Hi, My Name is Alex Starling...

Hello, my name is Alex Starling. I've recently been signed to play in the Australian Football League (AFL) with the Sydney Swans. I will be keeping a blog to share my experience with you. For those of you who don't know the sport of AFL it is a fast, exciting, unique, physical game that is played in Australia.

I was born February 6, 1989 in Miami, Florida. I'm the youngest of my mothers (Jennifer Davis) 3 children. I have an older sister and an older brother. I grew up in Richmond Heights Miami, Florida. I've attended Leewood Elementary, Richmond Heights Middle School, Miami Killian Senior High School, Palm Beach State College for a year, and Bethune-Cookman University. Which is where I am currently finishing my collegiate studies to earn my degree in Business Administration.

I've always been involved with sports since I can remember. Throughout elementary and middle school I always loved and played American football, basketball, and track and field. From the summer heading into my freshman year of high school to the end of it I had a 3 inch growth spurt. Along with that grew a hungry passion to play basketball at the Division 1 level.

I achieved my goal of playing basketball at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 level with Bethune-Cookman University and set a few records there along the way. My life changed when I was introduced to Australian Rules Football on May 23, 2011 when the Sydney Swans identified me as having the athletic potential to play AFL from my basketball background. I became interested in the AFL after seeing a few clips of footy. I was then invited out to Rendondo Beach, California to an AFL Draft Combine on June 28, 2011.

I will gladly tell you more about my trial with the Sydney Swans and my journey from playing basketball in Daytona Beach, USA to AFL in Sydney, Australia in my next blog.

Alex Starling
#superbstarling

[Read the news article about Alex's journey so far...]

Highlights from Alex's basketball career: