Ex Knight, Impresses as a Hawk
After playing two seasons with the Northern Knights, as a bottom age and then senior player, Sam Switkowski has now joined the brown and gold army at the Box Hill Hawks.
Switkowski played his first game for Box Hill on Sunday against Coburg, where he showed onlookers some of the talent he was bringing to the club. He scored two goals for the Hawks, one off the ground and a snapshot from a tough angle.
“I was really excited before the game, there weren’t too many nerves. I was feeling pretty comfortable around the place but yeah just really excited to get out there and get a win like we did,” Switkowski said.
Switkowski has settled in nicely with the Box Hill Hawks group, taking some guidance off senior players.
“One thing I have noticed is how good the leadership is around the club, guys like David Mirra and Sam Collins have been really good in giving us advice on how things run down there and how to keep on top of discipline with training and matches,” he said.
Switkowski didn’t always have the dream of becoming a professional footballer. When he was young the game was only ever about having fun and mucking around with mates. It wasn’t until he was teen years, he realised he had enough talent to take it further.
“I guess I probably got serious about football around the age of 15, I realised that if I worked at it I would be able to play at a high level. From there things grew and now I’m aiming to play at the highest level possible.”
Switkowski has a bright future ahead on and off the field. He is currently studying Environmental Engineering at RMIT. The four year course along with footy takes up most of his time, he spends his limited spare time shooting hoops and hanging out with friends.
He has experience in multiple positions across the field. His first club had him in the back line, Northern Knights then playing him mainly in the midfield and now Box Hill opting to send him up forward.
“At Box Hill I’ve been playing a little all over the place but predominantly up forward which I’m really enjoying.”
“My focuses at training are all about keeping the intensity up and improving my skills. Obviously with my spot up forward goal kicking is a huge focus,” Switkowski said.
From a local football to the VFL there is quite a big increase in the standard played and Switkowski admits he is still getting used to the differences.
“The biggest difference from my previous football league to the VFL are the bigger bodies and the more mature players that you come up against and play with. The pace of the game is also a little bit quicker, its something Im starting to settle into though, as we do a lot of high intensity, face paced work at training.”
With the season only just beginning Switkowski has his eyes set on September.
“I think the ultimate goal is the team goal of making the grand final and winning premierships in both the development and senior team. I think from that the individual achievements just fly with it.”
With both the Box Hill Hawks teams winning comfortably on the weekend, there a big hopes for the club for the 2015 season.
Photo credit Jenny Owens.
