THE COUNTRY'S most talented draft hopefuls have been in Florida for the past 10 days for a high-performance training camp with the NAB AFL Academy.

While on the tour, Victorian Josh Dunkley, who is eligible to join the Sydney Swans as a father-son prospect, will write a diary for AFL.com.au detailing the team's activities.

Every day Dunkley will also shine the spotlight on a teammate, including some lighter moments. This is the final of three diary entries.

DAY EIGHT
January 17
Tampa en route to Orlando

A fun run in Sarasota caused a delay in our journey to a college basketball game in Tampa, but luckily the bus driver made good time and we only missed a couple of minutes in the opening half.

We saw University of South Florida play Tulsa at USF's home court. Being a college game, the support around the court was amazing. There were bands, cheerleaders and a lot of local supporters barracking for each side.

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It made me think about what it would be like to have that kind of support at TAC Cup level back home, and how much the atmosphere at games can provide an extra gear for you on the field.

We hopped back on the bus on the way to Orlando, but went via the international premium outlet, which had about 160 different stores selling quality items at cheap rates.

It's fair to say the boys were excited about getting among the shopping after an intense week of training at IMG Academy, and it was so cheap that we were all keen to make the most of it.

I picked up a few things for my family, and I was shocked at how low the prices were – as well as nice Nike and Under Armour gear, the Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger shops got a work out.

Harley Balic, Kieran Collins and Keiran Agius were some of the better performers on the shopping scene.

After what seemed a too short and frantic hour-and-a-half, we travelled to our accommodation in Downtown Orlando and had a quiet night.

Spotlight on: Kade Stewart. Kade is the kind of teammate who you can count on to play his role and get the most out of himself, and it was good to celebrate his 18th birthday today.

Kade Stewart chats with coach Brad Johnson. Picture: Lachlan Cunningham/AFL Media

DAY NINE
January 18
Orlando

For our last training session of the tour we headed to a local park in Orlando, and despite being stuck in a back corner of available grounds, we still trained really well and finished on a high note.

In a light training we did a lot of kicking drills. One of the things I'm looking to develop this year is getting my kicking to AFL standard, so I enjoyed the work we did.

A standout for the session was Eric Hipwood, who's had a really good tour. He came into the squad late and he hasn't really put a foot wrong, and has fitted in really well. His competitiveness in the one-on-ones and his general smarts was impressive.

Aidyn Johnson was another who showed off his freakish agility, whizzing through stoppages and delivering balls to forwards at a high standard.

For a couple of hours after lunch many of us caught taxis back to the international outlet to complete some unfinished business and shop some more.

We had make it back by 4pm, when we were set to head to the NBA game between Orlando Magic and OKC Thunder at the Amway Centre in Orlando, which is just down the road from where we are staying.

With many basketball followers in the squad, this was one of the things we were looking forward to before coming over. Jacob Weitering and James Parsons were especially ready for it, as two of the big fans in our group.

The game itself was a blowout but the atmosphere was intense and uplifting.

There was not one moment where the crowd wasn't involved and there was always something happening, almost like before an AFL Grand Final, even though it was just a normal season game in this competition.

Stephen Tahana was lucky enough to snare two t-shirts which were shot out of guns during a timeout, even though Jacob Hopper was trying his best to get over the seat in order to make a steal.

Spotlight on: Greg Clark. The team was rapt when Greg managed to get on the big screen at the game, despite the ground announcer's best attempts to get him out of shot. As a group we think Greg might have enjoyed the spotlight.

Diarist Josh Dunkley during a swimming session. Picture: Lachlan Cunningham/AFL Media

DAY 10
January 19
Orlando

We were told to be ready in the hotel foyer at 9am this morning, but the coaches kept our plans a secret … that was until the recruiters walked into the hotel foyer and one of them let it out that we were headed for Disney World.

It felt like there was a highway built just for access to Disney World and we went to Magic Kingdom, one of five different Disney theme parks in the one precinct.

We split up once inside, and were told to meet back at the starting point by 5.30pm sharp, giving us about seven hours to get to as many rides as possible.

After catching a monorail into the park, Gach Nyuon and I managed to get to six different rides and it might have been more if not for a public holiday in America. At one ride, the estimated wait time was a ridiculous 120 minutes. We chose to opt out of that one.

Being the last night of the tour, we were served up a three-course meal with everyone in the travelling party attending, including the recruiters.

Each of the boys stood in front of the group to express what they had learned and enjoyed on tour.

I spoke about how the week had taught me to listen to my body – as much as you want to be out there each session, you need to know what your body's capable of and how to handle it. If I use this knowledge, I think it will hold me in good stead for this year in terms of backing up games every week.

Being my first time in the US, this tour is going to be something I'll remember forever. It's shown me you can't really put a foot wrong or it will stand out, but if you have the right frame of mind it's not hard to be disciplined.

I think it's made me want to reach the AFL even more than I already did. It makes you eager to do everything possible to have your name called out on draft night.

We fly out early tomorrow morning and face another long few flights before getting back to Melbourne around Thursday lunchtime. I think everyone is keen to take the things they've learned on tour back home and keep improving.

Thanks for reading the diary, and I hope you enjoyed the updates.