By Kim J. Harmon

Q

UEENSLAND, Australia – Koala bears, kangaroos and . . . oh, yeah, football. That’s what it was all about when Tom Denninger last month traveled some 20 hours by air to participate in the annual Down Under Bowl in Queensland, Australia.

Denninger, a standout offensive lineman for the Newtown High School football team last fall, had been nominated by NHS coach Ken Roberts to play in the Down Under Bowl, which is one of centerpieces of a long Olympic-style festival of games and activities, and after raising some $3,000 he was on his way.

The Down Under Bowl was created by International Sports Specialities, Inc. (ISSI) and it became an official event of Queensland, Australia back in 1998. Tom represented Connecticut and played on the O-line for the Eastern States (Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia) team.

“The people were nice and pretty receptive to us,” said Tom. “They were really excited to see us.”

Now, there was not a lot of time two dozen players to practice together, which sure went a ways towards helped the Eastern States lose its first game, 14-7, to Minnesota (which apparently had enough players to field its own squad).

“Defensively we did well,” said Tom. “We just couldn’t move the ball on offense.”

The Eastern States did a lot better, though, against New Zealand and won an 18-0 decision.

But football was just part of the seven-day trip to Australia.

“It was great,” said Tom. “They had us constantly busy – going to a wildlife preserve one day, a water park another day. We got to visit the Olympic village and had a chance to swim in the Olympic pool.”

Plus, he had a chance to hold a koala bear and watch a lot of Australian Rules Football on the television (“I’ve become addicted to it,” he said). And after the games, the entourage – on its way back to mainland United States – stopped off for some R&R in Hawaii.

All in all, not a bad way to spend summer vacation. Tom needed it, too, because he will soon be heading out to Sacred Heart University (with former NHS teammate Nick Savino) for some Division I-AA collegiate football.

And he wanted to thank all the businesses and individuals who donated money to make his summer experience possible.