By ADEM SARICAOGLU
FABIO Di Lizia had the world at his feet as an up-and-coming gun soccer player.
As a junior, the now 22-year-old had spent time with the Victorian Institute of Sport, the Australian under-17s squad and Melbourne Victory.
In the senior ranks, Di Lizia plied his trade with Victorian Premier League clubs Melbourne Knights and Hume City.
Since the age of four, he’d devoted his sporting life to soccer, but then, almost overnight, Di Lizia chose to swap the round ball for a Sherrin.
And, so far at least, that’s turned out to be quite a good decision.
Early this year, good mate Sam Sarkis, among others, managed to lure Di Lizia into the Essendon District Football League’s Hillside Sharks.
Seeking a mental spell from soccer, Di Lizia obliged, and managed to earn a senior call up by round one.
“I just wanted to try something different, to be honest,” Di Lizia said.
“Soccer life was getting a bit beyond me, so I thought I’d have a kick with the lads.”
That day against Coburg Districts in round one, Di Lizia did more than have a kick.
The soccer convert nailed six goals on debut in Hillside’s 91-point thumping.
A week later, he kicked eight, then seven in round three, taking his grand total to 21 goals (though he insists it’s 22) after three games.
In round four, he lined up alongside former AFL superstar Chris Tarrant against Keilor Park and was gearing up for the biggest game of his Hillside career to date.
However, after failing to goal in the first term, Di Lizia was forced from the ground shortly after quarter time with a game-ending shoulder injury.
“I just got crunched by two blokes,” Di Lizia explained.
“I just picked up the footy and looked up and that was it.”
It was an injury that kept him out of Saturday’s win over Roxburgh Park and will likely do so again for at least another couple of weeks, yet remarkably, Di Lizia is still equal third for goal-kicking in Division Two.
“I’m pretty upset actually because we’ve got a couple of big games coming up in the next few rounds and I wanted to be a part of that at least,” Di Lizia said.
“A few of the boys have joked at the club already saying welcome to the real world, but that’s all good.“I don’t mind the contact – it was a fair bump and I just wasn’t expecting it at the time.”
As for whether he’ll stick with his new-found game or go back to the one he grew up with, Di Lizia remains undecided, for now.
