Queensland shows its class

The single biggest determining characteristic on which to build a successful career is ‘grit’. And the Queensland class of 2014 /15 has shown plenty of it throughout the course of their 12 month traineeships.

Members of the AFL SportsReady Queensland team were on hand to help celebrate the achievements of over 50 trainees, including 15 Indigenous Australians, who graduated from the program. A further 425 trainees, including 122 Indigenous, from across the country will be graduating over the coming few weeks.

Guests were treated to special guest appearances by former Brisbane Lions triple premiership player, Chris Johnson and current player, Jed Adcock, who were on hand to share their career journey and provide advice to the young crowd.

In a night full of highlights, Arrow Energy trainee Temeka Johnson took out the prized award and was presented AFL SportsReady’s 2014 / 15 Queensland Trainee of the Year.

Temeka’s supervisor at Arrow Energy, Tania Carlos, was impressed with her constant commitment to the role and her willingness to take on new challenges in any given situation.

“She has an ability to quickly acquire new skills and knowledge and fosters an eagerness to learn which has enabled her to develop a formidable skill set and competencies” said Ms Carlos.

Her colleagues at Arrow Energy were glowing in Temeka’s endorsement as the 2014/15 Trainee of the Year, crediting her contribution to the organisation by describing her as a “truly talented individual. Her positive work ethic and attitude saw her secure a permanent position at Arrow Energy.”

“She was simply too good to let go,” said Ms Carlos.

For the first time in AFL SportsReady Queensland’s history, there were dual winners for the HostPLUS Rising Star Award. The contributions of Daniel Cordwell and Haidee Birkett could not be split, as they were both presented with the coveted award.

Daniel’s manager Darren Resuggan, Regional Manager at AFL Queensland – Brisbane South, described him as an “intelligent and skilled individual who always demonstrates strong initiative and comes up with unique ideas and strategies to improve systems.”

Described by Scott Lardner, Facility Manager at BUPA National Cricket Centre, Haidee is “someone who excels at every opportunity given, who takes on all tasks both large and small and tackles them with the same level of enthusiasm and professional approach.”

“She has developed a number of great working relationships with all staff members at the BUPA NCC and showed an outstanding work ethic throughout her traineeship” said Mr Lardner.

Shane Johnson, State Manager was impressed with the quality of the 2014/15 graduating class and commented on how far they had come, from the beginning of the year.

“We had a number of outstanding trainees graduate this year, with Temeka, Daniel and Haidee being pick of the crop. They, along with, other talented trainees in Marcus MacDonald-Camden and Alice Crockett-Cousin, our first Queensland ArtsReady graduate, should go onto long and rewarding careers.”

“All of our trainees deserve special recognition for their efforts and we hope they too continue to flourish in their employment,” said Mr Johnson.

AFL SportsReady CEO James Montgomery was equally impressed with Queensland’s graduating class.

“Each year we are proud of the cohort of graduating trainees that have worked hard and shown enthusiasm and dedication in their roles. We at AFL SportsReady and ArtsReady aim to set young people up for success, and there is no better example than our 2014/15 trainee graduates,” said Mr Montgomery.

Mr Montgomery also praised the role host employers play in contributing to the development of their trainees.

“We use our networks of partners to provide job opportunities that young people may not get the chance to access, whether it be with the AFL Industry, our corporate partners, government bodies and now the Arts and creative sector and the hundreds of small businesses we work with across the country.”

“We can’t do what we do in isolation, we build strong partnerships within the community to help provide opportunities for young Australians to start their careers.”

“On behalf of the AFL SportsReady team, congratulations to all of our graduates. We wish them luck as they embark on the next part of their career journey,” Mr Montgomery concluded.

DATE: Friday 13th March, 2015
ARTICLE: Marissa Pagliarello
IMAGE: AFL SportsReady’s Queensland Trainee of the Year, Temeka Johnson