Working collaboratively, the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) Community Programs, South West Academy of Sport (SWAS) Advancing Performance to Enhance Excellence program (APEX) and the Victorian Regional Academies of Sport (VRAS) are creating more mentoring opportunities for regional athletes.
The VIS Community Programs aim to connect and inspire as many Victorians as possible, and this mentoring initiative is a meaningful way to deliver on just that.
Building on the success of previous connections, another valuable connection has come to life. This time between VIS judo athlete Ryley Rametta and 18-year-old national level modern pentathlon athlete Zoe Addinsall from SWAS.
Image: SWAS athlete Zoe Addinsall
Through a series of casual phone calls, the pair spoke about their sports, their journeys and the realities of life as athletes with Rametta becoming a sounding board for Addinsall.
Despite coming from very different sporting worlds and living in different parts of Victoria, the two athletes quickly found common ground bonding over the shared realities of life as a competitor.
“Even though we’re both from very different areas, I live in the city and Zoe lives on a very rural station, we found we had a lot of similar experiences through sport that we could share,” said Rametta.
For Addinsall, finding someone who truly understood her world made all the difference.
“With my environment often feeling tense, she was someone I could truly relate to. Whether I just needed a rant or needed someone to understand, she always met what I needed,” said Addinsall.
“She was so easy to talk to whether a serious conversation or just a friendly one, she would make me feel like we have known each other for years.”
Finding time to connect was not always easy, with both balancing training, study and work but they made it work.
“We both have very busy schedules, so it was always hard to fit a call in, but we did and it was worth it,” Addinsall reflects.
Rametta said although their sports are different, the pressures athletes face are often very similar.
“While our sports are wildly different in nature, the life of an athlete in both sports does not differ too much,” said Rametta.
“With all the different aspects of being an elite athlete, I was able to pick her brain on areas she might have been struggling a bit with and give her examples from my career that she could relate to.”
The judo athlete added that the mentoring role was valuable for her own growth.
“As much as it was my role to help her in these areas, she also helped me just as much by getting me to dive deep into my own brain.”
For Addinsall, the conversations helped her reconnect with a spark she had been missing.
“By having these calls with Ryley, I have learnt to find that same spark I had when I was younger, and she helped me be proud of myself over something I wouldn’t have been proud of originally.”
It wasn’t just Addinsall who felt the impact, her mother too observed a noticeable shift.
“Zoe has become highly motivated now she has been getting mentoring from Ryley and she is always chatting about her.”
As a young athlete navigating competing under pressure, Addinsall said the experience gave her a new perspective.
“As a young athlete with a lot of pressure competing at a high level, I find it hard for someone to understand me and relate to me, but Ryley understood me and helped me have a new perspective on sport. Not only that, but we were also able to relate with each other and bond over the smallest things.”
The VIS looks forward to following the journeys of both Rametta and Addinsall as they continue to grow in sport and in life, and to creating more mentoring opportunities for regional athletes.
To hear firsthand from Rametta about her sporting journey and high performance experience, visit engage page to explore booking options for your school or organisation.
