COLLEGE OVERVIEW

Sports College South Australia (SCSA) is a forward-thinking and student-centric independent, co-educational college. SCSA works in partnership with young people who want to complete their education in an environment that is fun, fosters connection and a sense of belonging, and is flexible, empowering them to achieve personal success. Innovative intentions mean learning is applied and focused on relevance. Uniquely, it is delivered through and/or connected to sport because it enables and empowers young people to develop real-world skills for now and in the future.

SCSA places a student’s interests at the forefront of their education, creating a learning environment that enables agency and delivers a personalised, engaging, and suitably challenging curriculum. SCSA provides students with fantastic opportunities to connect authentically with a range of South Australia’s foremost sporting organisations and develop a range of transferable skills for the next stage of their journey.

SCSA promotes very solid, supportive, and productive relationships between students and staff. Our unique approach allows the teacher, mentor and other key staff to know each young person, their personal circumstances, and their career aspirations. The teacher then works with each student to develop their confidence as learners and their skills for life, and to guide them through their personal journey.

Across our work, SCSA is fully committed to child safety and the creation of an environment in which adults and young people thrive, feel safe, included, and welcome. All staff have a responsibility to contribute to this culture and to ensure that they interact with students in a manner that actively promotes the rights and empowerment of young people.

POSITION CONTEXT The Athlete Development Program (ADP) is SCSA’s new purpose-built high-performance learning environment for learner-athletes from Years 9 to 12. The ADP integrates education with the demands of an athlete’s life, intentionally accommodating training, competition, travel and recovery requirements while maintaining academic progress and wellbeing. Through personalised, sport-connected learning, students are supported to train with purpose, learn with direction and perform with confidence.

Commencing in 2027 with Year 9 and Year 10 cohorts, the program will expand to provide a complete Year 9 to 12 pathway in future years.

The Athlete Advocate plays a central role in supporting learner-athletes across their academic, sporting, wellbeing and personal-development journey. Reporting to the Head of Mentoring and working closely with the Head of Athlete Development, the Advocate coordinates the people, plans and support required to help each learner-athlete progress towards their educational, personal and performance goals.

The position is a trusted contact for learner-athletes and a coordination link between families, educators, coaches, performance staff, clinicians and sporting organisations. The Advocate supports explicit communication, aligned planning and learner-centred decisions while helping young people balance school, training, competition, recovery and life outside sport.

The role requires a sound understanding of adolescent development and high-performance environments. Support must respond to each learner-athlete’s maturity, wellbeing, academic needs, sporting commitments, family circumstances and readiness to take greater ownership. The Advocate must recognise when concerns require referral or escalation and work within professional, safeguarding and information-sharing requirements.

The Athlete Advocate leads development planning and coordinated case management across the ADP, including regular check-ins, Personal Development Plans, academic and attendance support, pathway planning, stakeholder communication, workshops, confidential records and transition support across school and sporting environments.

Regular travel between SCSA and partner facilities is required. In 2027, the Football ADP will operate from T.K. Shutter Reserve, Klemzig.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

- Establish and maintain a safe, positive,



inclusive and development-focused learner-athlete culture aligned with SCSA values, expectations and child-safety requirements.
- Coordinate personalised learner-athlete development planning across academic, sporting, wellbeing, pathway and personal areas through regular check-ins, goal reviews and clearly documented follow-up actions.
- Collaborate with the Head of Mentoring, Head of Athlete Development and relevant staff to develop, implement and review Personal Development Plans that reflect each learner-athlete’s priorities, responsibilities and changing needs.
- Provide a trusted point of contact for learner-athletes navigating motivation, confidence, identity, relationships, wellbeing and competing academic, sporting and personal demands.
- Recognise emerging wellbeing, engagement, attendance or safeguarding concerns and coordinate appropriate support, referral or escalation through established SCSA processes.
- Support academic engagement, attendance and learning continuity during periods of training, competition, travel or increased sporting demand, working closely with teaching and support staff.
- Assist learner-athletes with realistic dual-career and post-school planning, including university, vocational education, employment, scholarship and sport-related pathway requirements.
- Coordinate communication and learner-centred decision-making between learner-athletes, families, educators, coaches, performance staff, clinicians and external sporting organisations.
- Build learner-athlete accountability, leadership, professionalism, sportsmanship, help-seeking, constructive responses to feedback and increasing ownership of preparation, recovery and development.
- Design, facilitate or coordinate age-appropriate development activities addressing areas such as time management, communication, leadership, identity, professionalism, recovery, transition planning and balancing competing commitments.
- Maintain accurate, timely and confidential records relating to learner-athlete goals, wellbeing, attendance, engagement, agreed actions, stakeholder communication and development progress.
- Contribute to the ongoing improvement of learner-athlete tracking, case-management, induction, communication and personal-development systems across the Athlete Development Program.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE Essential

- A commitment to SCSA’s vision and to creating innovative, sport-connected experiences that support young people as learners, athletes and people.
- Demonstrated experience working with and mentoring adolescents in education, wellbeing, sport, youth development or a comparable environment.
- Sound understanding of adolescent development, learner wellbeing and the demands associated with talent-development or high-performance sporting environments.
- Demonstrated ability to establish positive, professional and appropriately boundaried relationships with young people, families, colleagues and external stakeholders.
- Understanding of academic progression, attendance and completion requirements and post-school university, vocational, employment, scholarship and sporting pathways.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to listen, engage, motivate and appropriately challenge young people.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team and contribute to coordinated planning, case management and shared decision-making.
- Ability to apply initiative, critical reasoning, problem-solving and professional judgement when managing competing needs, incomplete information or complex situations.
- Strong organisational, planning and time-management skills,



including the ability to manage competing priorities and follow-up actions across multiple learner-athletes and venues.
- Capacity to maintain accurate and confidential records and effectively use digital platforms for communication, learner tracking, planning and reporting.
- Experience working within athlete-development pathways, elite youth sport, talent development, learner-athlete wellbeing or dual-career environments.
- High levels of professional integrity, reliability, accountability and adaptability, with a strong understanding of child safety, inclusion, confidentiality, consent, professional boundaries and appropriate referral and escalation processes.

Desirable

- A relevant qualification in education, psychology, counselling, youth work, sport science, exercise and sport science, wellbeing or a related discipline.
- Training or certification in mental health first aid, wellbeing, mentoring, counselling skills or performance psychology.
- Experience developing Personal Development Plans, learner profiles, case-management records or athlete-monitoring and tracking systems.
- Lived experience as a high-performance athlete or substantial experience supporting athletes within development or performance pathways.
- Knowledge of sport participation, talent-development and performance pathways within South Australia.
- Experience supporting dual-career development or transitions between school, sport, tertiary education, vocational education and employment.
- Experience designing or facilitating development workshops for adolescents in areas such as leadership, communication, wellbeing, professionalism, identity or transition planning.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS, CERTIFICATES & CLEARANCES

- A relevant tertiary qualification in education, psychology, counselling, youth work, sport science, exercise and sport science, wellbeing or a related discipline is highly desirable.
- Current Driver’s Licence and the capacity to travel between SCSA and partner venues.
- Current First Aid qualification, including CPR and anaphylaxis training, or willingness to obtain before commencement.
- Current Working with Children Check, RRHAN-EC certification and Protective Practices Training, or the capacity to obtain these before commencement.

These qualifications, certificates and clearances must be held before the successful applicant commences in January 2027.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Show us who you are

We are looking for people who are passionate about supporting young people to thrive in school, sport and life. A CV tells us what you've done; a video helps us better understand who you are.

Alongside your CV, please share a 2 to 3 minute video that brings your passion to life. Tell us about:

- Why you're interested in the Advocate role and what strengths, experiences or qualities you would bring to supporting learner-athletes.
- Your approach to supporting young people by sharing an example of a time you helped a young person manage competing academic, sporting, wellbeing or personal demands. Tell us what you did, who you worked with, and the impact of your support.
- How you build trusted relationships while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, confidentiality and knowing when to refer or escalate concerns.
- Why SCSA's Athlete Development Program excites you and how you would contribute to developing young people who thrive academically, athletically and personally.

Beyond your professional experience, tell us about your connection to sport, why it matters to you, and how it has shaped your approach to supporting young people. *Upload your video to a cloud-storage platform, such as OneDrive, Google Drive or iCloud, and include the shareable link in your application through the cover-letter submission box.

Applications must be made through SEEK.

Applications close Wednesday 12th August 2026 at 11:59 pm The College reserves the right to appoint prior to the closing date.

CONTACT INFORMATION For further information or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact Antonia Powell (Head of Mentoring) by email ([email protected]).

📌 Athlete Adovcate - Football (soccer) (Klemzig)
🏢 Sports College South Australia
📍 Klemzig