JOSH REICH
Quinnipiac University is hoping Erik Panzer's proven leadership ability will help propel it to success in the coming American college football season.
Panzer, 18, recently accepted a scholarship offer to the university, where he will line up in the defensive line of the division one Northeastern Conference side, as well as study for a major in psychology and minor in sport studies, with the goal of becoming a sports psychologist.
Quinnipiac, located just out of Hamden, Connecticut, is a smallish university with a role of 7000-8000 students, and the men's football team, known as the Bobcats, is coached by Eric Da Costa.
Panzer, who attended Garin College, captained the national youth league-winning Canterbury United side earlier this year, was a member of the senior Canterbury team, and also plays for Nelson Suburbs.
"It is a massive opportunity for me to develop my football, to gain an education and just take that next step in my career, hoping that it will lead to more paths for the future.
"It's been a dream of mine, but now that I have achieved it, I just want to start, and therefore start working at my next dream of becoming pro."
Panzer, who is an American citizen, attended a number of trials in the United States last year, and had one firm offer.
However, had he signed, it would have required him to pay for his entire first year and hope he did enough on the pitch to secure a scholarship for future seasons.
Following the youth national league final, Panzer was contacted by US Scholarships Ltd, which arranged some more contacts for him, including the one with Quinnipiac.
After talking with the coach and investigating the college, he decided to put pen to paper.
He needs to come up with money for food and board, but should he impress, coach Da Costa is willing to increase the level of his scholarship.
Despite being a freshman, Da Costa has pledged to Panzer to give him every opportunity to be a starter and lead the defensive line, which struggled last season.
"He's also expecting me to settle fairly quickly because he has seen a few games of mine via DVD, and also just from talking and getting to know me he feels that I will be very effective and helpful for their programme."
Panzer is the first Kiwi to sign for Quinnipiac, and Da Costa had high expectations.
"I expect Erik to compete for a starting role in our back line," said Da Costa.
"There will be an adjustment period for him as he transitions to a new country, team, style of play and becomes accustomed to the college setting. Once he settles in I expect him to contribute immediately."
Panzer was anticipating getting into the full swing of American college life, but with a hectic football schedule and studies to complete, he was conscious of keeping his mind on his major goals.
"Talking to others that have been and done that, they say it was an amazing experience and if you want to make something out of it with the football side, you just gotta stick your mind to it and do it without getting too distracted by the typical uni events.
"Yes, there will be girls and parties, but there will also be a lot of hard study and football.
"I know that being with the football team, we will get a lot of academic support as we will miss classes with games etc, so that will definitely be beneficial. Also all the students get behind their teams so we will hopefully have big supportive loud crowds cheering us on."
Panzer leaves in August, and will spend the meantime working on the family farm in Thorp, coaching at Garin and playing for Suburbs.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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