Fremantle Dockers midfielder Michael Barlow is not just one of the AFL’s most prolific ball-winners.
He is also a part-time student at Curtin University, juggling the life of full-time professional sport and fitting in his tertiary studies in his time away from the club.
Barlow, who has just begun his Master of Business Administration degree, was on hand to help launch the Fremantle Dockers’ new alliance with Curtin University.
The alliance will provide ongoing student placement and research opportunities in the multi-media, exercise science and physiotherapy areas.
The 27-year-old star said there were a number of his teammates that were also preparing for life after football.
“I know six or seven of the boys or even more come in and it’s a very welcoming university,” he said.
“But also, the mutual benefit for Curtin with the Fremantle Dockers, as well as the Fremantle Dockers and Curtin is fantastic.
“It does seem very revolutionary in elite sport and I’m very proud that the Fremantle Dockers are taking these initiatives and incorporating other aspects of the Western Australian fabric to make our club better as well as bringing Curtin along with them.
“It’s a fantastic partnership.”
Fremantle Dockers CEO Steve Rosich said the club was focused on making sure its players were engaged in off-field studies too.
“We haven’t seen the stats from 2014 yet, but in 2013 our players were the most engaged in tertiary education in the AFL and that’s super important to us.”
Rosich was thrilled with the new alliance and can see it continuing long into the future.
“This partnership has two important elements,” he said.
“Yes, there is a capital contribution, but it’s more about the people contribution.
“What we’ve seen in our partnership with Curtin to date is that they’re very much people-minded and community-minded, and that fits really well with us.
“The partnership in essence starts with our new Elite Training and Administration Facility at Cockburn Central West, where the City of Cockburn is such a valuable partner and Curtin University will have a presence there and involvement in our multi-media area and sports science area.
“But what was also clear is that that’s just the start and we see this as a very long-term partnership and there should be many synergies for us both in the future.”
Curtin vice-chancellor professor Deborah Terry can also see the partnership developing further.
“Down the track there might be a range of programs that we might be involved in and around indigenous outreach,” she said.
“We plan to work together to develop videos and materials to encourage indigenous youth to continue with education…we think our relationship with the Fremantle Dockers will really help with that message.
“There’s a range of other areas where we think the partnership will really expand into such as international student engagement.
“30 per cent of are students here at Curtin our international and for them really understanding the Australian sporting culture, getting a sense of what Australia is all about.”
