A SPORTING CHANCE

A SPORTING CHANCE

GIVING STUDENTS A

SPORTING CHANCE In a region renowned for its love of active outdoor lifestyles, the development of sports and exercise sciences at the University of the Sunshine Coast was quick off the blocks. This teaching and research focus has been matched by investment in partnerships, programs and shared facilities that have engaged all levels of the community and industry, from Little Athletics children to Olympians and Paralympians, with diverse benefits for students and staff.

AS A TEENAGER, Brendan Burkett pursued his twin passions

reference was to China’s 2008 Paralympic Games, one of three that

of sport and science through playing rugby league and studying

Professor Burkett attended as national sport science coordinator for

engineering. As an adult, he became a world champion athlete and

the Australian swim team, after competing as a member of the team

a nationally accredited sport scientist. As a new tutor at USC in

in four Paralympics between Seoul in 1988 and Sydney in 2000. (The

1998, only a year after the University introduced science courses,

year he debuted as professor was 2010.)

the swimming gold medallist, professional engineer and soon-to-be PhD graduate started constructing a degree to suit students of the sporty, outdoorsy Sunshine Coast. The Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science took its first enrolments

One of the earliest opportunities taken by Professor Burkett was in Europe in 1990. After growing up in a beach town halfway along the Queensland coastline, moving to Brisbane to gain his university engineering degree, and travelling overseas for swimming

in 1999 and remains one of USC’s most popular and enduring disciplines, one of five in the thriving School of Health and Sport Sciences. Along with biomedical sciences, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy and public health, the school headed by Professor John Lowe focuses on preventing disease and disability to improve people’s quality of life. Brendan Burkett is now Professor of Sport Science (Biomechanics), a USC lecturer and researcher of 18

... and then he said, ‘Have you had any operations?’ Professor Burkett recalled. I said, ‘I’ve had my appendix out. And my leg cut off’.

years who is respected by staff, students and the wider community for his determination to help the University punch above its weight

competitions, he landed in The Netherlands for a world titles where

and serve its region.

he won silver. Reading a local newspaper with the help of the team’s

According to Professor Burkett, his career success was more about taking opportunities than striving for long-term goals. The date he became a professor, for example, did not spring quickly to mind. “I never started off (in academia) saying, ‘Oh, by the time I’m 50 I want to be a professor,” he said, sitting at his desk

workers airlifted on and off platforms in all weather, but he wanted to give it a go. His application was accepted. The last step was the medical in France. “The doctor was asking where I was from and then he said, ‘Have

nicknamed the Tower.

you had any operations?’” Professor Burkett recalled. “I said, ‘I’ve had

his office walls, he remembered the milestone was “after Beijing”. The

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE: BRENDAN BURKETT CONDUCTS TESTS IN A USC SPORTS LAB

the North Sea. It was a notoriously dangerous environment, with

on the fifth and highest level of USC’s Health and Sports Centre, Standing up to seek clues from the certificates and memorabilia on

186

translator, Brendan saw an ad for an engineer on the oil rigs in

my appendix out. And my leg cut off.’” There was a pause.

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A SPORTING CHANCE

“The doctor looked up through his bifocals and said in French, ‘What do you mean?’ And I said, ‘My appendix – just here.’” Pointing to his abdomen, Professor Burkett laughed at the memory. The French doctor had not found it funny and refused to test him. “I said, ‘Look, you have to give me a go, that’s what we do in Australia.’ I was persistent and he rang someone and reluctantly started the physical test, all this running up and down steps and climbing ropes and things in a two-hour timeframe. And I passed. I didn’t know it at the time but I was the first person with that type of disability to work on the oil rigs.” Even back then, Professor Burkett’s active lifestyle was not hindered by his use of a prosthesis in place of his right leg, which was amputated in a Brisbane hospital in 1985. The then 22-yearold had been seriously injured when his motorcycle was hit by a car that left the scene. “Working on the rigs was fantastic,” he recalled. “Thirty days on then a month off to go snow-skiing or do swimming training or fly home to sail in the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race.” Professor Burkett eventually moved to the Sunshine Coast “because I’d always enjoyed holidaying here and didn’t want to wait until retirement to live here”. By 1998, the year he finished his PhD (QUT) thesis, ‘A biomechanical analysis of running for trans-femoral (above-knee) amputees’, he was making his mark at a new university on his new home ground. “It was another opportunity that just grew,” he recalled. “I was a

WAYNE BENNETT AND SCOTT BARKER AT SUNCORP STADIUM BRISBANE 2015

sessional tutor at USC, then a part-time lecturer. By 2000 when I competed in Sydney, I was working here full-time.” He not only I travelled to France at the end of every NRL season, working with the

participated in the Sydney Paralympics that year, he also carried the Australian flag at the opening ceremony. Professor Burkett’s accolades now range from a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) to inductions in sporting halls of fame and academic achievements. But when asked about career highlights, he paused. “It’s the reward of seeing the lights go on for a student. You’re teaching and you think, ‘wow, that’s connected with them,’ and you see them go on and succeed.” Scott Barker was in the first intake of sport and exercise science students at USC in 1999. The schoolboy rugby league player had

Scott has been an innovator in the area of sports technology. He strives to be ahead of the game and where it’s going. Working at the highest levels in the game with the best teams for a long period of time is his great achievement in this industry.

graduated Year 12 in Brisbane with a high enough score to study a human movement degree at a big Brisbane university but opted

WAY N E B E N N E T T

coach of Brisbane’s premier National Rugby League (NRL) team the Broncos. He started volunteering at team training, doing everything he could, from holding up the tackle bags to filling water bottles. Fast forward 16 years … The USC graduate is now Head of Performance Analysis for both the Brisbane Broncos and Australian Rugby League teams. “I’ve been very lucky to do a lot of the things that people in the sport and exercise science world would love to do,” he said. “I’ve worked at the highest levels in Rugby League, with some of the best players and

188

BRENDAN BURKETT CARRIES THE AUSTRALIAN FLAG AT THE 2000 SYDNEY PARALYMPICS

Mr Barker took a moment to reminisce during last year’s pre-season – a tough, six-days-a-week regime for those behind the scenes in preparation for what he called “the fun part” of his job, the winter football season. He recalled how USC fired his desire for innovation in the field and taught him the theory to support his ambition. “I used uni to do my job better and to learn why we did things,” he said. “I took seven years to finish a three-year degree but I have no way up in the industry while getting the theoretical knowledge to back it up. My outside work commitments were always accommodated

sounded more practical for his game plan to carve a career in the USC, Mr Barker had written a letter to Wayne Bennett, the then

final in England with the Kangaroos (Australian rugby league team).”

qualms about that because I could see the benefits of working my

to commute to the Sunshine Coast for the new degree, which professional sport industry. Around the same time as enrolling at

French National Rugby League team. In 2013, we won the World Cup

by USC. I still remember the lecturers clapping as I got my certificate Mr Barker was offered the top job back at the Broncos in late 2014 by Wayne Bennett, Australia’s most successful NRL coach, after

(at the 2006 graduation ceremony at Sippy Downs), probably thinking ‘He’s finally gone!’”

working for Mr Bennett in previous years at teams including the

Mr Barker’s imagination was captured by new applications of video

Broncos, the St George Illawarra Dragons in Wollongong and the

and computer technologies coming into sport at that time. “The USC

Knights in Newcastle. It was another high in a long career which

degree got my creative process going,” he said. “Some of the degree

took off in 2001 when Mr Barker was recruited full-time at the

wasn’t relevant to my job but some of the techniques would really

Broncos while still studying his USC degree part-time. Ever since,

grab me and I’d think, ‘Yeah, we could adapt these for the team.’

he has been at the centre of the action in coaches’ boxes at all NRL

“I was lucky enough to have Brendan Burkett help me on a couple of

matches, providing Mr Bennett with the latest analysis to boost both player and team performance.

projects and we were trying to push the boundaries in sport science. I’ve kept in touch with him. He’s respected because he’s been in

coaches of all time, and have been involved in some big tournament

“Again I’ve been lucky to travel all over the world with the teams I’ve

the industry, he’s been an athlete and he’s very humble about his

wins with our national team.”

worked with, wherever they’re playing,” he said. “From 2005 to 2008

achievements, and you want to learn off people like that.”

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A SPORTING CHANCE

THAT’S THE BIGGEST THING I GOT OUT OF USC – IT OPENED THIS WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES OF HOW TO MAKE SPORT BETTER.

SCOTT BARKER

THE WALLABIES MAKE TIME FOR AUTOGRAPHS AT USC IN 2012

One project Mr Barker put to good use at the Broncos was the

the jobs no-one else wanted to do. This probably stood out to me

facilities. “When I arrived at USC there were two buildings, everybody

Ingenuity struck. “I tracked down a guy at Maleny who had industrial

biomechanical analysis of goal kicking with 3D motion capture.

the most. Later, Scott showed he was never afraid to try new things

knew each other and we were flying by the seat of our pants,”

grain scales that were highly calibrated, got them for $4,000, put

This involved using three-dimensional technology to examine

to improve the performance of the team or player. He has been an

Professor Burkett said.

them inside a scrum machine, and the next thing we’re measuring

the movement of players’ bodies as they kicked goals, in order to

innovator in the area of sports technology. He strives to be ahead

educate them on how to improve their technique.

of the game and where it’s going. Working at the highest levels in

“When digital video came into the market, first in cricket in the late 1990s, I helped develop some software for a league version that’s

the game with the best teams for a long period of time is his great achievement in this industry.”

“There were regular staff get-togethers where we’d have a coffee and a yarn with the Vice-Chancellor. We thought it was pretty exciting to have a uni on the Coast, and wondered what it could do.” The positive feelings were reflected across a region with no history

how hard a world champion rugby team pushes on a scrum.” There was satisfaction on both sides. “The coach was saying, ‘This is fantastic, we’ve never had this measured before, what else can you do?’ So I worked with them right up to the World Cup.”

now used in all 16 clubs. Things like that had never been done in

Professor Burkett remembered conversations with Mr Barker over

of tertiary education. “People thought the uni was fantastic for the

The Australian rugby team won the Cup that year. “It gave us a buzz,”

rugby league at the time. I just threw ideas forward to Wayne and

the years. “It took Scott longer to get through the degree but he did

Coast, though they didn’t know what it did or what it would do.” (See

Professor Burkett smiled. “During the game, television commentator

I was never afraid to fail because he knew I was trying to make the

it while going from volunteering at Broncos’ training to becoming

‘The power of an idea’)

Gordon Bray used the term ‘biomechanically efficient Wallabies’ for

environment better for the team. Now rugby league is a leader in

their full-time performance analyst. Scott was analysing all their

sport science and technology. We even have requests from overseas

games, feeding the results back to Wayne Bennett and his coaching

professional sporting teams to come and visit and see what we do.

staff. He’d phone me and say, ‘I’m trying to do this ...?’ Next thing

That’s the biggest thing I got out of USC – it opened this world of

he’s sitting beside the head coach for Australia at test matches. He

possibilities of how to make sport better.”

found an area he was passionate about and USC supported him.”

Mr Barker also enjoyed sharing his developing knowledge and

It’s this commitment to students and staff that has kept people like

me to them,” Professor Burkett recalled. “The next thing I’m down at

industry experience with fellow students, tutoring at Sippy Downs in

Professor Burkett at the University. “USC has become nationally

team training, analysing the biomechanic techniques of John Eales’

As science became integral to the increasingly professional world of

courses such as sports medicine and video analysis. “In one of my

and internationally recognised in areas such as Australian Institute

lineout jumping, and head coach John Connolly was asking me to

sport, the University of the Sunshine Coast gained momentum. “We

last subjects I had to do practical hours in an approved industry and

of Sport (AIS) accreditation, working with elite athletes and being

measure the scrums as well.” John Eales AM was a former player

spent 12 months becoming the first university in the country to gain

I did mine at the Broncos, but I also took on another USC student

home base for the national high performance Paralympic swimming

who became Australia’s most successful ever rugby captain. John

National Sport Science Quality Assurance from the AIS in Canberra,”

to do his hours there at the same time.” Years later, Mr Barker has

program,” he said. “To have all of these features here, so that a

Connolly’s coaching was legendary. Professor Burkett was certainly

Professor Burkett said. “There were 34 other universities at the time

passed his top tips to many more interns.

young person on the Coast can come here for world-class facilities

keen to further the partnership.

with relevant degrees but we made a strategic move. We were young

On the eve of the Broncos playing in the NRL finals in Brisbane last

190

THE WALLABIES TRAIN AT USC IN 2012

and staff, I think that’s our biggest achievement.”

The Sunshine Coast was famed for its surf lifesaving prowess and the Mooloolaba and Noosa Triathlons, but the first sporting runs on the USC board were due to the Australian Rugby Union team, when the Wallabies set up their training camp at nearby Caloundra in 1999. “One of our catering staff knew one of the coaches and introduced

“I got a $5,000 internal research grant from the Dean to put towards

the first time, when they won a scrum. Of course our role was small but it proved to me that USC can make things happen – that we can connect with the community, have an impact, attract more students, grow our research credibility.” (In 2013, the Wallabies again based themselves on the Sunshine Coast, using USC’s facilities to train for the once-every-12-years British and Irish Lions Test Series.)

and wanted to make a niche for ourselves.

September, Wayne Bennett recalled how he met Mr Barker, and the

In the late 1990s the future wasn’t so clear. Ambition was strong

a set of load cells, which accurately measure force,” he recalled.

“We

still

have

that

accreditation,

in

anthropometry

(body

value of his work over the years. “Scott first turned up to the Broncos

but resources were scarce as the few dozen staff sought to fund

However, a set of load cells cost $50,000. “That was bottom shelf.

measurements), field testing, oxygen consumption and ergometry

after writing me a letter in 2000. He turned up day after day, with no

their fledgling disciplines. Unlike the founding faculties of arts and

And I needed four sets to measure on a scrum. There was no way

(exercise measurements). We are competitive and that’s one

promise of a job or payment of any kind. He was willing to do all

business, science and sport required expensive equipment and

we had $200,000 of equipment.”

of USC’s many strengths: finding a market that relates to our

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A SPORTING CHANCE

AUSTRALIAN AND FRENCH SWIMMERS PLUS STUDENTS FROM SUNSHINE COAST GRAMMAR SCHOOL WITH THEN SPORTS MINISTER PHIL REEVES AT USC POOL OPENING 2011

THE USC ATHLETIC TRACK IS USED BY THE COMMUNITY

MARK SAYERS

demographics, our community, while gaining national and, in some

that she would get a university degree in Australia. “He’s pretty

also been taking University students for placements with my teams,

cases, international respect.”

excited about it now,” she laughed in 2014, after she not only topped

from under-12s to seniors, so I’ve got a lot going on,” she smiled.

her grade in First Class Honours but also won a scholarship to

Ms Severin, whose doctorate is investigating aquatic therapy, said

Elite

athletes

attracted

to

the

Coast’s

moderate

weather,

environmental diversity and lack of big-city distractions soon developed links with the University. Its early sport science testing with the Australian women’s water polo team, for example, saw a spike in the popularity of water polo in local schools resulting in many state and national age champions. With the Coast’s landscape defined by ocean surf, tidal rivers, lakes and canals, it’s no surprise

study a PhD in rehabilitation at the University. In April that year she

she aspired to work in professional sports. “This university has

presented at the first Asia-Pacific Football and Futsal Seminar, held

provided me with the experience and exposure I need to get there,

in Melbourne. By November, she was in Qatar accepting an invitation

and its support for my PhD will make a huge difference to my

to present her findings to the first World Conference on Groin Pain

career opportunities.”

in Athletes. Last year, she was one of the speakers at USC’s Friday

Professor Burkett, whose research covers diverse facets of human

Night Sports Talks, a series of lively public information sessions

health and performance, has long promoted the links between sport

that water sports were drawcards. The opening of the Olympic-

hosted by the USC Basketball Club.

standard USC Pool in 2011 was a catalyst for teaching, research

Ms

and industry engagement, including the establishment of Swimming

biomechanics of players with groin pain, compared to those without

Australia’s High Performance Paralympics program to connect top

the injury. “The motion lab here was fantastic for recording the

swimmers with student researchers and expert staff. The peak body

pelvic and hip joint kinematics of the players,” she said. Supervised

recently contributed $1.5 million over five years to the program.

by senior academics with industry expertise, sport scientist Dr Mark

A photo taken during the pool’s opening in 2011 showed the breadth

Sayers and physiotherapist Dan Mellifont, Ms Severin’s study was

of talent supporting the University.

expected to inform further USC research, given its relevance to

“We’re creating athletes and a coach education environment but

kicking across other football codes.

most importantly we’re providing practical cases where USC

Dr Sayers now coordinates the sport and exercise science program,

students can learn from real-life experiences, whether they want

a decade after he joined the University while gaining international

his love for exercise physiology – developed at USC – into a career

to research or work in sport, exercise physiology, rehabilitation,

renown as biomechanist and special skills coach for the New

dedicated to helping injured and ill people.

nutrition, psychology, occupational therapy or other health areas,”

Zealand All Blacks rugby union team. “Ultimately, this research is

said Professor Burkett, who is also on the board of the Queensland

working towards developing a screening test to prevent groin pain,

Academy of Sport.

which could benefit many sports,” Dr Sayers said. Mr Mellifont

Research at USC has been backed by its Centre for Healthy Activities,

and his wife, Dr Rebecca Mellifont, a Senior Lecturer in Anatomy

Sport and Exercise (CHASE), established in 2006 to specialise in

and former sport scientist for the Australian Paralympic Swim

preventative health and rehabilitation, as well as the enhancement

Team, have also spent the past decade at USC helping students

of sports performance. By 2015, USC Sport facilities included a

achieve their goals.

$10 million indoor stadium with courts for ball sports, badminton

Ms Severin, who came to the Sunshine Coast not for the beaches but

and futsal; playing fields for rugby union and league, AFL and soccer; and an athletics track approved by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Severin’s

research

identified

and health via multidisciplinary teaching and research at USC. “The differences

in

the

kicking

two areas connect easily because they’re both about assessing

I love the research side of things. I love tutoring at USC. I love working with football clubs. I love the people here. CICCI SEVERIN

humans, whether for health or sport outcomes,” he said. “If someone has a knee operation, we want to improve their function so they can walk and do the daily tasks of living. If that person is an athlete, we want to improve their function so they can compete in their sport. But the measures, methodologies, approaches and interventions we use are similar.” Many graduates have combined the two fields with great success. Local representative cricketer John Turnbull, for example, turned

for a career, said USC had inspired her to work in injury prevention and rehabilitation. “This may sound weird but it’s not necessarily the location keeping me here, it’s just that I absolutely love what I’m

When Swedish personal trainer Cecilia (Cicci) Severin arrived on campus

doing,” she said. “I love the research side of things. I love tutoring at

in 2011, she had no idea that soccer – and in particular the groin pain

USC. I love working with football clubs. I love the people here.”

commonly suffered by its kickers – would become her Honours degree

She said the support of Sunshine Coast FC (Fire) had been invaluable,

forte. “I hadn’t played football (soccer) since I was eight,” she recalled.

192

CICCI SEVERIN WITH YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYERS

providing not only participants for her study but also on-the-job

Ms Severin enrolled in USC’s sport and exercise science program

experience as she was often first on the scene to treat injuries, from

without a strong sense of direction, but with her father’s expectation

concussions and sprains to ruptured muscles and fractures. “I’ve

MARK MCKEAN AND VISITING JAPANESE ACADEMIC KOICHI KANEDA USE THE ORCA SWIM TRACKER FOR RESEARCH AT THE USC POOL

MARK MCKEAN

193

A SPORTING CHANCE

In 2014, USC academics and the Sunshine Coast Sports

USC also runs the Sunshine Coast Sports Hall of Fame, which

Federation hosted a sport education conference to provide

features Professor Burkett (1998) alongside Coast-based sports

the latest information on practices and research to

stars of the past 25 years, from motor sport’s Chris Vermeulen

delegates from across the country. Topics included the role

(2013) and tennis player Pat Rafter (2007) to surf lifesavers

of sport scientists in the wake of a national controversy

from the Holmes, Stokes and Kenny families (meet patriarch

about supplement programs in the NRL, strategies for

Hayden Kenny, 1993 Hall of Famer and 2012 USC Honorary

keeping females fit and involved in sporting groups, and

Senior Fellow, in ‘Graduating by degrees’). Marayke Jonkers is

the importance of developing physical literacy in children.

not only in the Hall of Fame for her swimming performances at

The latter was based on a successful project which had

three Paralympic Games including Sydney 2000, she was also

immediate application in schools as well as implications for future generations. USC Research Fellow Dr Mark McKean, an exercise physiologist, strength coach and long-time USC staff member who also did his PhD at the University, led a team that screened and analysed the movement competencies of 1,000 local children. The team was later welcomed back into the schools to recommend changes to the physical education curriculum.

Global research shows links between children who can’t move well and health issues SPARTANS MIXED TOUCH TEAM COMPETING AT NORTHERN UNIVERSITY GAMES HOSTED ON THE SUNSHINE COAST IN 2014

such as obesity and diabetes.

USC’s inaugural Outstanding Alumnus of the Year. She received the accolade in 2005, the same year she was named Queensland Young Achiever of the Year. The graduate of degrees in Arts (Communication) and Social Science (Community Work) has

BRENDAN BURKETT

since founded a charity to help athletes with disabilities pursue their sporting potential. She inspired another USC graduate cohort after she was invited to address the October 2015 graduation ceremony. Ms Jonkers smiled from her wheelchair on stage before the crowded stadium and declared, “You don’t need to stand up to stand out.” Professor Burkett is among the visionaries who intend to keep USC at the forefront of advances in health and sport. His commitment is personal; his own body a testament to the power of technology. In October 2014, he told a national television audience on the SBS ‘Insight’ program how he had recently become the first Australian osseointegration patient

“Global research shows links between children who can’t

of Iraqi-trained orthopaedic surgeon Dr Munjed Al Muderis.

move well and health issues such as obesity and diabetes,”

The surgery implanted a titanium device directly into Professor

Dr McKean said later. “With increasing technology, safety

Burkett’s right femur to enable a safer, more comfortable and

issues and environmental restrictions, many children no

stable attachment for the prosthesis.

BRENDAN BURKETT ON SBS ‘INSIGHT’ PROGRAM

longer grow up with a movement-based approach to fun and daily activity. To provide children with these basic foundations we must first understand the competencies required to develop this physical literacy.” Sunshine Coast

It was a pretty scary thought but I’m glad I did it.

Grammar School’s Head of Primary Paul Clegg said the research was making a difference to the lives of students

“It was a pretty scary thought but I’m glad I did it,” Professor

now and into the future. “Children who are physically skilled

Burkett told interviewer Jenny Brockie on the show, titled

are more confident, participate more, and are more likely to continue with physical pursuits later in life,” Mr Clegg said.

follow and go where you are and you feel everything on the

and activity has been championed on and off campus

ground ... You feel it’s an extension of your body.” Humour

by USC Sport, coordinated by Gary Moore. Individual

intact, he added that the technology wasn’t exactly robotic: “It

athletes and teams representing the University compete

doesn’t move by itself so you can’t say, ‘Take me to the bar to

as the USC Spartans, with fast-growing success in

get another drink’.”

Australian University Games events. Students and staff

Professor Burkett remains in demand as a commentator on hot

basketball and badminton.

MARAYKE JONKERS

difference ... The beauty is you twist and your whole foot will

The quest to advance public health through exercise

enjoy the facilities and regular social games like futsal,

194

Cyborgs. “It’s literally changed my life. It’s made a tremendous

topics relating to the integration of technology in sport. A 2013 report by the International Paralympic Committee, of which he is

USC Activate is a rapidly growing outdoor recreation

a sub-committee member, described as “powerful” his opening

club that organises weekend adventure activities such

speech to that year’s IPC’s conference in Germany. In the wake

as kayaking and bush hikes. Hundreds of staff joined a

of controversy after the men’s sprints at the London 2012

new fitness membership drive in 2014, organised by the

Games, involving South African ‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius,

Human Resources division. The USC Sport Clinic provides

Professor Burkett’s talk addressed the battle of tradition versus

performance and injury prevention assessments and

technology, and whether new equipment in Paralympic sport was

programs for amateur and elite athletes from across the

performance-enhancing or simply necessary for performance.

state, while dozens of regional organisations use the track,

USC researchers will join others around the world to continue

stadium, pool and gym.

the debate this year in the countdown to the Rio Olympics.  ■

USC POOL

195

A SPORTING CHANCE

Fundraisers help USC splash into sport science Fifteen years after USC opened, it

By 2015, after four years of pool operations and with new generation

paid work,” said Jim, whose USC research analysed the capability

In 1997, as Australia was gearing up

gained a pool – a $2.1 million, heated,

stars like world champion breaststroker Blake Cochrane embedded

of micro-technologies to monitor running and walking gait, and who

for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the

10-lane,

Olympic-standard

in training and studying at USC, Greg Hill was looking to green-light

recently spent a year in Japan on a research fellowship from The

Sunshine Coast’s sporting fraternity

pool – for teaching and research as

further master-planned stages of what will become an Aquatic

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

saw a golden opportunity to finally

well as year-round training for athletes

Centre, including a second pool for hydrotherapy.

The USC pool proved integral to an extraordinary year of

Mark Bradley recalls the pool as one of the toughest facilities to

achievements for clinical exercise science student and London

fund in the University’s first 20 years. “The money just wasn’t around

Paralympic gold medallist Blake Cochrane in 2014. Blake had

and we had to put our energy into other priorities,” he said. USC

moved to the Sunshine Coast in the year the pool opened to train

had already won $5 million towards the sports stadium from the

with the High Performance Paralympic Squad and by early 2014

Australian Government in the wake of Prime Minister John Howard

he was gearing up for his second Commonwealth Games, to be

introducing voluntary student unionism in 2006, and the University’s

held in Glasgow.

biggest ever public fundraising campaign, Building Excellence, had

“That semester I was at the USC pool every day except Sunday

reached its $5 million goal in 2008 for projects including the sports

and at USC five times a week for my degree,” he said. “It was

tower. “So the pool had many starts and many failures to launch.

tough but it worked quite well. I trained early, went to class, went

It got down to the pointy end of the date where we had to either

home for a rest (to nearby Buderim) and headed back for training

accept the government grant and match it, plus extra, or we lost

in the afternoon.

50-metre,

and recreational use by the public. The pool’s construction was watched via live web cam and when the official opening by then Queensland Sports Minister Phil Reeves was celebrated in the Sunshine Coast Daily newspaper in October 2011, the jubilant faces of elite swimmers and local children belied the painstaking effort that had gone into securing the facility. “We had a two-week training camp to open the pool, which could offer a whole range of testing using Queensland’s first remote-controlled underwater/above water synchronised camera,” recalls Professor Brendan Burkett. “We had the French Olympic team including then world record holder Alain Bernard, Australian Olympic champions Libby Trickett and Jess Schipper, the Australian Paralympic swim team who moved from Canberra to base themselves here, and our youngsters of the future. We had made a decision to value-add to the community and this was the result. “We’d been applying for funding and at meetings everyone was concerned about how we could make it happen. We wanted to do it for the community, not as a cash cow. We wanted to create an environment that would benefit the community and take the

everything. I remember the meeting where we all finally said, ‘We just have to do it.’”

‘What’s a senior fellow? We’re both carpenters, aren’t we?’ And Pat joked in his Irish way, ‘I’ll tell you one thing, it’s going to cost us a dollar’.

Sunshine Coast to the next level. And look at it now,” Brendan says, peering down from the Tower at the hub of activity around the pool

the campus over two decades, was at that meeting. “This is a funny

one summer’s morning. “It’s helped bring in more than $1.5 million in

story because it started in 1999,” he smiles. “That’s when Pat Evans

grants. We’ve had 60 peer-reviewed research papers that relate to

and I got made honorary senior fellows of the University. I said to

swimming. We’ve had eight PhD graduates working in swimming.”

Pat, ‘What’s a senior fellow? We’re both carpenters, aren’t we?’ And

some angst – by USC’s former and current Vice-Chancellors, Professors Paul Thomas and Greg Hill, long-time facilities manager

and pool was one of his biggest highlights. “We worked closely

Hall Contracting and builder Evans Harch.

with the University and the contractors on design and construction

In 2010, when USC started fundraising $300,000 to add to its own

to really save on price. Then we put up our hand to make sure the

in the University’s early days, but today many of our academic and

talent and commitment to earn a list of accolades that made him a media favourite. These included a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), a bronze medal in Glasgow, Sunshine Coast Senior Sports Star of the Year, and a back-to-back win in the USC Sunshine Coast Sportsperson of the Year awards. This year, 2016, he is on target for the Rio Paralympics.

next level in both competitive and recreational sport. As elite teams around the world eyed Australia, the region’s new university had just built a large distinctive clubhouse (known as the Uni Club) next to its playing field and was offering a slice of its sprawling grounds at Sippy Downs for a synthetic running track, to be shared with the community. Coast residents and visitors of all ages and skill levels now run, jog, throw and jump on the resulting 10-lane track equipped for hurdles, steeplechase, javelin, shotput, discus, hammer-throw, high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault and disabled throw events. It was completed in 1999, within months of the institution officially becoming an independent university through a special Act of Parliament. “Our sports precinct memorandum of understanding with USC was quite innovative, focusing on sharing facilities,” recalls John Lockhart, former principal of Chancellor State College next to the tertiary campus. “The MOU meant my students had their athletics carnivals on a track where Olympians trained.”

supporters displayed at the entrance to the whole sports complex.

Pentland, and by community donors and in-kind supporters including

after many years. “A pool like this would have been seen as a luxury

Now I have the knowledge to apply the theory.” Blake also had the

facility to take the region to the

dollar.’” Their business name now appears on an honour roll of USC

Trevor said helping drive the construction of the stadium, tower

Professor Thomas expressed delight at seeing the project progress

in the classroom to my training as an athlete. Growing up, I had no

get a world-standard track and field

Pat joked in his Irish way, ‘I’ll tell you one thing, it’s going to cost us a

Mark Bradley and former USC Foundation executive officer Andrew

contribution matching the State Government’s $900,000 pledge,

“One of the best components of my degree was relating what I learnt idea why coaches were working us so hard or giving us so many ‘k’s.

Trevor Harch, whose co-owned company Evans Harch built much of

The campaign for pool funding is remembered with pride – and

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Olympic effort gets region on track

pool happened, and lots of other local people and companies were donating money or in-kind, and all of a sudden we were away.” And for Pat, that honorary award for services to the University, received at its first graduation ceremony in 1999, remains a

research programs will benefit enormously,” he said.

treasured highlight.

Even when the concrete was poured and the ceramic tiles were

David Kirk’s decade of contributing to USC through his Kirk

about to be installed in March 2011, another fundraiser called the

Foundation was recognised last year when he became an honorary

USC Alumni Challenge was underway. Foundation board members

senior fellow. “I am passionate about education, so funding

offered to personally donate $80,000 if graduates could raise

scholarships for USC was an excellent fit,” he recalled at the April

$10,000 in three months. 2004 business graduate, Coastline BMW

2015 graduation ceremony. The impact of his generosity was

dealer principal Tristan Kurz, covered both angles as the first USC

obvious when former scholarship recipient Jim Lee flew from

graduate member of the Foundation board. Tristan, who received

Darwin to watch his mentor gain the USC award. Jim, who in 2009

an Outstanding Alumnus award in 2012 partly for his corporate

completed his third USC degree – a PhD in science, is now an

philanthropic leadership, funded the pool blocks as icing on the

academic at Charles Darwin University. “I just wanted to show my

cake. Local philanthropist David Kirk recalled how the campaign’s

appreciation because that support made all the difference to my

final fervour prompted him to donate to ensure USC met its target.

confidence and my ability to focus on studies instead of outside

I HAD NO IDEA WHY COACHES WERE WORKING US SO HARD OR GIVING US SO MANY ‘K’S. NOW I HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO APPLY THE THEORY.

BLAKE COCHRANE

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A SPORTING CHANCE

In the University’s 1997 annual report, Professor Paul Thomas said

“I changed from sport and exercise science to a Bachelor of Clinical

They thought USC was young and small but I found it fantastic to

“I went back to Albany to finish my Bachelor in Biological Sciences

the success of its tender for a $1.4 million state government grant for

Exercise Science so I could work in rehabilitation, using exercise

have that quality of service so close to home. I also received USC’s

and when I returned I worked at community and club sports events,

the facility followed extensive consultations and negotiations with

as a tool. I’ve always had a desire to help people and decided to

first June Canavan scholarship which was an honour, considering

as well as with the Brisbane Lions (the city’s representative Australian

state and local governments and community groups. Excitement

merge that with my heavy interest in sport and exercise. My parents

her reputation on the Coast. (The Sunshine Coast Local Medical

Rules football team) while I was studying. I gained my Master’s

was in the air. The University of the Sunshine Coast Athletics Club,

encouraged our family to be very active and I’ve played cricket and

Association Bursary was established by the regional medical

degree in physio from UQ in 2012 and had accepted a full-time job

born from an amateur sports club formed in 1956 by volunteers led

soccer all my life.

community in memory of sports medicine specialist Dr June

as a physiotherapist on the Sunshine Coast, at Kawana Sportscare,

by late council veteran Eddie De Vere, describes the historic process

“I was interested in physiotherapy but, through my USC degree,

Canavan who died in a plane crash in 2009.) I knew people had high

before graduation. I’ve worked with the general population and

expectations of me and that was motivation to excel.”

sportspeople including the Sunshine Coast Falcons (Queensland

(http://uscathleticsclub.asn.au/about/):

I developed a real passion for exercise physiology. At first my friends

Cup rugby league team) and Melbourne Storm under-20s.

“… Club officials threw themselves into the project (to help set

and family mocked the idea, in terms of job availability. But the

For Jess, the decision to spend half of 2009 in Australia as a USC

up a tartan track at USC) … It has become an enormous asset,

University exposed me to a plethora of opportunities and opened

Study Abroad student proved pivotal. The State University of New

“I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of helping people feel better

benefiting the university, the club and numerous schools who

my eyes to working in chronic disease management. I grew to

York (SUNY) at Albany graduate recalls:

and move better through physiotherapy. As I was growing

can now compete there in all weather conditions. The club

understand the importance of what an exercise physiologist does,

“Going from the cold New York State winter to summer on the

secured tenure at the university and … since 2000 the number

in dealing with people who have long-standing or lifestyle diseases.

Sunny Coast seemed most appealing. Then I met John on the

of registered athletes has doubled and the club is a breeding

“People with disabilities often have more capacity for a better quality

second night we were at UniCentral and we’ve been inseparable

ground for quality athletes, boasting among its numbers world masters gold medallists, national titleholders, and a number of state champions.”

of life than what others may allow them. It just takes someone willing to put in the time and effort to get them there. Empathy is front and centre. My dad’s recovering from a recent heart attack, and

The original expression of interest and final application documents

he’s been in a wheelchair since he had an accident when I was 12.

submitted to the state Office of Sport and Recreation contained

“A lot of my satisfaction comes from making a genuine change in

reams of support, including the minutes of a meeting chaired in April 1997 by Maroochy Shire Council’s Ron Coyle, a taekwondo black belt who remains funding partnerships manager at the amalgamated Sunshine Coast Council. (“The staff at USC and the Council dreamed big and persisted, and now look at what we have for the region,” said Ron in 2015.)

someone’s life. When I went overseas in 2010 to study at Grand Valley State University (Michigan, US) through USC’s Global Opportunities

sparked my interest in rehabilitation. I love making a difference in someone’s condition but also giving them the tools to take control of their own recovery.

anatomy, sports medicine and Australian film. The introduction

“I’m quite a motivated, independent person and I’m proud I’ve done

to sports medicine class helped me get some work in sports

all this. My family came here for the first time in 2013 to spend

training with Assist First Aid and that sparked my interest in

Christmas with us. Mum told me then that she doesn’t think I’ll ever

studying physiotherapy in Australia. (The organisation provides

live anywhere else because it’s all the things that I love in the one

professional first aid services to sport and community events

place. It’s right by the beach, 20 minutes’ drive to rural areas and a

across South-East Queensland.)

lot more sun than New York.”

program, I volunteered in a cardiac rehab program one day. I took a patient through some stretches and had a conversation with him. The next day in a shopping centre, he came up to me, remembered my name, introduced me to his wife and thanked me over and over

One name handwritten on the list of attendees and later nominated

for helping him out. I said I didn’t do a lot, but he talked about the

for the project’s management committee was Bryce Phillips, now

impact on his life after a heart attack. The GO program gave me

president of the USC Athletics Club. Bryce was delighted to attend

cultural exposure to different rehab settings and practices, and

another milestone in the track’s development in December 2013,

I loved it. I made lifelong friends there, including some from Norway,

when then Queensland Sport Minister and Member for Buderim

Germany and France. (See ‘The world through new eyes’)

Steve Dickson opened a new finish-line facility incorporating an

“It was also an avenue for me to visit Jessica’s home country. I’d met

Olympic-standard timing device to provide precision electronic

since. At USC I studied motor control and learning, functional

up, I had several musculoskeletal injuries from sport and this

her the year before, during her six months of study at USC, through

timing and video recording of all race participants.

a roommate at UniCentral (share accommodation near the campus).

“We’re thrilled to have this installed at USC,” Bryce said. “We expect

Jess was into rehab and sports medicine too. She had a passion for

more than 10,000 athletes will benefit over the next 12 months. It

sports physiotherapy and that’s what she pursued (at UQ). We really

puts USC on the map in terms of professional sports conduct.”

had an impact on each other’s lives. She had a massive influence on me applying myself and I stole her away from her country!

In fine form: How USC became turning point for John and Jess

“I finished at USC mid-year 2012 and immediately landed this job at

When John Turnbull and Jessica Schlegel met during their first

requirements of my degree. I’m really enjoying facilitating change.

semesters at USC in 2009, he was a local competitive cricketer studying sport and exercise science and she was a young American in Australia for the first time with the University’s Study Abroad

through a student placement I did as part of the accreditation One of my long-term goals was to coordinate a cardiac rehab program at Eden and I achieved it within a year. And I can still pursue my sports ambitions, as a wicketkeeper with the Sunshine Coast

program. The couple will marry in April this year, after both realising

Scorchers cricket team.”

their professional ambitions and making a life together on the

His program was promoted in the Sunshine Coast Seniors

Sunshine Coast. John, a Nambour State High School graduate,

Newsletter 2013, with the introduction: ‘Exercise physiologist John

recalls his turning points at USC:

Turnbull from Eden Rehabilitation Hospital recognised a lack of

“I started at USC after two years studying human movement at

services for those with heart conditions on the Sunshine Coast and

the University of Queensland. I’d grown up on the Sunshine Coast

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Eden Rehabilitation Centre (a private hospital at Cooroy, near Noosa)

USC OPENED MY EYES. IF YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT SOMETHING, THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE. I BELIEVE I CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES.

initiated a Phase II, cardiac rehab program at the facility called Your

and preferred the relaxed lifestyle and the proximity to beaches, as

Heart Matters ...’

well as the smaller size of USC. It was more personalised. If you

John continues: “My father and my sister, who’s now a dietitian,

discussed something with a lecturer, your voice was heard.

went to UQ in Brisbane and it was always set up that I would too.

JESSICA SCHLEGEL AND JOHN TURNBULL

199