All That Glitters

If you've listened to any of these episodes, you'll know how absolutely passionate I am about people staying connected with sport and movement, in any form. So when I saw the facts about the drop in participation in kids sport (it's so bad it's called a participation cliff), I wanted to be part of a solution. A movement. To keep kids in the game. I'm jumping into your feed to brin

When Aidan Toua left his home in Papua New Guinea and landed in Brisbane to start highschool, he quickly figured out that the connections forged through sport were of critical importance. And so began his relationship with rugby. What started out as a way to make friends quickly became an opportunity to play professionally. In 2011, Aidan was recruited into the Queensland Reds and

As a refugee who grew up in relative poverty, Jelena Dokic figured out that not only did she love tennis, she was really good at it. Tragically for Jelena, as her career took off, so did the abuse from her father. Despite reaching a #4 world ranking, and seemingly on a career high, in the background her father was mentally and physically abusing her. At 29 years of age, Jelena was

Rachael Walsh was drawn to classical ballet because it was hard. And being a country kid, she was told many times that she would never make it. But thanks to a wonderful ballet teacher, Rachael discovered that her body could become an amazing instrument of dance. For 18 years she danced with the Queensland Ballet, and for 13 of those years she was the Principal Dancer with the Comp

As a scrawny teen, David Shillington was nothing special when it came to rugby league. But by the age of 19, he had found his place in the front row and went on to play for the Sydney Roosters, Canberra Raiders and Gold Coast Titans, as well as represent Queensland in the State of Origin and Australia in many international matches. When he eventually retired after 12 seasons and m

Growing up on the Mornington Peninsula, Bianca Chatfield was happy to try any sport she could. And while it wasn’t visible in the media, netball was the one place where Bianca felt like she fitted in and could hold herself up high. Through a lot of determination and grit, Bianca played at the highest levels of the sport. And the longer she played, the more she realised that it wa

Hi All that Glitters listeners, I'm dropping this episode of The Sport Social into your feed as it's all about athletes that 'retired'....and then came back (something I know a little bit about). The Sport Social is a weekly podcast I do with Georgie Trickett (my sister-in-law), a self-described jack of all sports (softball, running, snow sports, even javelin), at a less Olympic,

What happens when you reach the pinnacle of your sport behind two of the best swimmers of all time? Jason Cram lived in the shadow of greats such as Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett and left the sport thinking he had never achieved anything. He drifted into retirement with no real idea of what he would do next. But while setting up surf life saving events, managing Disney Cruises and

Breaking onto the world cricketing scene at the age of 20 and maintaining an international career until he was 39, Shane Watson seems to have been acutely aware that cricket was just for a moment and not a lifetime. Four years before retiring, Shane started putting in place structures to help him move into his post cricket life: some worked, some didn’t. In all my conversations w

Global NBA superstar Andrew Bogut! This conversation was fascinating, from the struggles to find courts to practice on when he was young to parking his ego to be part of an NBA championship winning team, all the way through to the specific kind of challenges that basketball players face and why so many become bankrupt despite earning millions of dollars. You’ll love this conversa