Nick Winter's Work Placement Journey

Former South Australian fast bowler Nick Winter is another player who has made the most of the ACA’s Work Placement Program.

Nick spent the better part of 10 years in and around the Redbacks squad, and upon transitioning was hired by the ACA, now forming part of our Operations and Player Relations team.

Nick says he sensed he was going to be delisted at the end of the 2022-23 season, and conversations with the SA Player Development Manager (PDM) staff about getting his foot in the door professionally had been in the pipeline for a couple of years.

So, when March rolled around, it was time to “pull the trigger” on work placement and a role in the football operations department at the Adelaide Crows Football Club.

The role proved to be an all-encompassing one that included day-to-day logistics; organising tickets; booking flights; looking at schedules and the logistics of away trips; and on top of this was very much integrated into the club as he sat in on important aspects such as coaches’ meetings and selection and would get involved in training.

Seeing the behind-the-scenes processes of the elite level is what Nick enjoyed most, gaining insight into the depth of preparation and analysis, and comparing it to the elite level of cricket that he had been involved in over the years was very enjoyable.

“It is really difficult as a cricketer to actually get that hands-on experience, you can finish the game with three or four qualifications, but you probably always lack the hands-on experience, which is what some organisations require,” says Nick on the benefits of the placement, and how the experience helped his professional life.

“They need you to have experience in the work force or leadership/managerial experience. For an organisation to give me that exposure, it was awesome and I'm quite thankful for the Crows, and again for me personally it helped bridge that gap.”

Some of the benefits Nick found during his work placement are that they address that lack of exposure and opportunities that many players have in real life workplaces, as well as the opportunity to put skills learnt in degrees to practice.

Networking was another key aspect of the placement.

“You walk away from that experience making five or six different close contacts amongst the players, the same with the staff, you bump into them regularly in Adelaide, you’ll always have those connections for life.”

Nick sees the placement opportunities that the ACA offers to members as a “no-brainer” and encourages other members to take advantage of the program to help discover pathways they might want to explore further.

“You’re getting paid to expand your network and resume, to get a taste of a different environment. There’s no long-term commitment, you may like it, you may get a job in the future because of your experience there, you may not. It’s a bit of a no-brainer in terms of opportunities that the ACA provide, I can’t see why you wouldn’t do it.”

ACA Members interested in applying to take part in the Work Placement Program can contact your PDM or the GamePlan team.