The Richmond Institute of Sports Leadership (RISL) congratulates Isaac Quaynor, a first-round draftee recruited to the Collingwood Football Club in Thursday night’s 2018 National AFL Draft.
This year, while firmly focusing his efforts on football, Quaynor, 18, successfully completed the Institute’s double diploma in Sports Management and Leadership – a course delivered in partnership with Swinburne University.
Playing TAC Cup for the Oakleigh Charges, Quaynor was drafted by Collingwood at selection 13 overall in Thursday night’s National AFL Draft.
Quaynor is a member of Collingwood’s Next Generation Academy – he qualifies for the Indigenous and Multicultural Academy given his father was born in Ghana, West Africa.
A keen athlete, Quaynor has participated in soccer, athletics and basketball as a child, and began playing AFL when he was 12-years-old.
At the Draft Combine this year – where all Draft hopefuls are invited to participate in skills and drills under the watchful eye of AFL Club recruiters, Quaynor won the goalkicking test with a perfect score.
Quaynor said studying the RISL course was the best decision he made going into his draft year.
“The course provided me with a healthy balance between football, education and socialising,” Quaynor said.
“It gave us access to a quality gym that we used up to three times a week in timetabled classes, which provided me with an advantage over those still at secondary school or university.”
“As an athlete, some of the athlete development and nutrition based classes were extremely relevant to myself, and educated me on what was needed to fuel my body most effectively.
“As a proud ‘former-student’ I would definitely recommend this course to anyone whom may be looking to study whilst playing a sport.”
Richmond’s Head of Education and Training, Damien Villarosa said Quaynor had been an exceptional student at RISL in 2018.
“On behalf of everyone at RISL, we congratulate Isaac on achieving his dream of being drafted to an AFL Club,” Villarosa said.
“We really enjoyed Isaac being part of the course this year, he was incredibly studious, and really applied himself all year.”
“We always knew that Isaac’s goal was to be drafted, so to see him realise his dream was really special for all of us, and we wish him all the best in his AFL journey.”
Villarosa said the RISL program is well suited to AFL draftee hopefuls, as well as up-and-coming professional athletes.
“The course includes units relating to Athlete Performance, Coaching, Leadership and Management, which can be really beneficial to many students who have goals of becoming elite athletes in their chosen field,” Villarosa said.
“We hope Isaac is the first of many students to be drafted into the AFL or AFLW competitions.”
Applications for the 2019 RISL course are now open. For more information, or to register your interest, click here:
https://www.swinburne.edu.au/study/options/find/new-courses/dual-diploma-richmond-fc/#how-to-apply
