On the ball: UWS student and AFL rising star

When he’s not playing football in front of thousands of AFL fans, UWS student Adam Tomlinson has been known to trawl through property websites. While he’s enjoying playing AFL professionally, he also has his sights on what he will do in the future once he graduates from his Bachelor of Business and Commerce (Property) here at UWS.

“I have always loved property and I sit on websites just looking at houses,” he says. “I did work experience at a property evaluation company and loved everything about it. When I complete my Bachelor of Business and Commerce degree I would like to venture into this field after my football career.”

When Adam was four years old, he started playing Auskick where he learned the basics of AFL. “I played my first competitive game when I was eight years old in Melbourne for a junior football club called the Canterbury Cobras,” says Adam.

At 18, Adam stepped onto the field in his orange, white and black uniform as a professional player for the Greater Western Sydney Giants. This, he says, has been the highlight of his career so far. “It’s something I will hold with me for the rest of my life,” he says.

Juggling study and following a professional career can be tricky; however, Adam is fortunate to have the support of both his football club and the University. “The Elite Athletes program at UWS has offered assistance on numerous occasions with organising timetables, and fitting me into the right tutorials and lectures that work with my schedule,” he says.

Adam is now preparing for his third season with the Giants and his second year of part-time study at UWS. “My AFL goal for 2014 is to keep playing consistent football and for the team to improve even more,” he says. “As the youngest team in the AFL, we haven’t won as many games and as it’s our third year in the competition, we can really press up and force the other teams on the back foot.”

Adam is happy with his decision to study at UWS. “The best things about UWS have been the convenience of the campus and how easy the whole experience has been,” says Adam. “I was very new to the whole situation and everyone I spoke to, and all the tutors, were really helpful, which made everything so much easier.”

UWS wishes Adam all the best for the 2014 AFL season and for his future studies.