Real Life Lessons From Professional Athletes

Last Wednesday, 17 May, the Year 11 Rec B class took a trip up north to the Brisbane Broncos Clive Berghofer Centre. We were greeted by Michael Hancock, a former NRL player who contributed to the Broncos first five Grand Final victories. He started by taking us on a tour of the Cyril Connell Performance Centre facility, which was the Broncos old training facility that the WNRL team now occupy. We explored their training shed, gym facility, team pool and meeting room and gained a great insight into the operation behind the NRL club. After our first tour, we were fortunate enough to watch the first-grade players train during their captain's run and after that, we had the chance to meet some of the players and take a few photos together. Once we'd become acquainted with our new friends, Mick took us on our second tour of the day through their new Clive Berghofer facility and we were all amazed by how specific and intentional all their training, diet, and sleep schedules are. We ended the excursion by having a field training session led by Mr Hancock and we learned how technical the life of an NRL player is. This valuable opportunity helped us see firsthand the work that the players put in behind what we see on TV and it gave us a new understanding of the dedication and sacrifice it takes for a career in professional sport. A massive thank you to Mr Michael Hancock for showing us all the aspects of the highest level of the sport and recreation industry. This experience will never be forgotten! 

By Emily Muller
Year 11 student