Cadyn Gottliebsen’s traineeship at the Hawthorn Football Club is a great example of how you can combine your interests with work experience. Growing up in Wheelers Hill, where he attended high school just down the road, Cadyn always had a passion for sports. Basketball, cricket and football have been a constant in his life.
I’ve always loved watching footy, which is a large reason why this role appealed to me.
People always joked, ‘You’re so tall, do you want to be our ruckman?’ but I found my niche off the field.
After finishing Year 12 at the end of 2022, Cadyn tried out a course at Cricket Victoria, but it didn’t quite meet his expectations. This led him to explore other opportunities in the sports industry. That’s when he discovered the AFL SportsReady traineeship position being advertised at the Hawks.
Since starting his traineeship within the Membership team, Cadyn’s life has transformed massively.
I really enjoy having a routine and coming to work five days a week.
I’m a pretty outgoing person; I feel like I fit into places pretty easily. I also enjoy stepping out of normal proceedings and taking on different challenges.
Cadyn’s day-to-day tasks at the Hawks are diverse and dynamic.
I mainly take inbound calls and make outbound calls to address data issues or payment details not going through. I also handle emails and work at the reception desk for two days a week.
If we have an event, it gets busy. If we win, it’s pretty busy downstairs too.
One of the highlights of his traineeship was the match day against Collingwood.
The team upstairs has faced a lot of challenges this year, so everyone was pretty stoked when we beat Collingwood!
– He recalls with a big grin. As a lifelong Hawthorn supporter, this victory was especially sweet for Cadyn.
His role in the Membership team is heavily focused on people, a challenge he relishes.
I quite enjoyed working on a project where we collected data on our member base, recording things like how many people sit in our membership bays, how many games they attend, and a whole heap of other stuff. It was really fun to break everything down.
Cadyn’s supervisor, Kate Crummy (the Membership and Ticketing Operations Team Leader), has been super impressed with his progress.
Cadyn has grown a lot throughout his traineeship!
He is a really quick learner and has started to take on different tasks, even more than we originally thought he would. He works on various data projects, including a reserved seat project where he contacted members to move our reserve seats around.
The biggest challenge for the Membership team is ensuring members renew their memberships. Cadyn’s proactive and diligent work has been instrumental in tackling this challenge.
Reflecting on his journey, Cadyn is grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Hawthorn Football Club and the AFL SportsReady program.
My life has changed in such a positive way since starting my traineeship. I enjoy the routine, the challenges, and the chance to make a difference every day.
As Cadyn continues to grow and learn, his future in the sports industry looks bright, rolling over his traineeship into a second year!
