Saying YES to Opportunities

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In 2015, at age 21, Alumni Brent Trewin walked into his traineeship with a mix of nerves and quiet confidence. Despite already working six months as a casual with the AFL, stepping into a full-time role still felt like a big leap. What he didn’t know then was that he was saying yes to an opportunity that would shape the next decade of his life.

It was one of the best decisions I made.

Completing his traineeship in Blacktown, the familiar environment helped him ease into full-time work and learning how to speak with different people.

It was definitely a benefit for me that I was already familiar with the people and the office. Not only that but it was great to work with different types of age demographics which made me feel comfortable to speak to different people.

Like many trainees, he found balancing coursework with the demands of the role a bit difficult at first.

Working within participation which was school program delivery, it was challenging trying to find the balance of dedicating time, the couple hours per week, plus the other work requirements. Ten years ago, I would freak out about it but now it’s like… it’s just a blip.

Brent was part of one of the last groups to complete the three-year-long traineeships. That time gave him space not just to learn his role, but to understand how to grow within it.

The biggest learning for me was actually the ability to understand how career progression can work. Your first year is really just trying to find out what’s my role. The second year is like, okay, I’m going to nail those things. Then the last year is, how do I make this more efficient?

The stability of the traineeship helped ground him, however the growth opportunities mattered most. In his career Brent has moved from delivering school programs to coordination roles to umpiring development.

Having been one himself, Brent is now often the one guiding trainees and helping them explore where they want to go next.

A traineeship plays a role in educating young people on what they want to do. If you don’t know what you’re doing, that’s okay. But what can we put in place to help you understand and identify what you want to do?

If you’re not sure if you want to go to uni or not, a traineeship is a year-long at most and it can be an eye-opener for what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Opportunities are always there. You just have to say yes!

Brent has since left the AFL in November 2025 to seek out new opportunities.