FORMER Lower Norton resident Josh Armstrong dreamed of kicking goals in his first season of American football.
But a knee reconstruction saw these aspirations come crashing down.
Now after a long rehabilitation process, Armstrong, 19, is confident he can get his dreams back on track this year.
Armstrong left the Wimmera in 2009, moving to the United States of America to finish his high school studies at the Missouri Military Academy.
He was a keen Australian rules football player, and while in America, decided to try his hand at American football, gridiron.
He quickly established a position as a punter in the academy's gridiron team.
His long kicking ability attracted the attention of university scouts, and after graduating from the academy, he was offered a partial scholarship to attend the Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma, to continue his budding gridiron career.
Armstrong accepted the offer, and in between finishing at the academy and starting his university studies, he returned to the Wimmera.
It was during this break, while playing reserves football with Noradjuha-Quantong in Horsham District Football League, that Armstrong hurt his right knee.
Armstrong returned to the United States in September 2010, but his punting was still hampered by his sore knee.
Team doctors assessed his knee and discovered he had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament.
"It had happened four weeks earlier when I was playing with Quanny, but I didn't know," he said. "I thought it was just a bit sore."
Armstrong was forced to return to Australia to have a knee reconstruction before he got to play his first game of university football.
"For six weeks I couldn't do anything," he said.
"Then it was into rehabilitation and building the strength back up in my knee."
The injury forced him to defer his first semester of university.
He returned to Oklahoma for the second semester at the beginning of January.
His recovery from the knee reconstruction kept him on the sidelines during the rest of the gridiron season.
"It was a bit hard watching, I really wanted to be out there," he said.
Armstrong said he was making good progress with his recovery from the surgery.
He described his knee as at '95 per cent'.
"The doctors said it usually took about 12 months to get back to normal and I was back punting in March," he said. "I'm going back to the US at the start of August to start pre-season, and we have our first game at the start of September.
"I'll be good to go by then."
Armstrong is once again back in the Wimmera during the American summer break.
He tried to resist the urge to run out onto the football field again.
"It's too tempting to play," he said.
After training with Natimuk for a couple of weeks, he lined up for the Rams' senior side on Saturday.
"I went all right, I got a few touches," he said.
His exceptional kicking skills impressed club members, who marvelled at his ability to punt through goals from the centre square at Natimuk Showground during training.
Armstrong said he missed playing Australian rules football while in America.
"I'd love to come home and play footy here, but there are more opportunities over there," he said.
"While I've got the chance, I want to make the most of it."
Armstrong said he felt at home living and studying in Weatherford.
"It's a small town of about 10,000 people," he said. "It's pretty much a country town just like Horsham."
He began studying physical education, but has since transferred into a parks and recreation management course.
"The university is not that big," he said. "You get to know a lot of people and it is nothing like what you see in the movies."
Armstrong said his long-term goal was to reach the highest level of American football.
"I'd love to be a punter in the NFL," he said.
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