Australia is a long way from America, but the distance hasn't deterred Josh Loring from following his passion. This is the 21-year-olds fourth visit to Australia in three years after discovering AFL. Loring's physical education teacher introduced him to the game in his final year of school and he has been playing ever since. ""My track teacher was Australian and he used to get the footballs out at lunchtime and encourage us to play. It took me a while to learn the rules and get used to handling the oval ball,"" Loring said.

Loring is training with Essendon for four weeks on a US AFL scholarship program. This is the fourth time Essendon has offered the scholarship to a budding American footballer. Last year Cincinnati Dockers player Jeremy Kraus trained with the Bombers after being award the annual scholarship.

Each year the committee from the United States Australian Football League select a young player - usually between 18 and 22 years-old that is showing a lot of promise in the game. ""Selectors come and watch our games and they judge you on a set criteria. A friend of mine was lucky enough to get the scholarship in its inaugural year and he had a fantastic time, so I was really keen to win it,"" Loring said.

After leaving school, Loring and his friends formed a team called the Lehigh Valley Crocodiles - based in Nareth, Pennsylvania. The team currently plays in a Carlton guernsey, but Loring was quick to point out the team is wearing a different guernsey next season.Not only does he enjoy an on-field role at the club, he has also been president of the football club for the past two years.

Despite playing AFL for the past three years, Loring said he continues to pick up the rules and is hoping his experience at Essendon will give him an even greater insight into the game.""We will be playing and the umpire stops play for whatever reason and we learn a new rule. Not everything happens in the one game, so you learn more rules as you go along,"" Loring said.

""I have learnt so much already training with the team for the past two weeks. The players skills level is amazing. All of the guys are really good, but James (Hird) and Matthew (Lloyd) really stand out. The way they handle the ball and how they can kick perfectly on both feet everytime. I can occasionally hit a target kicking on both feet, but nothing like these guys.”

After his four week period training at Windy Hill, Loring intends to move to Bendigo and train with the Bendigo Bombers. ""I have to return to the US in May, but I will stay in Bendigo until then. It will be a great experience and I am looking forward to meeting new friends and having a great time,"" an enthusiastic Loring said.