Queensland's Hugo Burdon Taps into Off-Field Opportunities

Young Queensland batter, Hugo Burdon is making the most of the opportunities at his disposal to build his off-field career alongside his cricket.

After starting a degree straight out of high school, Hugo put his study on hold and went to Darwin to play cricket and prioritise work.

A few years later Hugo was contracted with Queensland and with the help of his PDM, decided to make the most of the ACA’s Education Grants and pursue something he’s always had an interest in, a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Finance.

Now Hugo is 18 subjects through, with six to go that he’ll “knock out in the next year”.

“Dad was a banker, so those conversations were always being had around the house.

“When I went back to Uni, I subconsciously aligned more with finance, and being interested in money, economics and how everything works. I thought I'd do a broad business degree, because then I can tick off a wide variety of subjects.”

Studying while being a professional cricketer is no easy task, but Hugo enjoys having something away from cricket at times.

“I do enjoy being able to focus my attention somewhere else.

“There’s times where I'm like Okay, this is nice to get away and just be able to do this”.

Burdon has also tried his hand in another industry over the off-season, spending a month and a half labouring for a carpenter, where he was able to gain some valuable takeaways, saying:

“That was an experience that was hands on, which was enjoyable, and different from just hitting the books.”

Education Grants are not the only ACA resource that Hugo has been able to tap into, as he undertook a Work Placement with Prime Super, a small Industry Super Fund. The ACA Work Placement Program is run by the ACA's GamePlan team, in partnership with Infront Sports.

“What was good about that experience was that because they’re a small team, they touch lots of different sectors of the company; marketing, BDM, I was able to see a lot of different parts of how the business ran.

“It was a good experience, they were very flexible with the unpredictable schedule that we have, especially in season. It was an enjoyable process.”

A big takeaway from the placement for Hugo was realising the skills and learnings from both studying and being a professional cricketer that are transferrable into other industries, and life more broadly.

“Going into an office environment, and you learn skills at Uni, but actually knowing that some of those skills are transferrable into the office space.

“There is a lot more that we learn through cricket that I noticed, like being a good communicator, understanding leadership and working well on a team, those are all tangible skills.

“When you're actually in the office space; those challenges can present themselves and we are just naturally equipped for that.”

Hugo elaborated on the support he’s received from the ACA, particularly education grants, and how they impacted him throughout his study:

“It definitely motivates you.

“It’s a good incentive, why wouldn’t you do it? If you’ve got the opportunity and your program is flexible enough, why not upskill yourself.”

Hugo also spoke very highly of the Player Development Managers, describing them as a key part of what the ACA facilitates for players and the many different areas that the ACA can help athletes in.

Members interested in accessing the ACA’s support are encouraged to reach out to their PDM or the ACA directly.