Staff Spotlight: Meaghan Stanton, Talented Athlete Program Coordinator

What is the Talented Athlete Program (TAP) all about? 

People who are performing at a high level in their chosen sport are very busy people, as they often spend large chunks of time training, competing and possibly traveling, all while juggling the time demands related to normal life, such as school, work, social, family and other personal commitments, not to mention trying to find enough time to rest and sleep!

“Burnout” is super common in teenaged athletes and is a key reason that many people who perform at a top level in their teen years are no longer even competing in that sport by the time they are in their twenties. Avoiding burnout is essential if you want to reach the elite/professional ranks in any sport.  Even those who “make it” and achieve all their sporting goals can find that if they did not foster their academic and other co-curricular strengths throughout the teen years, their career choices when they finish competing can feel very limited. 

The TAP aims to help those busy student athletes to find balance, so that their sport is sustainable and they also feel successful in other areas of life. 

Why did you decide to do the Talented Athlete Program? What motivated you?

Oxley College has introduced this program because we have lots of student athletes that could benefit from it, and I applied for this role because I feel I have the knowledge and skills to help student athletes find that healthy balance.

I compete at a high level in cross country mountain biking (I am currently a world champion in my age group) and successfully balance my training and competition with teaching Maths at Oxley. I work a 0.8 load, equivalent to four days/week but spread out across the week, to allow extra time for training, so I understand that compromises must sometimes be made to allow for balance. I have had plenty of practice planning for competition and managing the way my sport coincides with busy periods at work. Being organised is key! 

At university, I first studied Exercise Science and later taught Human Anatomy and Physiology. Although I have taught Maths for the past 8 years, I am also a PE teacher, so I have a good understanding of the mental and physical demands of most sports. My mother has been one of Australia’s most prominent sports nutritionists for the last 40 years, so I have also grown up with a good general knowledge of sports nutrition principles, which will be helpful in this role.

I am sponsored by large companies such as Trek, Shimano and Fox, which means I am well placed to advise student athletes on the pros and cons of seeking sponsorship.

My own children, who went to Oxley, are now in their twenties and given that two of them competed in sport at National level, I think I can relate to the way parents are likely to feel when trying to support high-achieving children with their sports.

What are your aspirations for the Talented Athlete Program?

TAP is not about turning good athletes into outstanding ones. It’s about helping athletes who are already performing at an outstanding level to feel supported and able to cope with the pressures they face, for the benefit of their own mental and physical health now and in the future. The success of the program will be hard to measure, but my hope is that students in the program will learn to compete for the right reasons and will still be competing in their chosen sports in ten years’ time. Achieving that will require them to have a sustainable long-term approach to their own development. 

Can you tell us about your athletic background and what sports you’ve been involved in?

As a kid I was a good cross-country runner and I played a lot of hockey, making the NSW squad a few times. I played plenty of other team sports competitively at school (basketball, cricket, football and volleyball) and have always loved skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding and surfing. As a kid, I used to ride my bike everywhere, but it was only after a few knee and ankle injuries from running that I took up cycling properly in my late thirties. I stopped playing hockey about 7 years ago, to focus on racing mountain bikes and have thrown myself into that wholeheartedly.

How are you hoping to support these athletes?

I will take TAP students out of mentor group from time to time to check in with them one-to-one and see how they are going. I will help them plan for upcoming competitions and find time to fit in things that might be falling by the wayside, especially academics and rest. Rest is essential to help reap the benefits of training, while maintaining mental wellbeing. One key difference between professional and amateur athletes is that professionals actually have more time to rest, without having to hold down a “day job”. One of the biggest challenges for those of us who don’t have that luxury, because we also have to fit in work or school, is finding time to get that rest. Students in the TAP will also, from time to time, be withdrawn from mentor group for group workshops on issues such as sports psychology, nutrition, fair play and drugs in sport, sponsorship, rest and recovery, injury prevention and general tips on time management.

How will you choose who to include in this program?

I would love to help everyone who applies, of course, but I only have so much time myself!  Preference will be given to students whose sporting performance is at a very high level and whose time commitments are most difficult to manage, either because of their academic load (those preparing for the HSC have significantly higher academic demands) or because of the nature of their sport. Being in the TAP is not a prize or an award. It is simply an opportunity to have the support of someone other than parents, teachers and coaches, who can provide helpful perspective. Those who apply but are not accepted into the TAP should not feel that they are “missing out” or “unworthy”.  The Oxley pastoral care system means that all students have a mentor who will keep an eye on the way each student is managing various pressures. TAP is just something extra for those most needy. There may also be top athletes in our school who don’t feel they need any extra help and don’t apply for the TAP, and that’s also fine!

What are you most looking forward to about this program?

I’m looking forward to getting to know more students and sharing my knowledge to help them cope with the pressures they face, so they can tackle their sports with a healthy mindset.

Emilie S & Annalise W, Year 9