Scholarships give a sporting chance

Built on the back of crowdfunding and a supportive cricketing community, The Australian National University Cricket Club (ANUCC) supports talented cricketers from regional areas to study at ANU. The scholarships allow ANU students, like Sarah Turner and Hanno Jacobs, to continue to pursue cricket at the highest levels without compromising their commitment to study.

"I would just like to say a really big thank you to the donors, because this scholarship means a lot to me and I am incredibly grateful to be a recipient," says Sarah Turner, 2021 ANUCC Scholarship recipient studying engineering and design at ANU.

"One of the really satisfying things about getting the scholarship was knowing I'm good enough to pursue a career in cricket. It's opened a lot of doors and hopefully I can keep crashing down barriers. This is just the start," says Sarah.

2020 ANUCC Scholarship recipient and actuarial studies student, Hanno Jacobs, says the scholarship has helped him find his community and inspired him to explore a potential professional cricketing career.

"I'm being selected in higher-level teams now, so the scholarship has really propelled me into a professional pathway. Hopefully, in a few years I'll be playing on TV in the Big Bash," says Hanno.

ANU alumnus Murray Radcliffe, a long-time donor and member of ANUCC, sees first-hand the positive impact of the scholarship.

"These young people are going to be significant leaders in our nation, whether it be through cricket or through their academic pursuits," says Murray. "Having a sporting scholarship at a university is, in my opinion, a really important way of allowing students to have a second part of their life, a more rounded life, and be able to be a much better part of society."