ACPE Sports Coaching student Ashleigh Brooking has had a busy year…
First she was selected to attend the Sport NSW/ACPE Female Fast Track for Female Coaches program, and then decided she wanted to do more! Having then been a successful applicant for Rowing NSW’s Coach Her Way program Ashleigh was lucky enough to be paired with Lizzi Chapman (Passport2Paris and PR3 Para Rowing Coordinator at Rowing Australia).
In December Ashleigh was involved in a talent search day for potential paralympic athletes for rowing, canoeing, and cycling. Here she impressed Chris Yeomans, Senior Coordinator – Talent, at ACPE partners NSW Institute of Sport, and was then provided the opportunity to work with some sprint cycling athletes. Chris outlines why Ashleigh was ‘lucky’ enough to be selected for this exciting opportunity:
Ash was first involved through her rowing connections in a major piece of collaborative work between Paralympics Australia, NSWIS and AusCycling, Rowing Australia and Paddle Australia. This was a 3 way sport talent transfer event held in December 2021, as a post Tokyo opportunity, and working to prepare athletes for Paris 2024 and LA 2028. Ash helped with the athlete testing, on water experience, and an array of event management aspects on the day. Ash was keen, interested, and willing to learn from all involved. This interest sparked an ongoing conversation and we’re so glad to have Ash involved in NSWIS Talent Unit projects throughout 2022, especially integrating her with a new squad of developing female athletes in Track Sprint Cycling.
As Ashleigh continues to plan for her career after she graduates from ACPE, she reflected on her journey so far:
ACPE has encouraged me to not limit myself and take every opportunity that comes my way. I’ve developed interests in various fields within sport that I hadn’t previously thought about or even considered through completing different academic and practical units at ACPE. This has led me to gain educational and developmental opportunities such as working with the talent ID and development of female sprint cyclists at NSWIS and working with the PR3 Para Rowing co-ordinator for Rowing Australia.
Head of Department for Sports Performance at ACPE, Duncan Greig outlined how well Ashleigh has represented herself as an ACPE student:
One of the best things about working with ACPE students is seeing them grow from students into professionals, who will support and drive forward sport in Australia. We are really pleased that Ashleigh epitomizes our belief that ACPE students seek out professional opportunities, and then they thrive in them. We hope that Ashleigh’s efforts inspire other students to have the confidence to ‘go for it’.
