FIGURE SKATING: PyeongChang 2018 hopeful Kailani Craine has been selected as one of five of Australia’s brightest young stars to receive mentoring from Australia’s Hall of Fame members.
Craine will have the sporting opportunity of a lifetime, as part of the 2017 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, and she will receive one-on-one guidance from beach volleyball Olympic gold medallist Kerri Pottharst OAM.
Craine is a rising star in world figure skating, winning the Australian senior title in 2015, before going on to finish 16th in the free skate competition at the world junior figure skating championships in Estonia. Making her senior world championships debut in 2016, Craine finished 27th in Boston.
She said the opportunity to learn from the very best, along with the significant financial boost, was an incredible opportunity.
“With the mentoring program, listening to the other athlete’s experiences will be interesting, but the funding also helps so much,” Craine said of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
“It makes training in other environments like Los Angeles possible, where I can skate and learn with Olympic champions,” she said. “It’s an entirely different scene, helping to adapt and begin skating like them.”
The 18-year-old is Australia’s leading figure skating prospect heading into the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and says she’s “powering up to next year’s qualifying season for the Winter Olympics,” and can’t wait to meet the other scholarship holders and Hall of Fame members at the awards in Melbourne next month.
“It will be a really great experience to meet everyone at the event and work with the mentors,” Craine said.
“I was in the middle of my trial exams when I got the call about the mentoring program. I was really stressed so it made everything so much better – it was the best news.”
The Scholarship and Mentoring Program aims to help talented young Australians achieve at the highest level of sport, by providing support and funding for a period of 12 months.
Scholarship holders receive one-on-one personal mentoring by a current member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, in what is a unique and life changing experience.
Awarded annually as part of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala Dinner, the five successful recipients will be presented their scholarships by their respective mentors on Thursday, 13th October 2016 at Palladium at Crown, Melbourne.
Olympic beach volleyball gold medallist and 2014 Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee Kerri Pottharst, said she is looking forward to learning about a completely new sport when she mentors Crane.
“I can’t do what she does, but I can help her get to the next level, develop belief and plan her success,” Pottharst said.
Pottharst and playing partner Natalie Cook developed their ‘Gold Medal Excellence Plan’ in the lead up to Sydney and the trademarks easily apply to other sports and all facets of life.
“It’s about developing belief. If somebody else can do it, why can’t I? So I’ll be asking Kailani that question and can’t wait to be involved in her journey,” Pottharst said.
Dave Culbert
Jump Media