AFL star Alex Rance’s Geelong education program to close
Richmond AFL star Alex Rance’s education program, the Academy, which has a campus in Geelong, is closing next year. The program’s closure affects its current year 11 students, who will not be able to return for year 12.
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Senior Geelong students have been left in the lurch following the sudden closure of ex-Afl star Alex Rance’s football academy.
The Academy, which operates out of Western Heights College, opened in 2020 as an alternative to standard education.
The program, which also has campuses in Essendon and Wangarrata, will shut its doors at the end of the 2023 school year.
Rance, the Academy’s founder and director of football, described the school’s offering as “passion-based education” that included real-life AFL examples to educate its students on literacy, numeracy and work-related skills.
The Academy’s closure will affect about 20 year 11 students across Victoria who attend the school, includingstudents at its Geelong campus, who will not be able to return to the Academy for year 12.
The Academy’s Geelong campus is run in partnership with Western Heights College in Hamlyn Heights.
Western Heights College declined to comment on the Academy’s closure.
Rance said the Academy was closing because it was no longer viable.
He said the Academy was unable to find the right partnerships and resources to scale the program up across Victoria.
He said Covid coupled with the state’s teacher shortage affected the Academy’s ability to recruit students and teachers.
“I’m really disappointed that we couldn’t keep the program going because it was doing such great things” Rance said.
“Our completion rates were above 90 per cent. We had about 400 kids go through the program across the seven years that we ran the program.
“The most fulfilling thing that I think came out of the program is a sense of purpose and belonging that the students gained and they reconnected with education and it gave them a better pathway out.
“I’m really disappointed and sad that we couldn’t find the right partnerships and we couldn’t find the right resources to be able to make the Academy program a scalable thing and have an even greater impact across Victoria for a longer period.”
Rance said four of the Academy’s students had been drafted into the AFL.
He said reactions from students’ families to news of the Academy’s closure were “mixed”, with some expressing gratitude, and others sadness and frustration.
He said the Academy was assisting its year 11 students affected by the closure through partnerships with schools that provide similar offerings, such as Western Heights College, which has a specialist sporting program.
“We’re doing everything we can with putting support measures in for families and students to be able to help them through this challenging time and giving them everything that they need to transition smoothly from an academic perspective,” Rance said.
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Originally published as AFL star Alex Rance’s Geelong education program to close
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