East Hartford — Not every day your punter is a 23-year-old former plumber from Australia.

Meet Luke Magliozzi, the newest addition to the UConn football roster.

His life story has the potential makings of a heart-warming movie.

A former Australian Rules Football player, he quit his job as a plumber to pursue his dream to play college football in the United States with future hopes of a professional career.

He took a long, winding path from his hometown in Westmeadows, Australia, to Storrs to attend school and compete for the starting punter's job. Along the way, he spent a week in Canada waiting for his visa. While in Ottawa, he stayed in a tiny room in a former jail converted into a hostel.

And he lost his luggage during his trip to Boston.

"He's had a tremendous ordeal just to get here," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "At some point in time, I'm going to have him talk to the team and just kind of tell them his story and his background and what he did to get here. ... He sent us video of (his hostel room). When I saw that, I said, 'Man, how many of our guys would do that?' Plus, he was doing that stuff pretty much on his own."

The rest of Magliozzi's intriguing story has yet to be written.

Magliozzi is trying to get acclimated to his new home, new teammates and new sport. Although he's watched college and professional football, he's never played before.

Blessed with a strong leg, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Magliozzi just may be the solution to UConn's punting concerns. Last year's starter, Justin Wain, graduated, leaving a vacancy.

"I always felt that I had a big kick growing up," Magliozzi said Sunday before UConn's practice at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. "I grew up playing Aussie Rules footie since I was four or five, so I was always kicking."

To begin his journey from plumber to punter, Magliozzi contacted Nathan Chapman who runs Prokick Australia with John Smith. The organization trains potential punters and kickers for opportunities to play either on the college or professional level.

For the first three months of training, Magliozzi kept his full-time job as a plumber before going all-in.

"I decided to call it quits and focus full time on punting," Magliozzi said. "I felt I had to give up everything. That was a big decision. It was just a matter of how much I wanted it."

Magliozzi spent a year with Prokick, which recorded video of his workouts and sent them to college football programs, eventually helping him connect with Edsall. He also went on a Prokick tour, visiting Los Angeles, Utah, Memphis and New Orleans before heading to Canada.

"It's been a long road to get here," Magliozzi said.

Edsall has had success with recruiting Australian kickers. During his first stint in Storrs, he brought in Adam Coles (2000-03), who ended up being one of the best punters in program history. Coles recently sent Magliozzi a Facebook message offering help or advice. At Maryland, Edsall had placekicker Brad Craddock, a second team All-American.

Magliozzi knew little about UConn prior to his commitment except that it was a good basketball school. He discovered that the school was a good fit for him. He's majoring in sports management.

It will take some time for Magliozzi to find his comfort zone, on and off the field. He's only been in Connecticut since Thursday.

Magliozzi has lot to learn about his craft. He's only took up punting roughly a year ago.

At Prokick, he received snaps from a jugs machine and never faced a rush. He also had to change his technique.

He admits he's a bit overwhelmed but added he has to "get over it." He's already come so far from his early workouts at Prokick.

"It's a lot different," Magliozzi said. "When I first picked up an NFL football, I was about 22. It was frustrating at first. ... Some days, I just felt like quitting and it wasn't for me. It wasn't going well. Nathan Chapman just said stay calm, break it down into little steps and eventually it will come together. Within those 12 months, it came together pretty well and I'm here."

Magliozzi will have a good shot at earning the starting job in the short time period before the regular season opener on Aug. 31 against Holy Cross. Redshirt freshman Brett Graham is the only other player listed as a punter on the roster.

Magliozzi brings a level of maturity.

"I'm not sure he's one that will get flustered or anything along those lines," Edsall said. "I'm just glad he was able to get everything (done). Now he can be in here and get his sea legs underneath him a little bit and really go and not have to worry about too many other things."

Edsall also offered Magliozzi some wise advice.

"I just told him to relax," Edsall said.

g.keefe@theday.com