After a year of online study, Harry is now making the most of his placements at Carlton Football Club in talent identification.
Harry joined the Carlton College of Sport in 2020 looking to be immersed in the fast-paced environment of an AFL club with the dream of one day working in recruiting or list management.
‘I knew that I wanted to be in the high-performance AFL environment. I was already doing a bit of work with the Bushrangers and had rubbed shoulders with some people from the AFL and knew that I wanted a career in the sport. Carlton College presented the perfect opportunity to get my foot in the door, being based at the Carlton Football Club,’ Mulqueen said.
‘Prior to studying at Carlton College, I was working at a school in education support after being a tradie for four years in landscaping. I was also doing a bit of coaching with the Murray Bushrangers. Then I decided to move down to Melbourne to further my education,’ he said.
After completing the majority of his studies online in 2020, Harry is now making the most of the placement opportunities available to him at the Carlton Football Club, working in an ongoing placement with the Carlton talent identification team.
‘In 2020 we obviously only had three weeks at the Club before going into lockdown, which was a challenge, but it gave me a really good opportunity to work more on the academic side of the diploma before going into placement at the end of last year and into 2021.
‘At the moment, my ongoing placement is with the talent identification team. I’m doing one day per week coding the games from the weekend then working with the current Carlton College students the following day to teach them about the coding that we do earlier in the week,’ he said.
Harry has also had the opportunity to work with the Carlton VFL side at training and on game day.
‘With the VFL team I help out to make sure that everything is running smoothly as a training coordinator. I make sure that all the training drills are set up and that everything is ready to go to have the best training we possibly can to get the most in. On the weekend, I work in a coaching assistant role,’ he said.
When asked about how the Carlton College of Sport has prepared him for a job in sport, Harry emphasised the importance of knowing what is expected of you in the workplace as well as understanding the systems.
‘I had never used Sportscode before and now through my VFL role and my placement with the talent ID team, it’s one of the most important skills you can have. Learning how to use Sportscode in a placement setting is a skill that will separate you from the crowd,’ he said.
To anyone looking to get their foot in the door of the sports industry, Harry has a few pieces of advice.
‘Volunteer your time and be patient. It’s a pretty intense industry and you will just have to bide your time and you’ll get there eventually. My advice would be to volunteer, always be on your game introduce yourself to everyone around you.’