Swimming Australia awards scholarships to female coaches in rural areas

Swimming Victoria
Published: Jul 11, 2012 11:00:40 AM Updated: Aug 22, 2012 10:54:01 AM

Swimming Australia has announced ten new scholarship awardees for female coaches in remote areas as part of the 2012 Women in Swimming Rural Coaching Scholarship (WSRCS).

Swimming Australia in conjunction with the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association (ASCTA) targets individuals who might be otherwise unable to access high quality coaching education for rural or remote communities.

Through the scholarships, the women are given access to high quality coaching, education and development programs as well as opportunities to attend the 2012 ASCTA convention and attain nationally recognised accreditation.

One of the successful candidates for 2012 was Dorrigo Swim Club Head Coach Leigh Eastwood. 

Residing in Dorrigo, a small town in rural NSW, Ms Eastwood has been competing in swimming since the age of nine, and began her career in coaching at 15-years-of-age, as a volunteer water safety teacher.

With a population of just 1000, Ms Eastwood said swimming clubs like Dorrigo have struggled to fill coaching positions or to provide the necessary training.

Ms Eastwood has recently undertaken five days of intensive training for the silver coaching accreditation course as part of the Australian Swimmers, Coaches and Teachers Association (ASCTA).

“With my new knowledge and experience as well as the support of swimming Australia, I hope to implement better training methods and pass on information to other coaches…This is a huge advantage for the Dorrigo Club and I am so appreciative of this opportunity,” Ms Eastwood said.

This year’s winners had full enrolment fees for the bronze course (valued at $395) or a significant portion of the enrolment fees for the silver course (only paying $175 from the full price of $775) covered by ASCTA, with the courses running from late April to early May.

The WSRCS initiative is currently in its second year and has seen a positive flow-on effect for the development of swimmers and coaches in remote areas.  Twenty-five applications were received this year with a total of 21 scholarships awarded since its inception in 2011.