{"id":6114,"date":"2017-09-14T02:00:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T18:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/beyond-sherrin-anthony-morabito-life-afl\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:08:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T05:08:01","slug":"beyond-sherrin-anthony-morabito-life-afl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/beyond-sherrin-anthony-morabito-life-afl\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Sherrin: Anthony Morabito on life after AFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Morabito is in his final months of a Bachelor of Commerce (Management) degree, but it\u2019s taken him a little longer than most students to get here \u2013 a cool seven years \u2013 as the 25-year-old has also balanced student life with a professional football career, having been drafted at pick four by the Fremantle Dockers in 2009.<\/p>\n

He missed only one game in 2010 and was hailed by many as Freo\u2019s next superstar, but the powerful midfielder\u2019s career would soon become ravaged by injury, including three knee reconstructions. In 2017, after seven years with Fremantle, Morabito decided to make a fresh transition to the WAFL with new club, Claremont.<\/p>\n

While it isn\u2019t the career trajectory many anticipated for Morabito, he remains philosophical, saying the change of pace has given him the opportunity to focus on completing his studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t always easy, but you do learn to deal with difficult situations, which are often beyond your control, as you go through them,\u201d says Morabito on his stymied AFL potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot many people get the opportunity to find a passion and live it out, so it has been a really enjoyable ride. Finishing up at Fremantle last year was tough, but that\u2019s not dissimilar to any job out there where people are truly passionate and have to go through a transition. I have really fond memories and am really grateful for my time at Fremantle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morabito says the unwavering support of his family, friends and partner helped him to overcome the challenges he faced throughout his sporting career, but he also stresses that going to university has shaped him as more than a football player.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen football has been challenging, I\u2019ve been able to put my energy and focus into other things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was about being able to implement all the things I\u2019ve learned \u2013 keeping balanced, having that forward focus on my studies, trying to find adequate experience and really trying to build a career that wasn\u2019t defined by football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excelling in accounting and similar subjects at high school, Morabito enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce at Curtin in 2009, the same year he was drafted by the Fremantle Dockers. Curtin\u2019s Elite Athlete Program, plus the University\u2019s flexible study options, such as the ability to access units online, enabled him to stay on top of his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Elite Athlete Program at Curtin is first class. I\u2019ve been a part of the program for eight years and it\u2019s been amazing for me. The people involved in the program have been accommodating, and have really made it a lot easier for elite athletes, who are typically time poor, to complete their studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anthony
Anthony Morabito celebrates his debut for Fremantle in 2010, flanked by fellow teammates Michael Barlow and Alex Silvagni. Credit: Getty images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Morabito is currently completing his Business Capstone unit, which sees groups of students compete against one another in running a simulated company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed the relationships I\u2019ve built with people in the class,\u201d he says of the unit. \u201cIt\u2019s been challenging but also rewarding, and has really helped me implement some of the skills I\u2019ve learned throughout my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

The soon-to-be management graduate says life as a full-time student shares similarities to that of a professional athlete.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an athlete, your time and energy is extremely focused \u2013 every day there are clear, concise goals that you have to achieve. Student life is quite similar; if you don\u2019t put in the hard work, you won\u2019t reach your goals and ultimately won\u2019t obtain your desired results,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe need to be self-managed, whether that\u2019s as an athlete or a student, is also important, so that you\u2019re able to get the best out of yourself on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morabito is looking forward to putting his studies into practice when he graduates in February 2018, and is already gaining experience in the corporate world part-time. It seems his balancing act won\u2019t be over any time soon, as he\u2019s quietly confident he\u2019ll continue to be a towering presence on the footy field for seasons to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball still plays a large role in my life. I really enjoy the game and love being involved in any capacity. Football clubs are great resources and you meet some fantastic people, so having the ability to couple that with my studies has given me balance and helped me to really enjoy my football this year.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Fremantle Dockers player, Anthony Morabito, discusses his footy career and how he balances life as an elite athlete and student.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4182,"featured_media":6115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-6114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-and-global-community"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"Want a globally recognised business degree?","content":"

Make Commerce at Curtin your first choice. <\/a><\/p>\n","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"Management","qualification":"Bachelor of Commerce","link":"http:\/\/courses.curtin.edu.au\/course_overview\/undergraduate\/management","description":"","faculty":"Curtin Business School"}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/AnthonyWP.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Zoe","last_name":"Taylor","display_name":"Zoe Taylor"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 22:16:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6114"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=6114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}