American football comes Down Under for historic Sydney Cup

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will host the California Golden Bears in Sydney on Saturday, in a landmark day for a sport that is more popular in this country than ever before.

The opening game of the NCAA College Football season will be played on Aussie soil for the very first time.

It is the most crucial promotion this code of football has seen in this country, with much more on the line than the result of the game.

I’ve just returned from playing American football in both California and Nevada, so I can tell you from experience that the Americans are starting to really sit up and take notice of what we are getting up some 15,000 kilometres away.

There are currently 34 Aussie players in the American College system, with the overwhelming majority – in fact 30 of them – thanks to Melbourne’s elite kicking and punting program, ProKick Australia.

Nathan Chapman and John Smith started the program nine years ago and in that time have sent 63 guys over to the US, through either the college, NFL or semi-pro system. I was lucky enough to be a part of that program, which landed me a semi-professional contract in the states in March of 2015.

It’s not just punters and kickers taking the long-haul flight to test their skills, though.

We all know the story of NRL star Jarryd Hayne who played for the San Francisco 49ers last year, but there are more where that came from. For example, Queenslander Jesse Williams played at Alabama and was then signed by the Seattle Seahawks before illness struck him down.

There is a huge interest in rugby players for positions on both sides of the ball, which will only lead to more Aussies getting the chance.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen the college game played on our shores, with that honour going to Melbourne way back in December 1985, when Wyoming defeated UTEP 24-21 at VFL Park. Two years later in the same city, Brigham Young University beat Colorado State University at Princes Park, but after only 7652 attended the ‘Melbourne Bowl’, we saw a long hiatus – until Saturday’s showpiece.

The landscape has now changed though, with the game substantially more accessible now.

Adding to the momentum being built for the game Down Under was when one of the biggest teams in all of college sports, Michigan, held a camp held in Melbourne in June. More than 130 players from all across Australia and New Zealand showed up to the camp, which what was initially meant to be hosted in conjunction with ProKick Australia, but was subsequently quashed by the NCAA due to its potential to break recruiting violations.

The show went on though, and was a great success, hosted by several of Michigan’s coaching staff and six players, including their Aussie punter Blake O’Neill, who is also a ProKick student.

Back to the action on field and the two teams entrusted with opening the college season on Saturday, Cal and Hawaii. They don’t play each other often – in fact the last time they met was in 1994, with the Rainbow Warriors won 21-7.

I’m backing the Bears to win here, they play in a tougher conference, the Pac 12, and finished with a record of 8-5 last season. Hawaii, on the other hand, struggled last season and slumped to a 3-10 record in the weaker Mountain West conference.

One thing you can count on, no matter the result, is that there will be many more Australian athletes gracing the American College system and pro leagues.

The University of Hawaii takes on the University of California in the Sydney Cup at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, with kick off at 12 midday (AEST).