From Paralympics to Paramatildas: how Rae Anderson's success has been supported by the Elite Athlete Program

It would be an understatement to say Rae Anderson competes in multiple sports, because she not only competes in them, she excels. Whether it was making her debut at the Rio Paralympics in 2016 where she was the only woman contesting in both discus and javelin, being the first Australian woman with a disability to be the ambassador of the underwear label Modibodi, or moving to Alpine skiing and becoming Australia's seventh athlete to compete at both Summer and Winter Paralympics when she took part in the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games – Anderson proved she was a powerhouse. 

But she wasn’t done yet. In a change of sports again, Anderson moved on to soccer by becoming a part of the Paramatildas – where she received the Rookie of the Year title in 2022. She’s currently training for the 2024 World Cup happening later this year.  

All the while, Anderson managed to juggle her intense sports schedule with her studies at the University of Sydney where she’s currently completing a Bachelor of Arts - Indonesian and Asian Studies (Double Major) with Honours in Indonesian Studies. 

She has been helped along the way by scholarships including the Corlett Family Scholarship as well as the Commbank Scholarship, and the support of the Elite Athlete Program (EAP) run by Sydney Uni Sport. 

Leonie Lum, also a University of Sydney alum (BEd(Sec)(HMHE) ’05), and her team run the program, assisting over 300 student athletes each year. While financial support is included, much of the benefit of the EAP comes from having a guiding hand for student athletes as they navigate university life with their sporting commitments. 

“A lot of our support comes in in terms of working closely with the athletes understanding what's going on in their lives with work, living, training, and then there are their studies,” Lum says. “We then help them to understand where to find a balance and what good balance might look like.”  

For Anderson, having Lum by her side has been vital in being able to navigate her sporting and study commitments.  

“Leonie has been my mentor through my whole degree,” she says. “I didn't think I was ever going to go into honours, but just through all the support that I've had, I've managed to do my honours, and I'm going to continue to do my PhD.”  

Lum’s guiding hand has also been invaluable for Anderson during moments of crisis, such as when Anderson couldn’t find affordable accommodation in Sydney which meant she was spending many hours a day commuting to and from her family home in the Central Coast. 

One morning over a regular breakfast meeting organised for the EAP students, Anderson happened to mention to Lum how she was struggling with travel and accommodation. Lum kicked into action.  

“Leonie organised this huge manhunt to find something for me,” Anderson says. “I was just shocked at the support. Everyone jumped in on it. The Gadigal Centre, Leonie and the EAP and all the residential colleges were so nice.” 

Anderson eventually settled at the Sancta Sophia College where she currently resides.  

Lum is acutely aware of the impact of finding accommodation in an expensive city like Sydney.  

“When we talk to prospective student athletes and their families it's such a critical component of them being able to come to Sydney and join our teams and clubs. And you know, sometimes we can’t make it work because of the critical accommodation aspect,” Lum says. “So that's why our relationships with the residential colleges and university accommodation is so important - because we can't bring talented student athletes from the country or from the regions without their support.”   

It was while living at Sancta College that Anderson received a call from Leonie asking her to attend a ‘Blue & Gold’ meeting as she was recently awarded a University Blue and named as a Blue of the Year. By chance at the event, she met someone who wanted to discuss her career prospects after university. 

“So just the connections that we've had, especially through Leonie and the EAP sets us up for life,” Anderson says of that encounter.  

“I've just been so lucky that I've had all these opportunities and chance meetings with a number of people. That I've been able to lean on them and learn from them before adapting it in my own way is really special.” 

As Anderson’s story shows, the work that Lum and her team do is vital to the development of student athletes at the university. But Lum points out it’s not just about the EAP and her team – it’s about everyone pitching together to offer a solid support system for the students going through the university.  

“It's not just about the Elite Athlete Program. It's not just about scholarships. It's about the entire system that’s set up to let people get where they want to go. It's definitely not a one person show,” Lum says, emphasising: “It's also about, the terrific partners external to our organisation as well. So we couldn't do our work without the residential colleges. We couldn't do our work without the business school. We couldn't do our work without our donors. All of them help in their own way to be able to contribute to the support that's available for our students.”