Scholarship recipient represents Australia at Outrigging World Championships

Receiving a Young, Black and Proud Scholarship can take you further than you thought possible, something proud Torres Strait Islander and 2023 round recipient Kane knows all too well.

He’s currently in Samoa representing Australia in the World Distance Championships as part of the Australian Under 16s Outrigging team. After a grueling few days of competition in high temperatures and high winds the team finished in fourth place, narrowly missing the bronze medal by just a few seconds.

Training for an international competition like this is no easy feat and certainly not something Kane takes lightly.

‘Since making the national team I have to train five times a week. My carers and I get up at 4:30am every Saturday and Sunday for training. I don’t mind though, because outrigging is really important to me,’ Kane said.

‘As part of the team I’ve had to work really hard to be in the best shape I can be. I eat better, get to bed early and I’ve learned how to manage my time better to fit in everything around my training and competitions.’

‘It’s also important to me because I have a family of people there who have known me since I was little and are really proud to watch me succeed. I want to keep making them proud.’

Kane admits he has made some poor choices in the past but he knows how lucky he is to be where he is today. He’s passionate about helping other young people like him make positive changes in their lives.

‘I haven’t always made the best decisions and I let myself get easily influenced in the past. But I have worked really hard to make big changes. My attendance at school is 100% and I even got my first A in English this year,’ he said.

‘I know that I am really lucky and I want to show other kids like me that they don’t have to go down a bad path. If we want to make a change for our people then we have to do the work and be the change that we want to see.’

With the help of his Young, Black and Proud Scholarship Kane is aiming to represent Australia at the World Sprint Championships in Hawaii in 2024. He’s also hoping to compete nationally in Sydney and we’ll be cheering him on.