For athletes to access the support and advice at CDU for the Elite Athlete Support Program, they must be identified and recognised as an elite athlete. Elite athletes are defined according to the Australian Sport Commission’s Elite Athlete Friendly University Agreement and are identified by one of the following organisations:

• Australian Institute of Sport

• State Institute of Sport (e.g. NTIS, SASI, etc)

• AFL Players Association

• Australian Cricketers Association

• Rugby Union Players Association

• Representative at a national or international level

CDU can offer flexible study arrangements designed to help elite athletes meet assignment deadlines or sitting of exams.

CDU can assist with:

Assessment related needs:

• ability to negotiate assessment deadlines based on sporting related travel commitments
• ability to sit exams externally under exam conditions, within the athlete’s environment (e.g. while travelling, in your hotel, etc)
• the minimum attendance at lectures, tutorials or practical waived where student-athlete unavailable due to sporting commitments

Enrolment related needs:

• ability to tailor academic study load to integrate with sporting commitments, available for first year students as well
• negotiate lecture, tutorial and practical timetables to accommodate sporting commitments
• extend minimum time to complete course due to periods of decreased study load
• take several leaves of absence where required due to increased sporting commitments (e.g. Olympic Games year)
• complete cross institutional study options with interstate universities, and flexibility within this policy provided for student athletes (e.g. first year student’s eligible, increase number of subjects able to be completed by cross institutional study
• provision of summer study alternatives and/or ability to swap between distance education mode and on campus mode, depending on sporting commitments
• recognition of credit achieved at interstate universities

Carbine Club Sports Scholarship
Sector: Higher Education or Vocational Education and Training
Amount per annum: $2000
Duration: 1 year
Available to students enrolled, or intending to enrol, full-time in a Higher Education or Vocational Education and Training (VET) course at Charles Darwin University and be involved in sports in the Northern Territory at either club or state level.
Download the Scholarship information sheet

CDU Sports Scholarship
Sector: Higher Education
Amount per annum: $1000
Duration: 1 year
The scholarship aims to assist students who are enrolled, or intending to enrol, at Charles Darwin University and represent the Northern Territory in a sport at a state level.
Download the Scholarship information sheet

In 2010, the 22-year-old became Charles Darwin University’s first Indigenous pharmacy graduate.

"The Elite Athlete Support Program is a great initiative, which enables elite athletes to succeed in their university studies and also achieve their sporting ambitions," Simone said.

"It definitely assisted me to balance my pharmacy studies while still being able to represent the Territory in hockey."

Simone has played hockey since she was 10-years-old and represented the Northern Territory in the NT Pearls Hockey Team at the Australian Hockey League in 2006 and 2007.

She captained the Northern Territory under-21 women’s hockey teams in 2006 and 2007, and won the Fairest and Best Award in 2006.

Simone has also been awarded NAIDOC Youth of the Year in 2007, Northern Territory’s Young Australian of the Year in 2008, and Darwin Young Citizen of the Year and NT Young Achiever in 2009.

Starting her studies in 2005, Simone was awarded a pharmacy cadetship with the Department of Health and Community services, which included an annual 12-week placement at Royal Darwin Hospital for each year of her degree.

“At times during my uni studies it was a bit of a struggle, especially when exams and assignments coincided with my hockey representative tournaments,” Simone said.
“Being part of the Elite Athlete Support Program meant I was able to get extensions on assignments and reschedule exams whenever they conflicted with my sporting commitments, which made balancing my commitments so much easier.

“I thank my lecturers for being so understanding and flexible with my sporting commitments throughout my four year pharmacy degree,” she said.