From Arizona to Australia: Meet Aiden Kemp the 2023 Mark Loane medal recipient.

Aiden Kemp, the newest resident of King’s College has moved from the University of Arizona to play rugby at The University of Queensland (UQ) for the next three months. After this, he will return to America.

Noticed by UQ’s board during a rugby game against the Spanish National team, Aiden was selected to be the recipient of the Mark Loane Medal.

This prestigious award is dedicated to former Wallabies player and UQ Alumnus, Mark Loane, and is awarded to America’s most outstanding high school rugby athlete.

Through this scholarship, Aiden attends UQ exclusively to play rugby while residing at King’s.

When asked what his inspiration was for playing rugby, Aidan mentioned his father was a USA Eagle. Aiden grew up playing rugby in the United States of America (US)  and continued the sport while he lived in Italy and Japan.

Since playing in Australia, Aiden has observed numerous differences in the sport. He said rugby in Australia is much faster compared to the US, where it is very orientated to the “big boys” carrying the ball upfront.

Aiden also noted the cultural shocks. The first one is the food quality, noting everything here is a lot less processed, and the portions are much smaller, compared to home. Furthermore, Aiden highlighted the friendliness of the Australian culture. He finds everyone at King’s College to be welcoming and kind, in contrast to the “clingy” culture in US colleges.

Aiden’s advice for anyone thinking about studying in Australia is to “just do it” describing it as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.

Aiden also shared his plans to re-enrol at UQ next year and pursue either mechanical engineering or accounting while playing rugby on the side with UQ Rugby Club.

The Wyvern Review would like to thank Aiden Kemp for sharing his experiences of moving to Australia to play rugby at The University of Queensland.

Click here to view the Aiden Kemp interview