The Melbourne Rebels’ Cadeyrn Neville and Western Force’s Zack Holmes have been successfully awarded academic scholarships through an exclusive program established by the Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) and their education partner, Kaplan Professional Education.
As one of Australia's largest providers of postgraduate qualifications in applied finance, Kaplan has offered up to two scholarships annually for RUPA members (all professionally contracted Australian rugby players) interested in advancing their financial industry knowledge through two selected postgraduate courses in Applied Finance and Financial Planning.
The aim of the scholarship program is to support the career pathway of professional rugby players by assisting them to further develop the necessary skills, knowledge and capabilities to provide them with a competitive edge in the workplace post-rugby.
It’s just one of the educational initiatives part of RUPA’s Player Development Program (PDP), a proactive player focused program designed to empower players to achieve on and off the field, through education, mental health, personal development, welfare, financial and career guidance and support.
Those players interested in the Kaplan programs were required to complete an application outlining their achievements, prior learning and the relevance of the course to their future career plans, with only the most outstanding submissions awarded scholarships.
Cadeyrn took the opportunity to fulfil his academic interests in Applied Finance with a course that will provide the technical knowledge and critical skills necessary for senior leadership positions within the finance industry.
A former scholarship holder at the Australian Institute of Sport for rowing, Cadeyrn switched his sporting ambitions from winning gold at the Olympics to wearing gold at the highest levels of rugby after trying the sport in 2009.
A trial that paid off, as just three years later he was thrust into the life of a professional rugby player, making his Super Rugby debut for the Melbourne Rebels and playing in all games from round eight in his first season in 2012. In his inaugural year on the Super Rugby stage he was awarded both the Rebels’ Rookie of the Year and Matt Cockbain Rebel Rising Medal.
As an in-demand player for the Melbourne Rebels, where he is signed until the end of 2015, and having been called up to the Wallabies training squad this year, Cadeyrn’s rugby career is continuing to go from strength to strength, with no signs of slowing down in the near future.
At 25 years of age, Cadeyrn has already completed a Diploma of Management and an apprenticeship in air-conditioning and refrigeration. But time and financial constraints during his meteoric rise through the rugby ranks have obstructed his preceding tertiary ambitions in the financial industry.
Thanks to the scholarship program though, he now has the opportunity to reinvigorate that goal.
With a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Australia and current Bachelor of Business at Monash University, Zack too has a strong interest in strengthening his off-field career intentions in finance and economics.
Like Cadeyrn however, Zack’s professional rugby career has impacted his ability to undertake as much study or work experience as he would like.
Originally from Western Australia, Zack was a national title holder in athletics at the age of 13 and was selected to represent the Australian Sevens side during the 2009-2010 IRB Sevens World Series, where he played a part in their third-placed campaign.
He too made his Super Rugby debut in 2012 after signing with the Brumbies for two years, where in just ten matches he accumulated a remarkable 79 points with three tries, eight conversions and 16 penalty goals. From there he moved to the Western Force, where he’s also signed until end 2015.
Rugby has always been a passion of Zack’s, having dreamt of making it professionally since his early teens. But his professional rugby schedule over the last few years has left him with very little time to commit to furthering his off-field aspirations in business and financial planning.
Zack’s scholarship for the Master of Financial Planning course, which seeks to build the knowledge and skills required to further a career in financial planning, will be a fundamental benefactor for his post-rugby goal to work in the business and banking sector.
Cadeyrn and Zack will start their courses in Trimester three this year, which commences on 22 September, and will receive the funded scholarships for the duration of their chosen qualifications with Kaplan.
