Education empowers emerging sports talent

Study 

Ironwoman Harriet Brown has been opening up conversations in schools across the Gold Coast around female athlete health through a series of educational sessions to enhance school sporting excellence programs.

Harriet has been educating talented young sports women from Palm Beach Currumbin State High School, Miami State High School and Robina State High School Sports Academy as part of a wider program aimed at delivering an elite athlete curriculum to sporting excellence students.

Harriet Brown and students

Understanding your body

Harriet's goal from these sessions is to ensure girls who pursue their sporting dreams can better understand their bodies to support their training, performance and recovery.

“It's so important for female athletes to have a good understanding of their bodies. Understanding and tracking their menstrual cycle is so valuable to being a healthy athlete and can also help with training and recovery to help them become the best athlete they can be. This is a topic that should be spoken about more openly,” the champion ironwoman said.

Harriet talks to students about understanding their bodies

RDK Sports International has designed this course to empower student athletes with the tools to transition into elite sport once they complete their studies. Other topics covered in the sessions included mental skills, mindfulness, nutrition, strength and conditioning, sleep quality and recovery.

Towards the 2032 Olympics

The program is supported by Study Gold Coast’s Education Vision Project Fund in partnership with Griffith University and has also focussed on increasing student employability in sport as South-East Queensland works towards the hosting of the 2032 Olympic Games.

Robina Sports Academy Director Daniel Norton-Smith reinforced the importance of Harriet sharing her experience as a professional athlete to help our emerging sporting talent through education.

 “Harriet‘s knowledge and experience as an elite athlete was invaluable to our young aspiring sportswomen at Robina State High School. Her ability to communicate and engage with our girls and challenge them to start thinking about how they can incorporate the research she shared with them into their own sports will only accelerate their performances in our Sports Academy programs,” he said.