Mac Wright Benefiting On and Off the Field From The ACA's Education Grants

Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes batter Mac Wright has been keeping himself busy by making use of the ACA’s Education Grants.

To use his own words, Mac has “chipped away” for a few years at a Psychological Science Degree, which he says has been really beneficial.

“For me to be able to pursue something away from cricket, with psychology as a passion of mine, being able to put a degree to that passion and try to make sure I've got something set up for life alongside cricket has really helped by the Education Grants that the ACA offers.”

Developing life alongside cricket is something really important to Mac, in more ways than one.

Not only does studying while playing cricket at the elite level foster healthy balance and perspective, but being able to put some techniques from a Psychological Science Degree into practice is bound to help on-field too.

“I think they go hand-in-hand, especially cricket, with the mental load that the game has, I’ve been able to find some useful things from my study that has helped me with my cricket. Down the track, I feel I'll be able to help people by combining my cricket experience and the expertise I've gained through studying psychology.

“I've found it really helpful when dealing with pressure, especially when feeling anxious around performance. Finding some strategies for when I’m in the heat of the moment, dealing with those pressures, to make sure I can still perform at a level that the standard requires.

To other ACA Members considering accessing the ACA’s MyEducation and MyCareer resources, Mac had this to say;

“Find something that you're passionate about. It doesn't necessarily have to be study. I think there may have been a perception in the past that you just had to go to uni and that's the only option but it's just not the case. I was fortunate that psychology is something that I already have a passion for, and it lends itself really well, but there are so many different ways you can direct the Education Grants to make sure that come the end of your cricket career, you’ve got something you've put a bit of time in to, and you've had the support from the ACA to do that.”

Aside from the study, Mac has taken his passion for mental health further through being an ambassador for Tasmanian mental health charity Stay Chatty, which came about through their partnership with Cricket Tasmania.

Mac’s closer involvement was accelerated through connecting with their founder, as they’ve now worked together closely for a couple of years. Mac gets involved wherever he can, through events such as the Stay Chatty shorts day in winter and the annual Stay Chatty Big Bash game, among many other things.

“They’re just doing really important things in the mental health space which is an area that aligns with my values and my passions so I'm really happy that we have that relationship with Stay Chatty, and it's something that I’m going to keep pushing.

“Hopefully the more we can keep raising the awareness around those healthy conversations, the better everyone is going to be for it,” Mac says.

For more information on Education Grants, ACA members can reach out to gameplan@auscricket.com.au