2nd Ethan Interview

 GUNNING FOR OLYMPIC GLORY

Ethan Luke Chen,19 years old, is currently a student at Ual who represents his National side the Philippines in the U21 rugby league side. He has been Playing for his National side since he was 16 years old and has learnt and grown a lot over time.

‘When I first put on that shirt, the pride and elation I felt was amazing. Since then every time I’ve put on the shirt it’s been a huge rush of pride but nothing compares to the first time I wore the shirt. I still remember the match like it was yesterday’.

Balancing University and Rugby is no easy feat. Especially for a student with so much passion and ambition. However, Ethan comes across as a guy who is juggling both with relative ease. ‘I don’t get to train much during term time because I’m focusing mainly on my work, however I am always in the gym keeping fit and ready. When term ends, I fly out to the Philippines or Qatar and train with the rest of the squad. They put me through my paces but I’m generally at the same level. ‘

The 2020 Summer Olympics will take place in Tokyo, Japan, from Friday, July 24, 2020 to Sunday, August 9, 2020. Ethan, who has been in the side since he was 17, has ambitions and dreams to play in the Tokyo games. ‘The Olympics is the dream, as a sportsman I want a platform I can play on that means I can be recognised. More importantly though I feel as though wearing the national shirt at the Olympics surrounded by my teammates, all which I consider brothers, would be an absolutely unreal moment and something I could look back on with pride and cherish for the rest of my life.’

‘Obviously getting to the Olympics will take a lot of work, anyone who appears at any Olympic game has earned their right to be there and is someone I look up to. My sporting inspiration within the Philippines is the current National 1^st team captain Luke Srama as he has been there since I first got into rugby and is such a wonderful, wonderful player. My sporting hero though has to be Roger Federer. He is like a fine wine, with age he just gets better and better, He incorporates everything new he learns into his game and has been at the top now for quite some time. He has outplayed and outlasted many of his rivals and continues to be in the top 3 players in the world despite his age only increasing. He is an artist, I know this because he mates all the difficult stuff look so easy that you forget its actually really hard what he is doing’

Ethan will be Meeting back up with his teammates this summer and hopes to have a successful period with them and convince the coaches that he is still the right player for the squad.