Shooting Hoops, Boxing and learning Italian for Leroy Jennings

Blacktown City striker Leroy Jennings has used the COVID-19 break that’s halted football as an opportunity to up-skill himself in a number of interesting new hobbies he’s picked up.

“Yeah you could say that I’ve been doing a lot of boxing for fun and shooting a ton of hoops at a court down the road because I have been watching The Last Dance on Netflix every week.

“I’ve also been learning to play the piano and learning to speak Italian properly which I’ve been meaning to do for a while.”

“No doubt the pandemic has certainly been a real wake up call for me in the sense of just appreciating those simple things we take for granted like being able to play football, having a get together with your family and just hanging out with your mates.

“Spending a lot of quality time with my family which has been a blessing and the biggest positive out of all this would have to be the best thing to come out of this too. It’s obviously been tough to stay home for such a long time but having my family to make the most of it, has made it enjoyable.

“Even though I miss my football and my weekly routine, it’s been nice to slow life down a little bit and pick up on new hobbies.”

Not bad for the 22-year-old who is well cultured, born in Sydney and is half Italian and half Fijian/Tongan just to mix it up a bit.

Known to many as a ‘specimen’ by his fellow peers at Lily Homes Stadium, the former Fijian youth international has stayed true to keeping fit and sharp for the hopeful commencement of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season.

“It’s been real tough not being able to train or work but I’ve just tried to be creative with my time and training.

“I’ve been going for runs and using the equipment that I’ve got at home in my garage as much as possible.

“The hardest part is not knowing when the season and football will resume again so I’ve just made my workouts different and enjoyable so I don’t burn out and can stay motivated.”

Blacktown City were flying high prior to the abrupt break having recorded three wins from three games, the high-flyer is certainly missing the banter in the dressing sheds as well as needing to catch up to club captain Matt Lewis on the top goal scorers charts.

“I definitely miss competing and playing games with my team.

“We have such a great team chemistry at our club from the staff to the players and I just miss going out, putting my kit on and playing together for 3 points wherever we are.

“We did start off the season on a great note, I am just hoping we can continue on with it when the league recommences.

“To get to playing our game once more we need to keep positive, patient and keep abiding by the governments restrictions together as a community so we all can get back to normal life and our NPL Football as soon as possible.”