14 Sep 2021
Gyan Wijekulasuriya moved to the Gold Coast after SHHS to complete a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science at Bond University - a recipient of ‘Vice Chancellor’s Elite Scholarship’. Now working, he is also studying towards a Masters by Research. Initially Gyan wanted to be a physiotherapist but always enjoyed mentoring others, so when coaching presented itself as an option, he took it.
He says, “My favourite school subjects (Chemistry, Physics and PDHPE) helped the most, as they formed important foundations for the introductory health science subjects in uni. Surprisingly, the high-level math helped me with my research work, so there was a practical use for those skills after all!”
Gyan recalls highlights of his SHHS time including; Rock Eisteddfod where as a young Year 7 he was part of the ‘Nelson Mandela: Son of Africa’ production in 2011; Bush School in Year 10, sporting trips and participation in the cricket team under the coaching of DP Mr Rod Zabell.
His mischievous cohort had a “Celebration Week” in his last days of school, managing to play laser tag, slip and slide on the school oval, a movie night and a surprise navy helicopter landing on the oval.
Gyan is self employed: “I’m contracted as a casual employee with Bond University, so I teach whenever they need a tutor or laboratory assistant. I’m analysing physical testing data in my role as a strength and conditioning coach at Robina State High School to help coaches in their academy programs understand the physical development of athletes in their specific sport and work within Bond Sport as a strength and conditioning coach (Bond AFL) and sport scientist across their high-performance programs (Rugby, AFL, Swimming and Netball).”
Gyan attributes some of his success in his chosen field to internships. “I enjoyed taking what I learnt in class and applying it in an internship context. In my field being able to translate what you learn about human performance into effective training sessions is the key to success therefore my internship experiences formed an important part of my skill development.”
“During my degree I worked in the Commonwealth Games Village in 2018 and assisting with several research projects with Paddle Australia and the Gold Coast Suns Academy which made me interested in doing research myself. For my Masters I conducted studies sponsored by the Queensland Academy of Sport, Triathlon Australia and Swimming Australia to help these organisations understand how the environment impacts elite athlete performance specifically in preparation for the recently completed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.”
A typical workday for Gyan involves…”a quick breakfast then it’s off to coaching. If I don’t have any coaching or teaching before 8 a.m. I get a coffee at the beach. During the day I am either at my desk at the Bond Institute of Health and Sport reading and writing research articles or planning for my training sessions or I’m coaching at the Bond High Performance Training Centre or the school gym at Robina High School. After lunch its coaching or admin. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday nights I train either the AFL men or women’s programs and during off season I play social netball on Monday nights.”
When asked about the aspects of his job he finds most challenging his response reminds me a lot of school teaching and I can fully identify with that….”Trying to individualise support for each athlete/student I work with, given the breadth of personalities, abilities and goals they have, takes a lot of concentration.”
The flip side is that he enjoys …”helping people get through a challenging time and then seeing them do things they never thought they could. Knowing you had a part in someone’s development and their success is what makes my job worthwhile.”
His future goals are candidly expressed and demonstrate how well Gyan suits his career choice, …” If I keep doing what I’m doing, I’d be pretty content. Remaining in the sport industry is difficult at the best of times so [potentially] having worked in sport for eight years is something I’d be proud to have achieved. Ideally, I’d like to be working in high performance sport for a national sporting organisation, professional team or state institute of sport.
I have worked with medalists from Tokyo 2020 and a number of players in the AFLW. It’s very early in my career to be able to say this and I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve been afforded to be able to say that.”
Despite the challenges that 2020/2021 has served up due to Covid-19 Gyan has “recognised the benefit of being able to stop and smell the roses. The sport industry has been decimated so I’m very grateful that I have an income and the opportunities that I have. I also have been unable to see my family in Wollongong as much as I would have liked so I value my time in the region and with my parents and sisters more than I used to.”
