26 outstanding young athletes from across Australia will receive scholarships as part of this year’s Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program, including reigning Nacra 15 World Champion Will Cooley who has been awarded a Tier 3 Scholarship.

Will is completing year 12 and during this time he has competed in the sport of Sailing at local, state, regional, national, international, and Youth Olympic events.

Between all this, there’s training on and off the water with high-performance coaches at the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS). For Will life is eat, sleep, study, sail, repeat… and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Will’s successes to date include current Youth Sailing World Champion, Australian Youth Sailor of the Year, NSW Institute of Sport Junior Athlete of the Year, Youth Olympic Games representative, Australian Sailing Youth Team, and multiple Australian sailing championship wins.

Will and Bec Hancock at the 2019 Youth Sailing World Championships. Photo: Robert Hajduk

Will is on a path to becoming a professional sailor together with studying maritime engineering. He is also pursuing Olympic Games selection for Paris 2024.

Will speaks of his selection within the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program: “It is an honour to be a SAHOF Scholarship holder. The Scholarship helps me take a step closer towards my goal for selection in the Australian Sailing Team for Paris 2024 Olympic Games selection. The SAHOF scholarship is both a privilege and an inspiration to receive.”

The program is supported by Australian Government funding from Sport Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and has grown from offering five Scholarships since it began in 2006 to offering a total of 32 funded Scholarships in 2021.

Sport Australia Chair John Wylie AM said the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program showed the collective power of sport.

“From artistic swimming to modern pentathlon to judo, these scholarships will help more young athletes from across Australia reach the highest level of their sport. This program provides financial support and acknowledges the incredible efforts of our junior athletes, who’ve shown compassion, athletic drive and determination to chase their sporting dreams.”

Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program Chair Sue Stanley OAM said she is pleased that the expansion of the Program can provide an additional 26 Australian junior athletes access to financial support.
“We couldn’t be happier to be able to provide this additional support especially during this time of uncertainty. To provide hope and encouragement to such a large group of athletes is a gift that we are exceptionally proud to give.”

Australian Sailing congratulates Will on this outstanding achievement.