Having experienced the benefits of a University of Queensland scholarship for her own studies, Queensland Firebirds star Gabi Simpson is encouraging any aspiring students in the netball community to pursue the opportunity themselves.
Netball Queensland has teamed up with the University of Queensland to create four scholarships to encourage and support new students who have demonstrated a passion for netball.
Anyone who is finishing Year 12 in 2022 who intends to enrol as a commencing student at UQ in 2023 and has an affiliation to Netball Queensland – whether as a player, coach or volunteer – in the past two years is eligible for the $5,000 scholarship.
Simpson juggled the demands of an elite sporting career with study over the past 11 years before graduating from UQ earlier this year as valedictorian.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) at UQ’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Simpson said her own scholarship benefitted her immensely.
“Life balance has always been really important and my UQ scholarship helped me be able to do my best at achieving that,” she said.
“From my experience, the financial support allowed me to strongly pursue both netball and my physiotherapy degree while taking a bit of the stress off the extra costs like laptops, workbooks, petrol money and living out of home for the first time.”
Simpson said she was thrilled to see a similar opportunity being offered to members of the wider netball community.
“I love that this scholarship is broadly available to school leavers that are major contributors in our netball community because these are the people that make our game so great and we don’t want people having to choose between netball and studying,” she said.
Information about the UQ Firebirds Scholarship can be found online here.
Applications close on November 27, 2022.
