.

"I first came to Essendon and Kevin Sheedy took me to lunch," he said.

"Ever since I'm an Essendon supporter as well as all my friends."