Aryan Sanjay in Year 12 at Flinders is a young cricket athlete with exciting potential in his sporting and academic life beyond graduation.
We asked Aryan to share some of the skills and strategies he's learned as part of our Flinders Elite Athlete Program (FEAP) and the goals he is striving to achieve.
FEAP provides our student athletes with an individualised performance plan tailored to their personal needs and demands of their chosen sport. The aim is to support students to perform with distinction on the national and international stage while embracing a quality education at Flinders.
Q: Please share some of your key sporting achievements.
Some of my sporting achievements include being selected for the Queensland U16 and U19 teams, both in the same year and as the only player in the state to do so. In the U16s, I broke the Queensland record being the first player to score a century in 21 years against NSW and finished as 4th leading run scorer in Australia. Additionally, making my A Grade debut at 15 was a really good experience.
Q: What are your sporting goals for 2025 and beyond?
I am aiming to make the Australia U19s team. My other goal would be to get a Brisbane Heat or any Big Bash League contract.
Q: What sporting events are you looking forward to this year?
Towards the end of Term 3 I’ll be going to NSW for the U19s Nationals.
Q: Do you have plans for study and a career beyond Year 12 graduation?
Beyond Year 12 graduation, I am looking to move to Brisbane to study at the University of Queensland and play cricket. I aim to study Finance and Economics or Town Planning, and after that I’d like to travel to the UK to play cricket.
Q: Please share some of the skills and strategies you have learned through FEAP?
I’ve learned from FEAP some organisational skills which are helping me to stay on top of my studies. I often used to leave things until the last minute and I wasn’t very organised, but my mentoring with FEAP Director Ms Lauren Nourse has been really helpful in my approach to studies and in daily life as well.
Q: Do you have a favourite FEAP workshop so far?
Olympian Bo Hanson went through many tough situations and his workshop on how athletes can be tougher mentally was really helpful. In the workshop he explained how mental toughness is not some mythical quality that some people just inherit; it can be taught and developed over time like any other skill. I took some key things he shared from that workshop.
Q: What else have you enjoyed about FEAP?
I have enjoyed getting to know more people in FEAP and building relationships with my peers as well as the different perspectives they have on their sports and how they approach it.
Q: Who is your sporting role model and why?
My sporting idol is Usman Khawaja as he had it tough when growing up and persevered to reach his goals and achieve his dreams of performing on the world stage. I also like the way he carries himself off the field as he loves to have fun but also not boast too much about his lifestyle.
To learn more about FEAP, visit here.
To learn more about Sports Scholarships – opening for applications on 30 June and closing on Monday, 18 August – visit here.
