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USC student scores rugby league scholarship
Unlike most rugby league fans, University of the Sunshine Coast student Peter Gough dreams of making his State of Origin debut as the man in the middle holding the whistle.
That’s because Peter, 20, stands a pretty good chance of one day refereeing the rugged interstate clash after recently accepting a prestigious National Officiating Scholarship offered by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).
Peter, who is in his final year of a Bachelor of Science (Sport and Exercise Science) degree at USC, was one of only 16 people from across Australia selected from 12 different sporting codes.
His is the only ASC scholarship for rugby league. It includes three trips to Sydney to train with and observe the National Rugby League’s top referees, attend NRL matches and even join his mentors in the video referee’s box.
Peter, who has officiated at Sunshine Coast/Gympie Rugby League matches for the past four years, said he had been a referee since he was a 13-year-old in Sydney.
“I had been playing football since I was five but, when I was 13, my mum suggested refereeing to me as a way of making money,” he said.
“It was a way of doing something I love and getting paid for it, and I have been doing it ever since.”
Peter said he was initially concerned about giving up playing football to concentrate of refereeing, but he soon took to the role with relish.
“I miss playing, but I still get to be so involved with the game that I don’t notice it so much,” he said.
Peter plans to return to Blues’ territory when he finishes his degree, but his enjoyable experiences at the University of the Sunshine Coast are likely to give him a much greater appreciation of the Maroons.
“I feel so lucky to have studied at USC,” he said. “It is a great lifestyle and I feel like I have learnt things here that I wouldn’t have learnt if I had studied elsewhere.
“The classes are so much smaller at USC than other universities, especially the ones in Sydney. It really let me get to know my tutors and lecturers and I really don’t think I would have been so inspired or motivated anywhere else.”
— Claire Bruynius