USING his hardships as fuel to find opportunity, past player and now development coach, Simon Mackin, delivered an insightful lecture to students on his time as an elite athlete and all that comes with it.
From Western Australia, Mackin secured his first professional contract at 18 years of age and established himself as an integral part of WA’s fast bowling stocks
Mackin’s professional career started with a bang; it was fast paced and enjoyable. He was on the verge of making his Test debut for Australia and was picked in an Australian A-squad. Not long after, things turned sour for him as he faced several challenges that lead to a reset in his professional and personal development.
Closing his nine season WACA career, Simon touched on not only on his progression and triumphs but also the internal challenges that are so often faced in sport.
Describing a specific moment of panic, the ‘yips’ as he called it, which ultimately sabotaged his career. He discussed this among students and the importance of resilience and growing from hardship within any profession.
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“I loved and still love cricket,” Mackin said.
“I wanted to be the guy that came back from this.”
Summing up his experience of hardships as something that he would have previously run away from, he mentioned that he now sees it as an “opportunity to learn and educate others”.
Portraying how he wanted to flip the situation on its head and “only make a positive out of it”, Mackin encouraged students to not only face their challenges but to also mould them into an opportunity.
Mackin has made great strides in his career outside being a professional athlete. He has been appointed by Cricket Victoria as a Coaching and Talent Development Specialist, where the experiences he endured enable him to educate and develop Victoria’s brightest young cricketers.
In summing up his 15-years involved in sport, Mackin said the best advice he’s received and follows as best he can, is to embrace making mistakes as long as you’re willing to learn from them because they will only make you better.