USC is offering an increased number of sport scholarships in 2019 to support talented athletes who want to combine sport and tertiary study.

Applications for these scholarships – including the USC Sports Scholarship, the school leavers USC SportSmart Scholarships, the June Canavan Para-Athlete Sport Scholarships and the new Nambour RSL Club Elite Sport Scholarship – will close Friday 30 November.

USC’s Director of High Performance Sport Professor Brendan Burkett said the growth in the number of scholarships aligned with USC’s emergence as a leader in high-performance sport and a university of choice for emerging and elite athletes.

“Scholarships provide invaluable support to elite and emerging athletes who are combining academic pursuits with busy training and competition schedules,” Professor Burkett said.

“It can be difficult for athletes on Olympic and professional sport pathways to fit paid work into their schedules without compromising their study or their training. Financial assistance can be a deal breaker in enabling them to succeed in higher education.”

Professor Burkett said USC’s High Performance Student Athlete program provided a suite of academic, sporting and personal benefits to enable athletes to achieve their potential in both sport and study.

He said 138 students were enrolled in this program this year, including Sunshine Coast Lightning netballers Caitlin Bassett and Kelsey Brown, Olympic and Paralympic swimmers Jake Packard, Taylor McKeown, Leah Neale, Blake Cochrane, Braeden Jason, Jake Templeton and Ellie Cole, Australian Cycling Academy cyclists Ashley Mackay, Amarni Drake and Freddy Ovett and surf lifesaving and paddle board champion Jordan Mercer.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill said the support of donors and sponsors for these scholarships was making a huge difference for athletes studying at USC.

“Elite athletes face a number of barriers in achieving a higher education,” he said. “Historically they are less likely to commence university if it coincides with their elite sport years and can take up to four times as long as non-athletes to complete their degrees.

“This places them behind their peers in terms of career progression and earnings.

“The funding provided by the June Canavan Foundation and recently the Nambour RSL, makes a significant difference in enabling young athletes to achieve an education and better prepare themselves for life after sport.”

For more information on donating scholarships and bursaries for USC student athletes, contact the USC Development Office on development@usc.edu.au or (07) 5430 1104.