AFL RISING STAR AND USC UNDERGRAD, BRADLEY MCDONALD GIVES INSIGHT INTO HIS SIMULTANEOUS PURSUIT OF SPORT AND STUDY
Born into a passionate AFL family, the 19-year-old civil engineering student has been playing the sport alongside his brothers for as long as he can remember.
Beginning his AFL journey at the Maroochydore Roos Junior club, Bradley has enjoyed developing his skillset within the club’s supportive community, “Maroochydore are an amazing organisation at supporting their players” he comments, “They encourage young aspiring athletes to achieve their goals as well as fostering players who purely want to play for enjoyment.”
Featuring as a key defender at the club, Bradley played in the 2023 QAFL premiership, helping the under 19 Maroochy Roo’s team to victory for the first time in the club’s history. Bradley is grateful for his journey with the club and identifies this as critical steppingstone towards being selected to play for the Brisbane Lions Academy.
McDonald has been with the Brisbane Lions VFL team (the reserve team for the AFL) for the past two years, where in 2024 his team made it to the preliminary final against the reigning premiers, the Werribee Tigers.
While the Sunshine Coast could be assumed to be somewhat removed from the condensed AFL population of other regions, rather than viewing this as a limitation, Bradley is proud to be a part of the quickly evolving talent pool, “The AFL standard across the Sunshine Coast is increasing every year and more opportunities are being provided to succeed” he states.
While managing the demanding training regime of an aspiring AFL player, two years ago Bradley took to work experience as a builder. This exposure to the construction industry ignited the high achievers’ passion for civil engineering, “I was drawn to the concept of being able to plan, design and construct the building environment whilst protecting the natural environment,” he reflects, “To have the ability to build facilities and infrastructure that can help people in their everyday lives like hospitals, would be a rewarding career.”
With that, Bradley enrolled in a Civil Engineering degree at UniSC where he is currently studying part time as a member of the high-performance sporting program. McDonald is grateful to the university for allowing him to simultaneously purse his dreams on and off the field, “Part-time study is very flexible allowing me to train, play and embrace opportunities without impacting my study or AFL. UniSC have an amazing support team that you can always turn to if you are ever overwhelmed by study or sport…”
With dedication and drive in not only his AFL endeavours, but in the classroom as well, Bradley sends an inspiring message to the next generation of athletes from not only the Sunshine Coast, but the whole of Australia.
Stay tuned into Bradley’s journey by following @sunshinecoastsports and @bradleymcdonald17
