By Niall McCoy

SWATRAGH footballer Jude McAtamney set off for North Carolina on Tuesday as he chases his dream of playing American Football professionally.

In May 2020 the Derry man was scrolling on his phone and saw the news that Kerry teenager David Shanahan had accepted an American Football scholarship at Georgia Tech as a kicker.

McAtamney, who had helped the Oak Leaf county win the Ulster u-20 title two years previously, had never contemplated playing American Football in his life, but a thought instantly raced into his head – ‘I could do that.’

Just over a year later and the Swatragh man has lived up to that promise by signing a full athletic scholarship with North Carolina’s Chowan University.

It also continues the incredible sporting story of that Derry u-20 side of 2018.

Players like Padraig McGrogan and Conor McCluskey have progressed to represent the county at senior level, while Anton Tohill and Callum Brown have both made their AFL debuts over the last fortnight with Collingwood and the GWS Giants respectively.

Earlier this year, McAtamney travelled to America for three months’ training with Shanahan and through Pro Kick, an Australian recruitment agency, he eventually secured a place at Chowan University – a college that has produced a host of NFL players.

“I definitely feel I have the ability to make it. It’s very easy to decide for yourself whether or not you’re good at the kicking because it’s very black and white.

“You can see how far you can kick it, how consistent you are and what height you can get.

“So far it seems that I have a bit of talent on that side and I believe that if I work hard enough and put in full effort and commitment I could make a professional career out of it.”

McAtamney said that the extra time afforded by lockdown allowed him to chase the dream.

“As soon as David put up that he had signed for Georgia Tech I literally just got the interest there and then,” McAtamney said.

“I had a good kick and I always dreamed of playing professional sport and something just clicked in my head that day. This is the possibility to fulfil that dream.

“I had the whole of lockdown to train and experiment to see how good I was and eventually I contacted David.

“He looked at my kicks, said they were good enough and told me to forward them to a recruitment programme in Australia (Prokick), the same one he had worked with.

“They said that I was good enough and that I had a lot of potential, but they needed to work with me. The initial plan was to head out to Australia but lockdown went on a lot longer than expected so that didn’t pan out.

“I played the club championship in Derry and then at the start of January this year David texted me to tell me he was going to train in America for two months with a guy called Tom Hackett, who used to play for the Utah Utes, and asked me would I like to come.”

McAtamney jumped at the opportunity and after returning home and continuing to train, the offer from North Carolina came, and he is now embarking on a new chapter.