Australian Institute of Fitness Scholarship Program Boosting WAIS Athlete Career Pathways
Each year the Australian Institute of Fitness offers WAIS a scholarship position for one of its athletes to gain access to a high quality pathway in the fitness industry.
The Australian Institute of Fitness has been partnering WAIS for the past eight years, providing invaluable experience for a number of WAIS scholarship athletes.
In order to be in contention, athletes submit an application where they explain how completing one of the AIF courses will help their future athlete-career balance.
WAIS Personal Excellence advisor Garry Moss said the link between the two Institutes had added great value to WAIS.
“The partnership between the Australian Institute of Fitness and WAIS is extremely important, he said. “The Institute of Fitness gives our athletes the opportunity to gain qualifications in an industry that many athletes are passionate about and it gives them vital experience that can lead to employment and help athletes develop a career path.”
This year after receiving a number of excellent responses, the top applicants could not be split, resulting in the awarding of two complete scholarships from the AIF.
The successful recipients of the scholarships were canoeing athlete Sam McTigue and international gymnast Emily Little.
McTigue elected to complete a Certificate IV in Massage Therapy, whilst Little is completing a Certificate IV in Personal Training.
McTigue explained that the process had been important for building application skills into the future.
“There was a questionnaire to fill out asking why I wanted to do the massage course, why I deserve to get the scholarship and I then had a phone call with the Institute of Fitness, talking about what will happen in the course, which was followed by a meeting at the Institute of Fitness.”
Having recently commenced his course, McTigue has already developed an understanding about a range of different practices, including; Swedish massage, deep tissue massage and postural analysis.
“My favourite thing about the course so far was learning the anatomy side,” he said. “Learning from the four coaches is awesome because they all go about their treatments in different ways which is great for students, because we get to take techniques and tricks from each of them to build our own style,” he said.
Whilst McTigue and Little have chosen the massage and personal training pathways respectively, applicants can also apply for positions in the Institute’s nutrition courses.
Moss encouraged all WAIS athletes who are interested to apply for a scholarship or consider studies at the Institute stating, “The Australian Institute of Fitness scholarship is a wonderful opportunity for athletes who have a keen interest in the fitness industry.”
“Even for athletes who aren’t successful with their scholarship application, the Australian Institute of Fitness courses are a great opportunity to build experience and qualifications in a thriving industry.”
McTigue echoed those comments saying “I would highly recommend the massage course because there is a lot more to the course then just giving a massage to someone. With learning about anatomy, I am starting to think more about how this is going to help me in my sport,” he said.
For WAIS athletes interested in studying at the Australian Institute of Fitness, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for an email notification for applications; coming in October.
With only one full scholarship given out each year, your WAIS Personal Excellence Advisors will be able to assist you in ensuring that your application is strong.
Consider making a time to chat to your sport’s Advisor about your interest in the Institute’s courses and your scholarship application.
- Annika Lee-Jones