Cameron Boyce Utilises ACA Study Resources

Veteran leg-spinner Cameron Boyce has made great use of the ACA’s study resources and partnership with Kaplan Australia. He has recently come to the end of a Master of Business Administration (MBA), to go alongside his Cert IV Business Diploma, that he previously completed.

Cam has enjoyed a successful career on the field, making 48 First Class appearances and 48 List A appearances, with over 100 T20 games and 7 T20I’s.

The perspective of being a father and having study to focus on outside of cricket lead to a more stress-free mindset on the field, which ultimately led to one of his better seasons in the most recent BBL13. Cam was the leading wicket taker among spinners with 14 wickets, which earned him selection in the player-voted ACA All-Star Team and a two-year contract extension, keeping him with the Strikers for BBL 14 and 15.

A simple chat about what some study could look like led to Cam “dipping the toes in”, and from there Cam’s study journey took off.

With cricket commitments on the quieter side and just Big Bash to prepare for at the time, he decided to take on the Certificate IV Business Diploma, and was able to utilise the ACA’s education grants, which he said was great for his learning:

“With the Ed Grants that I got, it obviously made study a lot easier. I guess it was a bit of a relief that we had some funding there, that I wasn’t going to be out of pocket.”

After finishing his Certificate, Cam decided to apply for a Kaplan scholarship through the ACA.

It took some time to get into the swing of things, having not completed any study since a carpentry apprenticeship prior to his cricket career, but he says the support he received from Kaplan and the ACA was awesome.

“It wasn’t something I thought I’d do, but I just got into it and found I enjoyed it. It was a different challenge. Not being on contract anymore, I had a bit of time up my sleeve. Being a master’s degree, it was tough at times, but it was pretty cool.

“I got the help I needed, nothing was ever too hard, any questions I had were always answered straight away. The support through not only Kaplan and Elite Athlete Business School but also the ACA has been amazing.”

The ability to juggle the course amongst cricket and family commitments made all the difference for Cam, describing Kaplan as super flexible with their understanding of professional athletes.

Being able to seek help from the lecturers, as well as getting to know the facilitators and the resources available went a long way in getting through the course successfully.

“Obviously, I tried to aim for every due date that I could, but there were a couple of instances where I did get an extension and ended up completing it before that anyway. Just knowing the flexibility was there, I didn’t feel pressured.

“My lecturers were awesome, every lecturer I had was amazing. I attended every class, and I was on camera and I did all the right things in that regard, but they were all really understanding of what I was trying to do.”

A real positive for Cam from the Kaplan experience was meeting and interacting with a wide range of different people throughout the course:

“It was interesting to meet a bunch of different people that are in different workforces and from different backgrounds - that was a real positive to take away.

Now in a coaching role with the Brisbane Heat in the WBBL, Cam has used his experience with the ACA’s Education Grants and study resources to give advice to some of the young players on what’s available and how they can make the most of it for their futures.

“I have had a few of the girls ask me about the support available - particularly a lot of younger players. I’ve been advising them to talk to the ACA as much as they can around Ed Grants, but not only the financial support, any other support they can get as well, I think is amazing.”

An incredibly grateful Cam spoke about the role the ACA has played throughout his study journey:

“Getting the scholarship through the ACA and Kaplan just makes everything so much easier. I was juggling looking after the kids, still playing cricket, it was just a bit of peace of mind for so much of my study to be covered.

“You have a fair understanding of what the ACA does when you’re a young player, but it’s not until you actually speak to people and find out more. All the contacts I have gained in and around different organisations have come through the ACA.

Cam candidly opened up on what the future might look like for him:

“Having an MBA up my sleeve now is pretty cool, it’s something fairly significant that I can bring to the table when it comes to applying for jobs.”

“I’m obviously trying to play for as long as I can. I’m 35 now so I’ll be 37 by the end of my Strikers contract. I’m not a spring chicken anymore and I know it’s not going to last forever but the ACA has just been unbelievable and I’m so grateful for everything they’ve done.”